AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Lee Chapel: What Now?
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether the engine has been started since. Out in Ghyllgrove or here in Lee Chapel, an unstarted motor must remain unrun. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where the vehicle stands around Lee Chapel. Already run? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. Step one remains unchanged, even though the work is bigger.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Essex it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Lee Chapel forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Perhaps you're at the BP, maybe at the Asda, perhaps somewhere else around Lee Chapel.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Only that tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken it in.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the queue wants clearing. Phone us from the forecourt once your car sits in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then save the receipt. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
Lee Chapel, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. It happens on drives just off Rise Park as regularly as anywhere.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not moved since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Your move: the keys in the house, so nobody takes the vehicle anywhere first thing. After that, phone. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's in Lee Chapel or out in Lee Chapel North. Night-time empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
On the road in Lee Chapel with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the top-up. Maybe heading for Chelmsford, under 15 miles away, or just along Wickhay.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue in by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a longer run, once the fuel filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop anywhere sensible, then switch the motor off. On the M25, under 10 miles from Lee Chapel, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call, and say how far the vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Essex.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Plenty of rental and fleet contracts need the owner's approval for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before we arrive than after. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Basildon, or near The Most Holy Trinity Church? Keep the engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Lee Chapel?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Sound familiar? Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Anne Line Catholic Junior School, or on a friend's drive in Pipps Hill.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to your engine. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Firing up the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't crank it. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one after it's been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
Each AdBlue drain in Lee Chapel shares these steps
Every case gets the same opening to the job. Three questions come when our engineers reach your car — on a filling station, a driveway, a street by St Pauls Methodist Church or the car park at Plough & Tractor: the fluid, the amount, and if it has run. Replies set the job; the quote comes on the call whilst no one has set off yet.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after this drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Next comes the filter — flushed, or replaced where necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Lastly, we start the engine. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians go. Long-term damage is very rare if it's noticed soon, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your policy as you wait pays.
About Lee Chapel itself
Lee Chapel is a locality in Essex, situated on the riverside at a relatively low elevation of 32 metres. Lee Chapel lies within the Eastern region, approximately 25 miles from London and 11.6 miles from Chelmsford. Lee Chapel has a mix of housing types, but terraced housing is predominant in the area. Lee Chapel is close to other nearby places, including Lee Chapel North, Basildon, and Lee Chapel South.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Lee Chapel included
Being a small village, Lee Chapel has the same vans as the surrounding places — Lee Chapel South, Basildon — right across SS postcodes. Giving us a SS15 5 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Stopped heading to Great Gregorie Park, or bang in the heart of Lee Chapel, your vehicle stays where it is — there's no need to move it anywhere. We drain it where it is. Tricky to explain? By Ingaway Evangelical Church or a border? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The one-line version
Still unrun? Keep the car that way then phone. Started already? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever it is, in Lee Chapel and Essex, on 0333 366 0103.