Sturry: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has run since it went in. Not run so far? Then leave the car like that, wherever the vehicle is — Sturry or Scotland Hills. Normally this is emptying and properly rinsing it right there around Sturry — so leave the key and engine off then phone 0333 366 0103. Already run? Pull over when safe, then switch it off. Step one stays the same, even if the work is bigger.
Compare what happened to one of the ones below, anywhere in Kent you are.
On a Sturry forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle still in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Maybe you are at the Esso, maybe at the Asda, perhaps somewhere else around Sturry.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, this is the best. Still in your tank, and nothing pulled through: that is where the AdBlue is.
Next: avoid the urge to start it just to free up the petrol pump. Three things: a push into a bay with the attendants helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
At home around Sturry with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. Bought a bottle, tipped it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, too late. Houses just off Field Way are hit as often as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put the keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person may take it off first thing — then phone us. Out in Fordwich or right here in Sturry, the draining happens on your drive. Late-night empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Sturry: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Possibly it was on A28, perhaps on the way out towards Canterbury, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through by now. Past the filter, through the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so and switch off. Sturry lies under 10 miles from the M2; there, come off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly what distance did it gone? Tell us when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've just had this vehicle a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Kent.
The point: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with an added stage. Any work on your car often requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers turn up than after. Keep it off while the reply arrives, even if you're waiting at the nearest station or near Sturry Library.
Sturry: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Look familiar? The gates of Sturry Church of England Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway out in Calcott.
The point: the motor is not harmed by some AdBlue spilled around the outside. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up your car would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: behave as though it got in, and don't start your motor. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank checked is a better result than an already-run one emptied.
What each AdBlue drain around Sturry has in common
Whatever the situation, one start is used. Wherever your vehicle is — Fordwich Arms's car park, a road beside St. Nicholas, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and asks for the fluid, the quantity, and whether your motor has been run. Replies shape the job; the quote follows on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
Then that tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Last come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your car. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers arrive.
The last step is starting the engine. Our test that it runs correctly on new diesel comes before our engineers head off. Long-term damage is very unusual if it's spotted soon, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Sturry itself
Sturry is a village in Kent, situated on the banks of the River Stour and adjacent to the Stodmarsh Lakes, with an elevation of around 6 metres above sea level. Sturry lies close to the city of Canterbury, which is approximately 2.3 miles away, and is surrounded by other nearby places such as Fordwich, Broad Oak, and Westbere. Sturry has a population of around 1056 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains about Sturry and across Kent
Over CT postcodes, the vans serving Sturry — a village — work surrounding towns too, Broad Oak and Westbere included. A postcode starting CT2 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is required, be it parked centrally in Sturry or on a layby en route to Sturry Park, so keep it where it is. Draining happens right there. Guessing won't help beside Sturry Social Centre, on a county line or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and check.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Sturry or anywhere across Kent.