AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Shalmsford Street, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on a single detail: if the engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Wherever your car stands — Chartham Hatch, Shalmsford Street — never run an engine that has not been started yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush plus a drain, done just where your car stands in Shalmsford Street. Pull over the minute you safely can and turn off, if it has been run. A bigger job, yes, but the identical first step.
Further down: the cases our engineers see, anywhere around Kent. Choose the one that fits.
On a Shalmsford Street forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Maybe you're at the BP, perhaps at the Esso, perhaps somewhere else around Shalmsford Street.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it in, so the AdBlue stays just in your tank.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, even if the queue needs clearing. Get the attendants to help pushing it to a bay, save the bottle, then phone us right there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away is drained where it is at the pump.
At home around Shalmsford Street with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle from the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it's just at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Bobbin Lodge Hill get caught out as often as everywhere else.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle has not moved since, it is close to the forecourt case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put your keys in the house tonight — or a person may drive it away at breakfast — then phone us. We drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's in Shalmsford Street or out in Mystole. Our pumping kit works quiet enough not to disturb the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Shalmsford Street?
Topped up, drove away, and before long your engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Somewhere along Bolts Hill or else heading towards Canterbury — under 5 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then switch your motor off. Service stations farther on are too far: on the M2, under 5 miles out of Shalmsford Street, take the next junction. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. About how far did it go? Tell us when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have just had the vehicle a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Kent, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Work on the vehicle often requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet terms.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. Hanging on for an answer at the car park outside Chartham, or beside Chartham Cemetery? Leave your car off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Shalmsford Street?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Look familiar? It might have been at a friend's drive in Old Wives Lees, or rushing by Chartham Primary School at the school run.
The upshot: your motor isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the car. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Every AdBlue drain in Shalmsford Street shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Anywhere your car stands — The Artichoke's car park, a street beside St Mary's Church, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask for the fluid, the quantity, plus whether the motor has turned over. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and the replies shape the work.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, so it won't wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after the drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then is the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced where necessary — then clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Last, our technicians fire it up. Our check that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our engineers go. When it's spotted soon, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Shalmsford Street, briefly
Shalmsford Street is a village situated on the River Stour in Kent, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 1001 residents. Shalmsford Street lies near the city of Canterbury, approximately 3.7 miles away, and is also close to the villages of Mystole and Chartham. Shalmsford Street has a relatively low elevation of 38 metres above sea level, giving it a riverside setting. Shalmsford Street is located in the South East region of England, about 51.9 miles from London.
Shalmsford Street and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Chartham and St Augustines have the identical vans as Shalmsford Street, a village, plus further places over CT postcodes. A postcode starting CT4 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether parked in the centre of Shalmsford Street or in a layby en route to Baker's Wood, so leave it put. The van drains it in place. Tricky to explain? By Chartham Village Hall or a county line? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
Your situation, in one line
Where it hasn't started, ring then leave it that way. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, across Shalmsford Street and Kent, on 0333 366 0103.