AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Camp: What Now?
All of that turns on one fact: if your engine has started since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not run yet? Then keep it like that, whether the car sits — The Camp or Napsbury. Leave the engine and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around The Camp. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Stage one remains the same, even if the job grows.
Match what happened to one of the list below, wherever around Hertfordshire you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a The Camp forecourt
You are 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. Somewhere around The Camp, then — Morrisons, Esso, or anywhere else close by.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it gets. Just your tank holds AdBlue; not one component beyond it has taken it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — so don't get back in. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. If it cannot be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in The Camp
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap again, too late. Just off Aldwick is not different from anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car has not been driven since, it is second to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Your move: the keys in the house, so nobody drives the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Fleetville or The Camp: whichever your driveway is, that's where it gets cleared. The pumping kit works quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around The Camp?
A mile or two beyond filling up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Maybe it was on Cell Barnes Lane, possibly on the way out towards St Albans, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through already. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It travels further with each extra mile driven and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible place, pull in, then turn your motor off. The Camp lies under 3 miles from the M25; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on for the services. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have just had this vehicle for days. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Hertfordshire.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Any work on the car frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under rental or company terms.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, because settling it beforehand cuts time. If you are stranded in the car park outside St Albans, or by Cornerstone Church, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
The Camp: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of Cunningham Hill Infant School, or a call to a friend in St Albans: either fits.
Meaning? Drips around the filler don't reach the motor at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will suck in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn your engine. Ring us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every The Camp AdBlue drain
Each situation has the same opening to the work. Our engineers come to your car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Old Toll House or a side street close to Saint Luke's Church, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has run. Those replies settle this work, and you hear our price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out on its own; that is why the flush, after the drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Clean diesel goes in once the filter is flushed or changed, and the car is finally checked. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The last step is starting the engine. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we go. Long-term damage is very uncommon if it is spotted quickly, and the entire job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About The Camp, briefly
The Camp is a suburban area located near St Albans in Hertfordshire, sitting at an elevation of around 98 metres in the inland landscape of the Eastern region. The Camp is situated close to nearby places such as Fleetville, Sopwell, and Tyttenhanger, and is approximately 18.2 miles from London. The Camp has a population of around 8528 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, The Camp included
The Camp is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Sopwell and Tyttenhanger among them, across the AL postcode area. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode that starts AL1 5.
Stopped heading to Cunningham Hill Green Space, or bang in the heart of The Camp, the vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to shift it at all. Our engineers drain the car where it is. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to St Albans Organ Theatre or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your scenario, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Hertfordshire and within The Camp — once you pull over, switch off and phone, if it has run.