AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Lower Bois: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it was put in. Out in Chesham or right in Lower Bois, an unrun engine must stay unrun. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine both off. In Lower Bois, that is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. Stop the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. Stage one remains the same, even if the job is bigger.
Wherever around Buckinghamshire it took place, one of the situations below fits yours.
Lower Bois forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, nozzle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Possibly you're at the Esso, maybe at the BP, maybe somewhere else in Lower Bois.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. No pump has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits just in that tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — and so don't get back in. A few things: a push into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Lower Bois drive?
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Right off Woodley Hill is not less likely from anywhere.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not been driven since, it's close to the pump case. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low in your tank and stays. A night standing alters none of that.
Next: keys in the house, so no one takes the car anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Your driveway is where it is drained, whether in Lower Bois or Chessmount. The equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Lower Bois: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two after topping up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Somewhere along Bois Moor Road or heading towards St Albans — under 15 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector see it as well on a bigger run, once your filter and pipework have it. It travels further with each extra mile covered and each restart.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then switch your motor off. Exit by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M25, under 10 miles from Lower Bois. No trial starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. About how far did it gone? Say so as you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week back, it was new to you. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets are side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Anywhere you happen to be across Buckinghamshire, any driver could be caught.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, and those turn on if it has run. Work on your vehicle often needs the owner's approval under hire or company terms.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. If you're stuck in the car park outside Amersham, or by Chapel, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Lower Bois?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A rushed stop by the gates of Waterside Primary Academy, or a call to a friend in Pednormead End: either fits.
In short: a spill round your filler does the motor unharmed. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it went in, and leave the motor off. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one once it's been run — so phone and tell us what you saw.
The common ground in every Lower Bois AdBlue drain
The work opens the same way, whatever the situation. Three things come once our engineers arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a road by St Leonards or the car park outside The Pheasant: the liquid, the quantity, and if it has run. Replies shape the job; the price comes by phone whilst nobody has set off yet.
Emptying that tank comes first, then a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go on their own, however long it sits. Last come your filter, flushed or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Where the motor hasn't run, expect about half an hour on site, in most cases.
Lastly, our technicians start it. Our engineers make sure it runs correctly on new diesel before we go. If it is caught quickly, the car very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Paying comes on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as you wait pays.
About Lower Bois itself
Lower Bois is a suburban area in Buckinghamshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 98 metres. Lower Bois lies near the towns of Chesham and Amersham, with the city of St Albans approximately 12 miles away. Lower Bois is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing and forms part of the larger Chesham urban area. Lower Bois is also close to nearby places such as Chessmount and Waterside.
Lower Bois and Buckinghamshire: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, Lower Bois shares its vans with the nearby towns — Chesham Bois, Waterside — all the way across HP postcodes. The location comes clearest from a postcode that starts HP5 1.
Centre of Lower Bois or a lay-by towards Chesham Moor: either way it sits, the car never needs to move at all for the drain. Where it stands, that is where it is drained. Awkward to pin down? Close to Chesham Moor Gym and Swim or a border? Checking is better than guessing, so ring.
The one-line version
Where it has not run, ring and leave it off. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, in Lower Bois and Buckinghamshire, on 0333 366 0103.