AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Rotherhithe? Don't Start It
If AdBlue has got into the diesel tank, leave the motor off then leave your ignition off. Urea mixed in water is what AdBlue is. Being water-based, it won't ignite and won't blend with diesel; damage just starts once your pump starts pulling it. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Rotherhithe, is usually what AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it's caught before the motor has been run. First, ring us on 0333 366 0103.
Your next steps straight away, Rotherhithe: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Things to do:
- So no one can turn the ignition on, pull the keys away.
- Put your hazards on if you're anywhere near moving traffic.
- Keep your receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what went in and about how much.
- Tell us a postcode starting SE16 6, or whatever street is nearest, and the van reaches you directly — so call wherever you stand.
Don't do these:
- Shifting your car just a few yards is no reason to fire up your motor.
- Many diesels run their fuel pump the moment the ignition comes on, so leave it off.
- Don't top up with diesel to dilute it. AdBlue doesn't dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Leave it where it is rather than driving it anywhere, even a short stretch up Canada Street.
- No draining it yourself, either, at the verge.
On a forecourt around Rotherhithe, whether it's the Tesco or another one, ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle away from the petrol pump. At home, the car stays exactly where it was left.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
Not the motor but your exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it's fed into the exhaust, and there it treats the gas. Nothing in a fuel pump is designed for this fluid — and none of that was meant to travel through one.
Fuel mixes; AdBlue, once poured in, will not. The behaviour is nothing like fuel's. Heavier than diesel, it sinks and pools below it — the very spot the pickup sucks from. The first thing the system pulls through, once it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in St George in the East last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the simple case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has pulled it in.
After it is pulled in, the harm comes in two forms. It eats at some metals used in fuel components, attacking any part it touches until it is removed completely. And once the water evaporates, the urea turns into crystals that block filters and lodge in narrow channels. Overnight, a car parked in Rotherhithe with AdBlue through its pipework gets worse; if it is just inside that tank, it doesn't. Then there's the water: it brings no lubrication to the components that rely on it most — the injection pump and each injector.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is often worse
Fill a diesel with petrol by mistake over at the Shell, and this issue is thinned fuel. Harm just comes from running on it. Blended into the diesel and left inside the tank, it does nothing.
AdBlue in a diesel is a problem of the wrong substance altogether. Since it does not burn, running it through is not an option. Nor can it be thinned, because it splits again — and the next tankful won't rinse away crystals or corrosion. So the flush matters for more here, and trying your engine "to see", in the centre of Rotherhithe or out in Ratcliff, does more harm than nearly any other error.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. Anywhere in Greater London the car has come to rest, an unstarted engine leaves the AdBlue still inside the tank: the easiest part of any fuel system to clear.
Rotherhithe: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
It's not on purpose. Many vehicles have the AdBlue cap alongside the diesel one, occasionally behind a single flap, and mixing them up is simple in poor light. A container bought while heading home and tipped in at home, rather than at the filling station, is the typical route.
The ways it occurs are few and familiar. Midway through the drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside Alfred Salter Primary School the refill is rushed. Close to Wolfe Crescent, someone tips a container in at home in the evening. Else, after dark by The Brunel, the vehicle is topped up by a driver opening that flap for the first time.
It occurs most in the motors people know least: a hire car, a new car, a company car, or the second car of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Leave it switched off: that's the first step to an identical slip, wherever around Rotherhithe or the remainder of Greater London you are.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Rotherhithe, and the engine started?
The AdBlue has left that tank, then. Your filter and pipework have had it pulled along, and any running time carries it on to the high-pressure pump and each injector.
Maybe coming back from Wolfe Crescent, or midway across Rotherhithe, your engine may go rough, smoke, drop power, flash the dash or cut out. Pull over when it is safe. Switch off. Keep the car off rather than testing it again. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
Exit the M11, under 10 miles from Rotherhithe, at the first junction and stop safely, rather than driving on.
Mileage counts: each mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in, so heading towards London, under 3 miles away, gives a far bigger job than crossing Rotherhithe to the car park by Phantom Peak. Let us know about how far it had come.
Once the engine has been run, the flush takes in more, and all of it is done where your car has stopped. If it's spotted soon, long-term damage is very rare.
Emptying AdBlue in a diesel around Rotherhithe: what it takes
A road by Canada Water Library, a driveway, a lay-by or a forecourt: anywhere your car has stopped in Rotherhithe, we come to it. What was put in, roughly how much, plus whether the motor has turned over: our engineers check before all else, since those shape the work.
Next, emptying that tank right there takes out the polluted diesel and the AdBlue together. With AdBlue, far more than with petrol, the flush matters: the whole system is flushed all the way through since what remains won't wash out unaided. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Not run? In that case expect about half an hour on site for most jobs. The equipment is explosion-proof, and so a busy forecourt is no fault, and it's hushed enough for a residential street late at night.
Finally, the fuel system is primed with fresh diesel. You head off as soon as our engineers have fired it up, and it makes no difference whether the car is on a driveway around Rotherhithe or in a bay at Canada Water. We check it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we leave. Since the job is done in its entirety where your car is, a garage never comes into it. Your insurer is likely to want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — each handed over once this job is done.
About Rotherhithe itself
Rotherhithe is a suburban area in southeast London, situated on the southern bank of the River Thames. Rotherhithe sits at a low elevation of around 7 metres, adjacent to Surrey Quays and close to the city centre. Rotherhithe is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and its proximity to the river, with nearby areas including Tavern Quay and Shadwell. Rotherhithe is home to a population of approximately 15,247 people.
AdBlue drains across Rotherhithe and Greater London
Over the SE postcode area, the vans taking AdBlue jobs in Rotherhithe reach much of Greater London too, Surrey Quays, Tavern Quay and Shadwell among them. Phone and ask rather than guess if you're close to a county line, or somewhere awkward to explain.
No towing is needed. In Rotherhithe, a residential suburb, a mobile service works: the vehicle is drained on the spot, be it on a drive, a side street, a car park or a forecourt.
Rotherhithe: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Because the jobs differ, a single figure would not be honest. Three things shift the price: whether the engine has run and for how long, how much AdBlue was put in, and where the car is. That last one rests on whether a van can get to it safely, and an open driveway is simpler than a tight space behind Corner Corner.
Which fluid got in, how much, and if the engine ran: each Rotherhithe enquiry opens with precisely that, ahead of any quote, never after. Those replies narrow a range right down to one figure.
Before a van heads out, you hear the price by phone. And payment is on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. As our engineer is travelling, check your insurance: plenty include misfuelling.
Rotherhithe: still alongside the car?
Right now, the best thing to do with your car is to not touch it. Keys out; engine and ignition off. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Rotherhithe or wherever within Greater London, once you call 0333 366 0103 to say it was AdBlue, about how big an amount, and if the engine ran.