AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Marden, and What to Do Next
One fact counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has run afterwards. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is around Marden itself or out in Wanshurst Green. Leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Marden. Where your engine has been run, pull in somewhere safe first, then switch the car off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Anywhere in Kent it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
At the petrol pump in Marden: AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere around Marden, then — Harvest Energy, Esso, or anywhere else nearby.
In short: no better spot exists to spot it. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one component past it has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Have the staff to help pushing it to a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed clear gets emptied where it is at the petrol pump.
At home around Marden with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. A bottle from the shop, emptied in on the drive — and it was just by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Drives close to High Street see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: prevent any early drive by keeping your keys indoors, then phone us. Our engineers drain the car on your driveway, whether that's in Marden or out in Great Pattenden. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Marden?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Possibly it was on The Old Market, maybe on the way out towards Canterbury, under 50 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. Distance decides how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop anywhere sensible, then turn the motor off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M20, under 10 miles from Marden. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, saying how far the vehicle was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've only driven this vehicle for days. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was just next to the diesel. Any driver, anywhere around Kent, might do the same.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on whether it has run. Any work on your car frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded near Marden Library or at the nearest station till the firm answers, the car remains turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Marden?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been at a friend's drive in St Anns Green, or in a rush outside Leigh Academy Marden on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to the engine. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: assume it got in, then keep the engine off. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a better result than an already-run one emptied.
The common ground in every Marden AdBlue drain
No matter the situation, one opening applies. Wherever the vehicle is — The Unicorn's car park, a road by St Michael and All Angels, a driveway, a filling station — the van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and whether your motor has turned over. Your price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and the answers set the job.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Next comes the filter — cleaned, or replaced when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment we get there.
Firing it up comes last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it's running properly, and then we leave. Long-term damage is very unusual when it is caught early, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Marden itself
Marden is a village in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 32 metres, approximately 35.5 miles from London. Marden lies near several smaller settlements, including Great Pattenden, Marden Beech, and Milebush, and is about 26.2 miles from the city of Canterbury. Marden has a population of around 1881 people, predominantly living in semi-detached houses. Marden remains a rural community with a strong sense of local identity.
Marden and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Marden is a rural village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Marden Beech and Milebush among them, across the TN postcode area. Quickest of all: a TN12 9 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is needed, whether stopped centrally in Marden or on a lay-by en route to /, and so leave it where it is. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Guessing won't help beside The South East Romany Museum, on a border or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
Your situation, summed up
Where it hasn't run, phone and keep it that way. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever it is, across Marden and Kent, on 0333 366 0103.