London: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Then keep your engine off — and your ignition too. AdBlue is urea dissolved in water. Unlike fuel, it neither burns nor mixes, and nothing happens till the motor pulls it through. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around London, is generally all AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it's caught before the engine has been run. First, ring us on 0333 366 0103.
Your next steps straight away, London: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Do:
- So nobody can turn your ignition on, pull your keys away.
- If you're anywhere near moving traffic, put the hazard lights on.
- So you can tell us which liquid it was and about how much, keep your receipt or the empty bottle.
- Ring us from where you are. A postcode starting EC2V 8, or the name of the closest street, gets the van to you without a search.
Don't do these:
- No starting the engine — not briefly, not to reposition your car.
- Turning your key to ignition by itself starts the pump going on many diesels. Skip it.
- No more fuel on top. The AdBlue won't blend, so it is pointless.
- Even a short distance along King Street is too far to drive the vehicle.
- By the road, do not attempt draining it yourself.
At a forecourt in London, whether it's the Shell or another one, ask the staff to help you roll the car away from the pump. If you are on your own drive, leave the vehicle precisely where it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
The engine is not what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. From a separate reservoir it is fed straight to your exhaust, cleaning what the motor lets out. Nothing in a fuel pump is designed for this fluid — and no part of that was intended to travel through one.
Tipped in with your diesel, it keeps apart rather than mixing — quite unlike fuel. It is heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and collects at the bottom of that tank, which is where the pickup pulls fuel from. The first thing the system pulls through, after it runs, is the AdBlue. So a motor that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Aldgate last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the straightforward case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of the tank, and nothing has pulled it in.
From there it causes two kinds of damage. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that crystallises in filters and tiny channels; and, because it attacks some metals, every part it reaches keeps suffering for as long as it remains in there. By daybreak, a vehicle sitting in London with AdBlue in its lines gets worse; if it is just inside that tank, it doesn't. The water in it causes damage of its own: the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel often the bigger problem?
A problem of thin fuel is what you get from fuelling a diesel with petrol at the Texaco. No harm comes as long as it stays unused, blended into your diesel — only once your motor works on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different problem: not thin fuel, yet no fuel at all. It does not burn, and so it can't just be run through. Crystals and corrosion stay through the next tankful, and AdBlue splits back from your diesel, and so watering it can't help. Hence the flush counts more, and trying the engine "to see" costs more here than nearly any other slip — in Farringdon or the heart of London equally.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Never run? Then the AdBlue waits only inside that tank, the easiest bit of the entire system to clear, wherever your car has come to rest across Greater London.
London: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
After dark, two caps together — the AdBlue cap and the diesel one, occasionally behind one flap — can appear the same. Nobody intends it; plenty of layouts invite it. It mostly occurs outside the house, from a bottle grabbed on the journey home, rather than at the filling station.
A few familiar ways cover the majority of them. Midway through the drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside Prior Weston Primary School and Children's Centre the refill is rushed. A driver tips the bottle in at home, right off Trump Street, as the day ends. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park outside Goldwood, in poor light, by someone who has never opened that flap before.
It happens most in the motors people know least: a hire car, a new motor, a company car, or the second vehicle of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Wherever you're in London or the remainder of Greater London, it's the same mistake and the same first answer: leave the vehicle off.
Started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank in London?
Then the AdBlue has left that tank. Via your filter, along the lines, and — given any running time — on to the high-pressure pump and every injector: that is how far it travels.
Perhaps coming back from St Peter Cheap churchyard, or midway across London, your engine may run rough, smoke, drop power, flash the dash or stall. No starting it again to check: stop when it is safe, then turn it off. Each start pulls more of that through.
If you were on the M1, under 10 miles from London, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere safe rather than pressing on.
Every mile carries the AdBlue further into the system. That's why crossing London to park beside The Guild Church of Saint Lawrence Jewry and a drive of under 3 miles towards Westminster are such different jobs. Roughly how far had it come? Tell us.
Wherever your car came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out once the motor has been run. Very seldom does it leave long-term damage if it's caught early.
London: how AdBlue is cleared from a diesel
Our technicians come to the car, wherever it has stopped around London: a side street close to St. Mary-Le-Bow, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. The job depends on three replies, which our engineers get before all else — which fluid was put in, the quantity, and if your engine has run.
The contaminated diesel and the urea come out as one when that tank is emptied, on the spot. Residue from AdBlue won't wash out unaided, and so the whole system gets a full flush, which matters much more with urea than with petrol. Testing the vehicle follows at the end, after clean diesel goes in and your filter gets flushed or, if needed, replaced. About half an hour on site is typical for most jobs where your motor has not run. Our pumping gear is explosion-proof, and so a live forecourt is no problem, and it's hushed enough for a residential street after dark.
Priming your system with fresh diesel comes at the end. Firing it up comes next, and then you drive off from where the vehicle is parked, at London Cannon Street or on a drive around London. We confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we leave. No workshop is required at any point, with the whole job done then and there. You receive a VAT invoice and an engineer report later on, which is what insurers ask for.
About London itself
London is a major city situated on the River Thames in southeast England, with a rich history dating back nearly 2,000 years. It serves as the capital of England and the United Kingdom, featuring a prominent financial centre and a long-standing seat of national government. The city's strategic riverside location has contributed to its growth and development over the centuries. London is now a large and diverse metropolis, encompassing a wide area that was previously split among several counties.
AdBlue drains across London and Greater London
Barbican, Blackfriars and Bankside are among the towns around London that the same vans reach, together with much of Greater London beyond, over the EC2V postcode area. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you are by a county line, or somewhere tricky to explain.
A van that comes to you suits London, a capital city: you have no need to bring your car to us, because our engineers empty it there, on a driveway, a side street, a car park or a filling station.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around London?
Each job is different, and so not one fixed price is honest. The cost changes first with how long, if at all, the engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that was put in. After that it rests on where the car is and whether a van can get to it safely, which is easier on an open drive than in a tight spot behind The Mayor's and the City of London Court.
That's why each call from London starts with the same three questions, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and if it has run. Their answers shrink the range right down to a single number.
Priced on the call before the van sets out, it is paid for that day — card or phone, no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
Still next to your car in London?
Then, the most helpful thing to do with your vehicle is to not touch it. Motor off, keys out, ignition off. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, across London or anywhere within Greater London, after you call 0333 366 0103 saying it's AdBlue, roughly what quantity, and if the engine ran.