Merton Park: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
Motor off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has gone into your diesel tank. Urea mixed in water is all AdBlue is. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the damage it does starts when your fuel system pulls it in. If your engine hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is generally emptied and thoroughly purged where the car stands in Merton Park. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in your diesel tank in Merton Park
To do:
- Keys out — that way no one can switch anything on.
- Near moving traffic? So put the hazards on.
- Which fluid, and roughly how much quantity? Hang on to the bottle or the till receipt, and our engineers will see.
- Call just where you are. Say a SW19 3 postcode or the closest street name, and nobody has to search for you.
Don't do these:
- Shifting your car just a few yards is no reason to fire up the motor.
- Many diesels run their fuel pump the moment the ignition comes on, and so leave it off.
- Pouring in more diesel does not help: AdBlue settles out instead of blending.
- Even a short distance up Dorset Road is too far to drive it.
- Do not try to drain it yourself by the kerbside.
Ask the people behind the counter to help you roll the car away from the pumps if you're at a forecourt in Merton Park, whether it's the Esso or elsewhere. Parked on your own driveway? Then it stays just as it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. From a dedicated tank it is fed directly to the exhaust, cleaning what your motor emits. Nothing in it is meant to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is made to handle it.
It does not blend. After it's tipped into a tank of diesel, AdBlue behaves not at all like diesel. It's heavier than diesel, so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of that tank, which is where the pickup sucks fuel from. When your pump runs, the AdBlue is top of the list to be pulled through. Before then it waits underneath the diesel, which is how a car topped up in Morden yesterday and not switched on remains the simple case, as long as nobody touches your key.
From there it does two kinds of damage. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it leaves urea that hardens in filter elements and tiny channels; and, since it eats at certain metals, every part it reaches suffers for as long as it remains in there. Pipes holding AdBlue spell harm overnight for a vehicle sitting in Merton Park. Only in the tank, it stays the same. Then there's the water: it brings no protection to the components that need it the most — the injection pump and every injector.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's often worse than petrol
Petrol pumped into a diesel on BP's forecourt makes the fuel thin — that is the whole issue. Damage only comes from driving on it. Blended into the diesel and left in that tank, it causes none.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally wrong substance. Not burning, it can't simply be run through. Nor can it be watered down, because it splits again — and the next fill won't clear away deposits or corrosion. So the flush matters for more with AdBlue, and trying your engine "to see", in the centre of Merton Park or out in Bushey Mead, does more harm than almost any other mistake.
The same good news applies as with petrol. Wherever in Greater London your car has come to rest, an unrun motor leaves the AdBlue still in the reservoir: the simplest bit of any fuel system to empty.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around Merton Park
After dark, two caps together — the AdBlue cap and the diesel one, now and then behind a single flap — can look the same. No one intends it; many designs allow it. A bottle picked up when heading home and poured in at home, instead of at the forecourt, is the usual story.
A couple of familiar ways cover the majority of them. The top-up is rushed outside Merton Park Primary School, after the dash flashed with a warning while the children were taken off. Someone tips the bottle in outside their house, right off Poplar Road, as the day ends. Otherwise, in dim light by Prince of Wales, the vehicle is refilled by someone opening that flap for the first time.
Hired vehicles, new motors, company vehicles, or the second vehicle in a home with both fuels: the least known vehicles see it the most. Wherever you're around Merton Park or the rest of Greater London, it is the same error and the same first answer: leave the car off.
Merton Park: started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The AdBlue has left the tank, then. The fuel filter and pipework have had it sucked through, and any running time carries it on to the high-pressure pump and every injector.
You may notice the motor running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, possibly on the way back from Railway Path or halfway across Merton Park. Once safe, stop and turn everything off — with no turning it on again to test. More of that is pulled through with each start.
Merton Park lies under 10 miles from the M4; if you were on it, leave at the next junction and pull up somewhere safe rather than driving on.
How far it went counts. A couple of hundred yards across Merton Park to the car park by St. Mary the Virgin is a very different job from a run towards Westminster, under 10 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into the fuel system with each mile. Roughly how far had it come? Tell us.
Our engineers do all of the flushing where the vehicle has ended up, and once the motor has been run there is more of it. Long-term damage is very unusual when it's noticed soon.
Merton Park: how AdBlue is emptied from a diesel
We come to your car, wherever it has stopped around Merton Park: a side street close to St Mary's Church Hall, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Which fluid went in, about how much, plus whether your engine has been run: our technicians check first, since those decide the job.
The contaminated diesel and the urea come out as one after the tank is emptied, right there. A careful flush counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol, because what remains will not clear away on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. About half an hour on site is usual for most jobs when the motor has not run. The pumps are explosion-proof, fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Finally, your system is primed with clean diesel. Whether it is a parking space outside South Merton or a drive in Merton Park, that is where we fire it up and you drive off. Our engineers check it runs correctly on clean diesel before we leave. No garage is needed at any stage, with the entire job done on the spot. Your insurer is likely to want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — both yours afterwards.
About Merton Park
Merton Park is a suburban area in southwest London, situated approximately 7 miles from the city centre. Merton Park has a relatively low elevation of 19 metres and is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing stock. Merton Park is located near other residential areas such as South Wimbledon and Wimbledon, and is part of the wider Merton borough.
Merton Park and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area
South Wimbledon, Wimbledon and Merton are among the towns around Merton Park that the same teams reach, along with most of Greater London beyond, over the SW postcode area. Assuming doesn't help by a border or anywhere tricky to describe; ring and check.
No towing is needed. In Merton Park, a residential suburb, a mobile service works: the vehicle is emptied where it stands, whether on a drive, a side street, a parking area or a filling station.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Merton Park: the cost of fixing it
Each job differs, and so no fixed price is honest. What moves the cost is, firstly, whether the engine has run and for how long; then how much AdBlue went in; and then where the car is and whether our van can get to it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind Old Rutlishians' Assocation.
That's why every call from Merton Park starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what was put in, how much, and whether it has run. Those replies turn a range into a straight quote.
Our price is quoted on the call, before anyone leaves; payment happens on the day, by card or over the phone, and nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
In Merton Park and still next to your car?
Right now, the best thing to do with the vehicle is to not touch it. Engine off, keys out, ignition off. Ring 0333 366 0103 then tell us it is AdBlue, roughly how much, and if it's run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, around Merton Park or anywhere across Greater London.