What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Panshanger
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the engine has run since it was put in. Over in Haldens or here around Panshanger, an unstarted motor should stay unrun. Switch nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out just where the car sits around Panshanger. Where the motor has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn it off. A larger job, yes, yet the same opening move.
Wherever around Hertfordshire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
At the petrol pump in Panshanger: AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere in Panshanger, then — Morrisons, Esso, or somewhere else close by.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Still inside that tank, and nothing pulled onwards: that's where the AdBlue is.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — and so don't get back in. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Panshanger drive?
On the dash, a reminder had shown 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 again at the cap. Drives close to Watchlytes see it as much as any other street.
The upshot: no miles since makes it almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and remains put, however long it waits.
Next: the keys in the house, so no one takes your car anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. Out in Hall Grove or here around Panshanger, the drain happens at your drive. Our equipment runs quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Panshanger?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way after the fill. Long Ley, say, or the route to St Albans — a trip of under 10 miles.
The point: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. It has been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with every mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Service stations farther on can wait: on the A1(M), under 3 miles out of Panshanger, take the next junction. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Roughly what distance did it go? Say so when you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its inlet is right next to your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Across Hertfordshire, no one is safe from it.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with one added step. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our technicians get there than after. Waiting for an answer at the car park at Welwyn Garden City, or beside Panshanger Community Centre? Keep your car off meanwhile.
Panshanger: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of Watchlytes Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Tewin.
Meaning? Spills around the filler don't touch your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in the tank would be sucked in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and don't start the engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats draining one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Panshanger: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins identically, whichever the situation. Filling station, driveway, Attimore Hall's car park or a road by Panshanger Church — our van reaches your car, and three questions follow: which fluid, what amount, and if it ran. Answers shape the work; the price follows by phone while no one has set off yet.
Draining your tank comes first, followed by a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long it sits. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Most unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our technicians get there.
Our engineers start it last. Before we go, it's checked to confirm it runs correctly on fresh diesel. If it's noticed soon, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Panshanger, for a moment
Panshanger is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 20 miles north of London and 8 miles south of St Albans. Panshanger lies near the villages of Hall Grove, Peartree, and Woodhall, and is characterized by its predominantly flat housing stock. Panshanger has a population of around 7737 people and is located at an elevation of 82 metres above sea level.
AdBlue drains round Panshanger and across Hertfordshire
As a residential suburb, Panshanger shares its vans with the surrounding places — Woodhall, Peartree — all the way across AL postcodes. A postcode starting AL7 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Moneyhole Lane Playing Fields or in a car park in the middle of Panshanger, it doesn't need to move. Where it sits, that is where it is drained. Assuming won't help beside All Saints, close to a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep it off then call. Run by now? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever case, across Panshanger and Hertfordshire, on 0333 366 0103.