AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Old Bexley, and What to Do Next
One thing counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether the engine has run afterwards. Out in Blendon or here in Old Bexley, an unrun engine should remain that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, done just where the vehicle sits in Old Bexley. Already run? Pull over once safe, then turn it off. It is a larger job, yet stage one does not change.
Below: the situations our technicians see, wherever around Greater London. Pick yours.
Old Bexley forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you realise the cap you took off was not the right one. Be it the nearest petrol station, Esso or anywhere else around Old Bexley, the case is the same.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it can be. Only your tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has drawn it in.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the queue wants clearing. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets cleared right at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Old Bexley drive?
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It takes place on drives just off Hurst Road as often as anywhere.
Put simply: if the car hasn't moved since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the pump. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base in that tank and stays. One night standing alters nothing.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then call. In Bexley or right here around Old Bexley, the drain happens on your driveway. The equipment works quiet enough not to disturb the street at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Old Bexley?
A short way after filling up, the motor began playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Maybe heading for London, under 15 miles away, or just down Bexley High Street.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through already. It's been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. More driving, more starts: further it goes.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. On the M25, under 5 miles from Old Bexley, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No trial starts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. Tell us know the mileage driven as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Greater London.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Any work on your car often needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep it switched off as the answer arrives, even if you are waiting at Bexley or close to Bexley War Memorial.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Old Bexley?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think so. A faint ammonia whiff hangs near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. A rushed top-up by the gates of Old Bexley Church of England School, or a visit to a friend in Maypole: either fit.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to your motor. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be drawn in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Your move: act as though it got in, and never start your engine. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than a run one emptied.
Old Bexley: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation gets the same opening to the work. Anywhere the vehicle is — The Railway Tavern's car park, a street beside Bexley United Reformed Church, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks for the fluid, the quantity, plus if the engine has turned over. Your price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment we get there.
The final step is firing it up. We check it runs properly on clean diesel before we leave. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very unusual if it has been spotted soon. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours as we head over.
About Old Bexley itself
Old Bexley is a suburban area in south-east London, situated on the banks of the River Cray at an elevation of around 20 metres. Old Bexley lies close to the neighbouring settlements of Bexley and North Cray, and is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock. Old Bexley is located approximately 12.6 miles from central London, making it a commuter-friendly residential area.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Old Bexley included
Old Bexley is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, North Cray and Coldblow among them, across the DA postcode area. Telling us your DA5 3 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Stopped heading to Burnt Ash Hockey Club, or right in the heart of Old Bexley, your car stays where it is — there's no need to shift it at all. Where it stands, that is where it gets cleared. Assuming won't help beside St John the Evangelist, close to a border or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Your situation, in one line
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle that way and ring. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Greater London and within Old Bexley — after you stop, turn off then phone, if it's run.