AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Park Street: What Now?
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue was put in? That one question decides nearly everything about what comes next. Not run yet? Then leave it like that, whether your car is — Park Street or Chiswell Green. Usually that means draining and thoroughly rinsing it right there around Park Street — and so keep your key and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a larger job, though step one doesn't change.
Match what happened to one of the list below, anywhere around Hertfordshire you are.
On a Park Street forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle still in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Perhaps you're at the BP, perhaps at the Shell, possibly somewhere else in Park Street.
The point: of every spot to find out, this is the best. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue stays just in the tank.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it just to free up the pump. A few jobs: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Park Street
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got your eye. Houses just off Park Street get hit as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: prevent an early move by putting your keys in the house, then ring us. Frogmore or Park Street: whichever your drive is, that is where it is cleared. The pumping kit runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
On the road in Park Street with AdBlue in a diesel
A short way beyond topping up, the engine started playing up: rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash. Possibly it was on Burydell Lane, possibly on the way out towards St Albans, under 3 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. Past the fuel filter, through the lines, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it goes.
Do this: stop somewhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Services further along are too far: from the M25, under a mile out of Park Street, take the next junction. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Roughly what distance had it gone? Say so as you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere in Hertfordshire, might do it.
The point: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with one added step. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you are stranded in the car park at the nearest station, or by Park Street Baptist Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Park Street: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Honestly, the best answer may be that you think it did. Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Sopwell, or rushing by Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the filler never touch your motor at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on the vehicle will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, then keep the motor off. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank checked is a happier result than an already-run one drained.
Every AdBlue drain around Park Street shares these stages
The work begins the same way, whatever the situation. Forecourt, drive, The Falcon's car park or a road by Holy Trinity — the van reaches the vehicle, and three answers come next: which fluid, which quantity, and whether it has run. Your price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers shape the work.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed 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 does not rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel is put in after your filter is flushed or changed, and the car is then tested. If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Starting the engine comes last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers check it is running properly, and then we leave. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very rare if it has been spotted early. Nothing is paid upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while we travel is worthwhile.
About Park Street itself
Park Street is a village in Hertfordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 70 metres, with St Albans just 2.1 miles away. Park Street lies within commuting distance of London, approximately 17.4 miles from the capital. Park Street has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly composed of flats, and is near to other local places such as Frogmore and How Wood. Park Street is a relatively small community with a population of around 1611 people.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Park Street included
Park Street is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, How Wood and Napsbury among them, across the AL postcode area. The location is clearest from a postcode that starts AL2 2.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Stroud Wood or in a car park in the middle of Park Street, it doesn't need to move. Wherever it stands, that's where it gets cleared. Awkward to explain? By Roman Villa or a border? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
Your scenario, in one line
Engine never started: ring, and leave it alone. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Park Street and anywhere in Hertfordshire on 0333 366 0103.