AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stone, and What to Do Next
Has your engine run since the AdBlue went in? That single question settles almost everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in Stone itself or out in Crossways. Leave your engine and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Stone. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Stage one stays the same, even if the job grows.
Compare your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever around Kent you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Stone forecourt
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Possibly you're at the Asda, maybe at the Esso, maybe somewhere else in Stone.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it can be. Just the tank holds AdBlue; no component past it has taken it in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the queue wants freeing. Have the staff to help pushing it to a bay, save the receipt, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets drained where it is at the pump.
Stone, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Houses just off London Road get hit as often as anywhere else.
In short: if the car has not been driven since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone might take it off first thing — and call us. In Horns Cross or right here in Stone, the draining is done at your driveway. Our pumping kit works quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Stone?
Filled up, drove away, and before long the engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe driving for London, under 25 miles away, or simply down Stone Place Road.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Through your filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first job — then switch everything off. Services further on can wait: from the M25, under 3 miles out of Stone, take the first junction. No trial starts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. Call, saying how far your car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a motor you have had for a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just next to your diesel. Anyone, anywhere around Kent, might do the same.
Meaning? Whichever applies above applies too — run or unrun — plus one further stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before the van arrives is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Waiting for a reply at the car park at Stone Crossing, or near St Mary the Virgin, Stone Parish Church? Keep the engine off meanwhile.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Stone?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like whiff lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. The gates of Stone St Mary's CofE Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Swanscombe.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to your engine. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the car will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and never start your key. Ring and give what you saw: we'd rather find a clean tank than empty one once the engine has run.
Stone: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each case gets the same start to the work. Three questions are asked once our engineers arrive — at a forecourt, a drive, a street beside Stone Parish Council or the car park at The Bull: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has run. Replies shape the job; the price follows by phone whilst no one has left yet.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's essential, since deposits form and certain metals corrode, and neither washes out unaided. Then comes the filter — flushed, or swapped when needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of the car. Where the motor has not been started, allow about half an hour on site, in most cases.
The final step is starting it. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running properly, and then we leave. Our technicians do the entire job where your car is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. Paying is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Stone itself
Stone is a village in Kent, situated on the lakeside at an elevation of 37 metres, with a mix of flat housing and other residential properties. Stone lies close to the major urban centre of London, approximately 16 miles away, and is near other places such as Horns Cross and Greenhithe. Stone has a population of around 1386 people and is also near the large shopping centre at Bluewater. Stone is part of the wider South East region of England.
AdBlue drains around Stone and across Kent
Stone is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Bluewater and Greenhithe among them, across the DA postcode area. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts DA9 9.
No towing is required, whether stopped in the centre of Stone or in a layby en route to Worcester Park, so leave it where it is. Our van drains it in place. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near Stone Park War Memorial or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your situation, in one line
Where it has not run, phone and leave it that way. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Kent and within Stone — after you stop, turn off and ring, if it's run.