AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Parsons Heath: What Now?
One fact counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether the motor has been started since. Anywhere the car is — Crockleford Hill, Parsons Heath — don't run an engine that hasn't been started yet. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, done just where the vehicle stands around Parsons Heath. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It is a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, wherever around Essex you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Parsons Heath forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Anywhere in Parsons Heath, then — BP, Tesco, or somewhere else close by.
In short: no better place to be to discover it. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only in that tank.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Parsons Heath
Days had passed with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Homes just off Vale Close get hit as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Being unable to mix, AdBlue settles low in the tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Welshwood Park or here in Parsons Heath, the draining happens on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Parsons Heath: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way after filling up, your engine started playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Campbell Drive, say, or the route to Colchester — a trip of under 3 miles.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. Through the filter, through the pipework, and — the more the mileage — on into the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Pull in safely — that's the next job — then switch everything off. Services farther on can wait: from the M11, under 50 miles out of Parsons Heath, use the next junction. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Let us know the mileage driven when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week ago, it was unknown to you. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Across Essex, no one is safe from it.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the cases above, and those turn on whether it's run. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Stranded near Parsons Heath Baptist Church or outside Hythe till the firm replies, your vehicle stays switched off the whole time.
Parsons Heath: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A hurried top-up by the gates of Parsons Heath Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Crockleford Heath: both fit.
In short: a spill round the filler leaves the motor unharmed. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the vehicle would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, and leave your motor off. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one after it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain in Parsons Heath shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Our technicians come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Friar or a side street close to St Matthew, Colchester, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and whether the motor has run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the job too.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses away unaided. Next comes the filter — flushed, or swapped when necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Where your motor hasn't been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most jobs.
Our technicians start the car at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we leave. We do the whole job where the car is, and long-term damage is very rare when it has been caught quickly. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Parsons Heath itself
Parsons Heath is a suburban area located near Colchester in Essex, sitting at an elevation of around 35 metres in the inland landscape of eastern England. Parsons Heath is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is situated close to nearby places such as Welshwood Park and Greenstead. Parsons Heath is also near Fox Street and is part of the wider Colchester urban area, with the city centre just 1.8 miles away. Parsons Heath has a population of approximately 4316 residents.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Parsons Heath included
Parsons Heath is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Greenstead and Fox Street among them, across the CO postcode area. Giving us your CO4 0 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Central Parsons Heath or a lay-by near Welsh Wood: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to shift an inch for the drain. Our engineers drain it where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Oak Tree Centre & Acorn Hall or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
In one line: your situation
Unstarted? Keep it off and ring. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Parsons Heath or wherever across Essex.