AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Haw? Don't Start It
Engine off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has got into the diesel tank. Urea dissolved in water is what AdBlue is. As it is water-based, it will not ignite and never combines with diesel; damage only starts when your pump starts pulling it. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in New Haw, is generally what AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it is caught before the motor has run. No step comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
What to do straight away, New Haw: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Things to do:
- So nobody can switch your ignition on, take your keys away.
- If you're anywhere near moving traffic, put the hazard lights on.
- Keep the till receipt or the empty bottle, and so you can tell us what was put in and roughly how much.
- The van finds you quickest with a postcode starting KT15 3, or simply the name of a street close by, and so call from the car.
Never do these:
- No starting the motor — not briefly, not to shift your vehicle.
- Plenty of diesels run their pump the instant your ignition comes on, so keep the vehicle off.
- No more fuel added. The AdBlue won't blend, so it's wasted.
- Even a short stretch down Woodham Lane is too far to drive it.
- No draining it yourself, at all, at the verge.
On a forecourt in New Haw, whether it is the Esso or another one, ask the attendants to help you roll the car clear of the pump. Stopped on your own driveway? Then it stays exactly where it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Meant for the exhaust, AdBlue has no business in the engine. Its own tank holds it, and from there it's sprayed into your exhaust, where it cleans the gas. Neither side fits the other: urea doesn't belong in a pump, and an injection pump cannot take urea.
Fuel blends; AdBlue, once poured in, will not. Its behaviour is not at all like diesel's. The pickup sucks fuel from the lowest part of your tank, and that is just where AdBlue settles: being heavier than diesel, it sinks. When your pump runs, the AdBlue is top of the list to go through. Until then it waits underneath the diesel, and that is how a vehicle filled in Rowhill last night and not switched on stays the straightforward one, provided nobody turns your key.
It does two kinds of harm from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that crystallises in filter elements and tiny passages; meanwhile, since it attacks certain metals, each part it touches suffers for as long as it stays inside. A car left standing around New Haw with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank is not. And there is the water: it brings no protection to the parts that rely on it most — the injection pump and each injector.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it is commonly worse than petrol
An issue of thin fuel is what you end up with after filling a diesel with petrol from the JET. Mixed into your diesel and sitting still, it's no threat at that stage; running the engine does the damage.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different problem: not thin fuel, but no fuel at all. It can't simply be run through, since it does not burn. Deposits and corrosion stay after the following fill, and AdBlue splits again from the diesel, so thinning it won't help. That is why the flush matters more, and turning your key "to see" does more harm with AdBlue than almost any other slip — in Pyrford or the centre of New Haw equally.
The same good news holds as with petrol. Clearing a tank is the easiest job on a fuel system, and without running, the AdBlue stays in there — wherever in Surrey the vehicle has stopped.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in New Haw
Plenty of vehicles place the AdBlue filler alongside the diesel one, occasionally behind one flap, and after dark the two may appear the same. No one means it. Mostly it happens with a bottle bought on the way home and poured in on the driveway, not at the pump.
A few familiar ways cover the majority of them. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside The Grange Community Infant School. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Scotland Bridge Road. Another version: darkness, the car park by Black Prince, and a driver opening that flap for the first time.
Rented motors, brand-new cars, company cars, or the spare car in a home with one of each: the least familiar vehicles see it most. An identical mistake, same first response — leave it off — wherever you happen to be around New Haw or the rest of Surrey.
Started your engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank in New Haw?
Then your tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. With any running time, it travels to the high-pressure pump and each injector, having passed via the fuel filter and lines.
Expect rough running, exhaust smoke, lost power, warnings on the dash, or a stall — coming back from Woodham Lodge Open Space, say, or midway across New Haw. Once safe, pull over and turn it off — without turning it on again to test. Each start pulls more of it through.
Leave the M25, under a mile from New Haw, by the next junction and park safely, not driving on.
Mileage counts: every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper into your system, and so heading towards Westminster, under 25 miles away, makes a far larger job than hopping across New Haw to the car park by New Haw Library. Let us know about how far it had come.
Our technicians do all of the cleaning where the car has stopped, and once the engine has been started there is more of it. Lasting damage is very unusual when it's spotted quickly.
New Haw: how AdBlue is cleared from a diesel
The vehicle remains where it is, whether that is a road beside Heathervale Baptist Church, a driveway, a lay-by or a filling station around New Haw, and the van comes to it. The job rests on three answers, which we ask for before all else — which fluid went in, the amount, and if your motor has turned over.
Then your tank is drained where the car stands, so the contaminated fuel and the AdBlue come out together. What remains from AdBlue will not flush away unaided, and so the fuel system gets a full flush, which counts far more with urea than for petrol. Testing your car comes last, after fresh diesel is added and the fuel filter is flushed or, if needed, replaced. Engine not run? In that case count on about half an hour on site for most jobs. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt safe to work on, and they're quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Fresh diesel goes in to prime the system, and that's the final step. Whether it's a parking space at West Byfleet or a drive in New Haw, that is where our technicians start the engine and you set off. We check it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. Since the job is done in full where the vehicle is, a workshop never comes into it. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both afterwards.
About New Haw, briefly
New Haw is a village in Surrey, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of around 22 metres. New Haw lies near the towns of West Byfleet and Woodham, and is part of the larger commuter belt around London. New Haw has a population of approximately 4310 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. New Haw is also close to Row Town and other nearby settlements.
AdBlue drains across Surrey, New Haw included
Woodham, West Byfleet and Row Town are among the places near New Haw that the same vans serve, together with much of Surrey further out, throughout the KT postcode area. Assuming doesn't help by a county line or somewhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
No moving is needed. In New Haw, a village, a van that comes to you fits: the car is drained where it stands, be it on a driveway, a residential street, a parking area or a filling station.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right in New Haw
Because each callouts vary, a flat price wouldn't be fair. What shifts the price is, firstly, whether the motor has been running and for how long; then how much AdBlue got in; and then where the car is and whether a van can reach it safely, which is simpler on an open driveway than in a tight space behind All Saints Church.
Which fluid went in, how much, plus if the engine ran: every New Haw enquiry begins by asking exactly those, before a quote, never afterwards. The replies turn a range into a straight quote.
The price is given during the call, before a van sets off; settling up happens on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Check your policy while we are on the way: plenty include misfuelling cover.
Still alongside the car around New Haw?
Leaving your vehicle alone is, then, the most useful move open to you. Keys out; engine and ignition off. Tell us it was AdBlue, about how big an amount, and if it ran, on 0333 366 0103. After that Petrol in Diesel takes over, in New Haw or anywhere within Surrey.