What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Paddington
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This one question decides almost everything about what comes next. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Paddington itself or out in Westbourne Green. Usually that means emptying and properly cleaning it right there around Paddington — so keep the key and motor off and ring 0333 366 0103. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. A bigger job, yes, but the same opening move.
Further down: the cases our technicians meet, wherever across Greater London. Pick the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Paddington forecourt
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Perhaps you're at the Esso, maybe at the Shell, possibly somewhere else in Paddington.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away is emptied right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Paddington
Several days had passed with the dash light on. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off London Street get caught out as often as anywhere else.
Put simply: if the vehicle hasn't moved since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. Being unable to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in that tank and stays. A night parked alters nothing.
Next: prevent any early move by keeping the keys in the house, then ring us. We drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is in Paddington or out in Little Venice. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Paddington?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Anywhere on Praed Street or else heading towards Westminster — under 3 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. It's been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the injectors. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Services farther on are too far: on the M1, under 5 miles out of Paddington, take the first junction. It won't have cleared, so there's no sense restarting to check. Ring us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just next to the diesel cap — news to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Greater London.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or unrun — and one extra step. Any work on the car often requires the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Sorting it before we arrives is faster, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stranded in the car park at London Paddington, or by Paddingtonscape (Paddington Bear), while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Paddington
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia smell hangs around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. It might have been on a friend's drive in Maida Vale, or rushing outside St James & St John Church of England Primary School at the school run.
The upshot: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue spilled around the outside. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Turning on the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will suck it in.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't start the vehicle. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in each Paddington AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, one opening applies. Wherever your car stands — Dickens Tavern's car park, a road beside The Wild Table of Love, a drive, a forecourt — the van arrives and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if the engine has turned over. Answers shape the job; the quote comes by phone while no one has left yet.
Then your tank is drained and the system cleaned thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Next is the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
The last step is starting it. With clean diesel in, it runs while we confirm it's running smoothly, and then we head off. When it's caught soon, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Paddington
Paddington is a locality in central London, situated near the lakes of the Grand Union and Regent's Canals. Paddington sits at an elevation of 33 metres, close to the heart of the city, with nearby places including Little Venice, Bayswater, and Lisson Grove. Paddington is predominantly composed of flat dwellings, reflecting its urban character. Paddington is home to a population of approximately 10,498 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Paddington included
Over W postcodes, the vans covering Paddington — a neighbourhood — work surrounding places too, Bayswater and Lisson Grove among them. A postcode starting W2 1 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Parked en route to Norfolk Square Garden, or bang in the centre of Paddington, the car remains where it is — there is no need to move it anywhere. The van drains it in place. Assuming won't help near Hertha Ayrton, on a county line or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it has not started, ring and leave it that way. Run already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Paddington and Greater London, on 0333 366 0103.