AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Old Shoreham, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it went in. Anywhere your car is — North Lancing, Old Shoreham — don't start a motor that hasn't run yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle sits around Old Shoreham. When your motor has run, stop safely straight away, then switch the car off. It is a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Anywhere around West Sussex it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Old Shoreham forecourt
Just at this point, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Be it Shell, Texaco or anywhere else around Old Shoreham, the situation is identical.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it can be. Only your tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
Do this: keep out of the driver's seat, however much the queue needs clearing. Get the attendants to help pushing it to a bay, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. Can't move it beside the petrol pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a busy forecourt sensible, and so it can be drained where it is.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Old Shoreham
The warning light had been on for days. 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 occurs on drives just off Almond Avenue as regularly as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle has not been driven since, it is close to the pump case. Being unable to mix, AdBlue settles low inside that tank and waits. One night parked changes none of that.
Keep the keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person may drive it off first thing — and phone us. Your drive is where it is emptied, be it in Old Shoreham or Shoreham-by-Sea. Our pumping kit works quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Old Shoreham?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Somewhere along Cecil Pashley Way or else on the road to Brighton and Hove — under 10 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. It's been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop safely — that is the first step — then switch it off. Exit at the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M23, under 25 miles from Old Shoreham. No trial starts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. Phone us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a car you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right by your diesel cap — news to you. Throughout West Sussex, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Plenty of hire and fleet contracts need the owner's sign-off for work.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us next, since settling it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for a reply at the car park at Shoreham-By-Sea, or beside Shoreham air crash memorial? Keep your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Old Shoreham?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe on a friend's drive in South Lancing, or rushing outside Swiss Gardens Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the vehicle will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Assume it was put in, and never start your engine. Ring and give what you saw: we would rather confirm a clean tank than empty one once your engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain around Old Shoreham shares these stages
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. We come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Amsterdam Inn or a side street near St Nicolas, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether your engine has been run. On the phone, before anything else, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the work too.
Draining your tank comes first, then a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long you wait. Finally come the filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers get there.
The last step is firing it up. Our test that it runs correctly on new diesel comes before we head off. Permanent damage is very unusual when it's noticed quickly, and the entire job is done where the car is. Paying is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Old Shoreham, for a moment
Old Shoreham is a coastal locality in West Sussex, situated near the mouth of the River Adur and adjacent to Shoreham-by-Sea. Old Shoreham lies at a low elevation, with parts of the area below sea level, and is close to the nearby settlements of Shoreham Beach and Kingston by Sea. Old Shoreham is characterised by its detached housing stock and is located within commuting distance of Brighton and Hove. Old Shoreham is also relatively close to London, being around 46.7 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Old Shoreham and across West Sussex
Old Shoreham is a coastal area, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Shoreham Beach and Kingston by Sea among them, across the BN postcode area. Telling us a BN43 5 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to The Meads Open Space or in a car park in the middle of Old Shoreham, it doesn't need to move. Where it stands, that's where it is cleared. Awkward to pin down? By The Heron or a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so ring.
The one-line version
Motor never started: ring, leaving it switched off. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, across West Sussex and within Old Shoreham — after you stop, switch off and ring, if it's run.