What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Swanley
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has run since it got in. Over in Crockenhill or right around Swanley, an unstarted motor should stay unrun. Leave the motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Swanley. Where your engine has run, pull in safely first, then turn the car off. It is a larger job, though step one doesn't change.
Compare what happened to one of the ones below, wherever in Kent you are.
On a Swanley forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It could be the Asda Express, or the BP, or another station in Swanley.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it only to free up the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push your car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Can't move the car by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, so we can drain the car in place.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Swanley
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the drive. Drives close to Bartholomew Way get it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of that tank is exactly where AdBlue stays, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Next: the keys in the house, so nobody takes the vehicle off first thing. After that, ring. Your driveway is where it gets drained, be it in Swanley or White Oak. Our equipment works quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Swanley: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, drove away, and before long the motor was running roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe driving to London, under 15 miles away, or simply down St Marys Road.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into your fuel system. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with each mile covered and each restart.
Your move: pull up anywhere sensible, then turn the motor off. Service stations farther on can wait: from the M20, under a mile out of Swanley, use the first junction. It won't have cleared, so there is no sense starting it again to check. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is right next to the diesel cap — news to you. Across Kent, nobody is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Swanley War Memorial, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Swanley: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe at a friend's drive in Stonehill Green, or in a rush outside St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary School, Swanley on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the engine. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Assume it was put in, and don't start the key. Ring and give the details: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has run.
Each AdBlue drain in Swanley shares these stages
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Three questions are asked when our engineers reach your car — at a filling station, a drive, a street beside Swanley Library or the car park at The Cotton Mill: the liquid, the quantity, and if it has run. Your price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies set the job.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's essential, since deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. Last are the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
The last step is firing it up. Our engineers check it runs correctly on clean diesel before we go. Our engineers do the entire job where your car is, and long-term damage is very uncommon if it has been spotted early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Swanley
Swanley is a town in north-west Kent, situated approximately 15 miles south-east of central London. Swanley sits in a valley at an elevation of around 80 metres, surrounded by nearby places such as White Oak, Hockenden, and Hextable. Swanley has a population of around 18,887 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains around Swanley and across Kent
Throughout BR postcodes, the vans covering Swanley — a town — reach surrounding towns too, Hockenden and Hextable among them. Quickest of all: a BR8 7 postcode for where you stand.
No moving is needed, whether parked centrally in Swanley or in a lay-by heading to Bartholomew Way Park, so keep it put. Where it stands, that is where it gets cleared. Awkward to explain? Close to St Mary the Virgin or a border? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run already: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Swanley or wherever across Kent.