What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in South Malling
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue got in? That one question settles almost everything else from here. Out in Landport or right in South Malling, an unrun motor should stay that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle sits in South Malling. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then switch everything off. A bigger job, then, yet the same opening move.
Match what happened to one of the list below, anywhere across East Sussex you happen to be.
At the pump in South Malling: AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, bottle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Maybe you are at the Tesco, perhaps at the BP, maybe somewhere else around South Malling.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it gets. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. If it cannot be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a South Malling drive?
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Drives near Church Lane see it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car hasn't been driven since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: prevent an early-morning drive by putting the keys indoors, then phone us. Your drive is where it gets drained, be it around South Malling or Cliffe. Late-night drains outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around South Malling?
A mile or two after topping up, your motor began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Possibly it was on Fitzgerald Road, maybe on the way out towards Brighton and Hove, under 10 miles away.
What it means: the system has pulled the AdBlue in. It's been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Each restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Next: find a safe spot, pull in, and turn the motor off. Exit at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M23, under 25 miles from South Malling. It will not have cleared, and so there is no sense starting it again to check. Phone, saying how far the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, the car was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right by the diesel cap — news to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in East Sussex.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or unrun — and one further stage. Many hire and company contracts require the owner's approval before repairs.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. If you're stuck in the car park at Lewes, or by South Malling Parish Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around South Malling
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. A slight ammonia-like whiff hangs around the filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at South Malling CofE Primary and Nursery School, or on a friend's drive in Wallands Park.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to your motor. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Assume it got in, and don't turn your key. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one once it has been run — so phone and tell us what you noticed.
What each AdBlue drain in South Malling has in common
No matter the situation, a single opening is used. Wherever the vehicle is — Abyss Brewery's car park, a street by Kings Church, a drive, a filling station — the van arrives and we ask for the liquid, the quantity, plus whether the motor has been run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear the price, and those answers shape the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel goes in after the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and the car is then tested. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians get there.
Firing it up comes last. We check it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it's spotted soon, long-term damage is very unusual. Nothing is taken upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About South Malling and where it is
South Malling is a suburban area situated on the banks of the River Ouse in East Sussex, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 3155 residents. South Malling sits at an elevation of 21 metres, close to the historic town of Lewes and the nearby settlements of Cliffe and Cuilfail. South Malling is located near the city of Brighton and Hove, approximately 8 miles away, and is within commuting distance of London, which is around 43.6 miles to the north. South Malling's riverside setting provides a distinctive character to the area.
South Malling and East Sussex: AdBlue drains across the area
Cuilfail and Lewes get the same vans as South Malling, a residential suburb, plus further towns over BN postcodes. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode beginning BN7 2.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Malling Recreation Ground or in a car park in the middle of South Malling, it doesn't need to shift. Where it sits, that's where it is drained. Guessing doesn't help near Russian Memorial, close to a county line or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Run by now: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within South Malling or anywhere across East Sussex.