What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Platt
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single question settles nearly everything about what comes next. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in Platt itself or out in Claygate Cross. Leave your engine and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Platt. Already started? Stop when safe, then switch it off. Step one stays unchanged, even though the work is bigger.
Further down: the situations our engineers see, anywhere in Kent. Pick the one that fits.
At the pump in Platt: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: stood by the pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the right one. Anywhere around Platt, then — Esso, Shell, or anywhere else nearby.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it gets. Only your tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has taken it in.
Do this: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the pump wants freeing. Ring us from the forecourt after your vehicle sits in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to roll it — and keep the receipt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine if it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Platt with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. Bought a container, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, after the fact. Just off Long Mill Lane is no different from any other place.
In short: if the car has not moved since, it is almost as good as spotting it at the pump. At the bottom of the tank sits where AdBlue waits, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Next: stop an early move by keeping the keys indoors, then ring us. Borough Green or Platt: whichever your drive sits, that's where it gets emptied. Night-time empties outside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
On the road around Platt with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, drove away, and before long your engine was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Grange Road, perhaps, or the way towards London — a run of under 25 miles.
Meaning? The pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it as well on a longer trip, once your filter and pipework have had it. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Stop somewhere safe — that is the first step — then turn everything off. Services further on can wait: on the M26, under a mile out of Platt, use the first junction. It won't have cleared, so there's no point starting it again to check. Call, and say what distance the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this car hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is just by your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Anywhere you are across Kent, any driver can be caught.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, which depend on whether it has run. Plenty of rental and fleet contracts need the owner's approval for repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we arrive than after. If you're stranded in the car park at Borough Green & Wrotham, or by St. Mary's, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Platt
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". What cap came off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of Platt Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Wrotham Heath.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to your engine. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: assume it got in, then keep your engine off. Ring 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 every Platt AdBlue drain
Whatever the situation, one opening applies. Three questions come when our technicians reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a street beside Borough Green Library or the car park outside Blue Anchor: the fluid, the quantity, and if it has been started. Replies shape the job; the quote follows on the call whilst no one has left yet.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a full flush — more important after urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, however long you wait. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment we turn up.
Finally, our technicians fire it up. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it is running properly, and then we leave. The entire job is done where your car is, and when it's noticed quickly, permanent damage is very unusual. Payment is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many policies include misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Platt and where it is
Platt is a small village in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of around 97 metres. Platt lies within the commuter belt, approximately 24.6 miles from London, and is near the villages of Borough Green, Comp, and Crouch. Platt has a population of around 953 residents, predominantly living in detached houses.
AdBlue drains round Platt and across Kent
Comp and Crouch get the identical teams as Platt, a rural village, along with further towns throughout TN postcodes. A postcode starting TN15 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, whether parked centrally in Platt or in a layby en route to St George's Field, so keep it put. Wherever it sits, that is where it is emptied. Guessing won't help beside Borough Green Village Hall, close to a county line or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
The one-line version
If it has not run, ring and leave it that way. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Platt or wherever across Kent.