AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Close: What Now?
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single question decides nearly everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around The Close itself or out in Gas Hill. Switch nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, done right where your car sits around The Close. Pull over the minute it is safe then switch off, if it has already run. A larger job, yes, but the identical opening move.
Below: the cases we see, wherever across Norfolk. Choose the one that fits.
On a The Close forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Be it JET, Esso or somewhere else around The Close, the case is identical.
Put simply: there is no better spot to be to spot it. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the temptation to start it just to move away from the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand rolling it into a space, save the bottle, then phone us from there. Draining it right at the pump is fine when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in The Close with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. 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. Homes just off Bedding Lane get hit as often as anywhere else.
The point: zero driving since makes this nearly as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Put the keys indoors tonight — otherwise someone may drive it away at breakfast — then phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is around The Close or out in Coslany. Our pumping kit works quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
The Close: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two after topping up, your engine started playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Saint Martin at Palace Plain, say, or the route to Norwich — a trip of under a mile.
What it means: your fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, once the fuel filter and pipework have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Pull in safely — that is the next job — then turn it off. Leave at the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M11, over 50 miles from The Close. No trial restarts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Tell us know the mileage covered as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You've just driven the vehicle a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right next to the diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you are around Norfolk, any motorist can slip up.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or not — plus one further step. Work on the vehicle frequently requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at Norwich, or near Bishop's Chapel? Keep the car off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, The Close?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. Maybe on a friend's drive in Chapelfield Grove, or rushing outside Charles Darwin Primary School on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to your engine. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another story. Turning on the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would suck it in.
Next: assume it got in, and keep the engine off. Tell us what you saw on your phone. A clear tank looked at is a better outcome than a run one drained.
The Close: what every AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the case, one opening is used. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside Wig And Pen or a side street close to Saint Martin at Palace Plain, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and whether the engine has been run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then comes your filter — cleaned, or swapped when needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Our engineers start the engine at the end. Before we head off, it's tested to confirm it runs properly on clean diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, and when it is caught quickly, lasting damage is very rare. Payment comes on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as we travel pays.
About The Close, briefly
The Close is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Norwich, adjacent to the city centre and near the River Wensum. The Close is characterized by its lakeside setting and low elevation of around 9 metres, with a mix of residential and other land uses. The Close is close to nearby places such as Coslany and Thorpe Hamlet, and is home to a population of approximately 7790 people, predominantly living in flats.
AdBlue drains about The Close and across Norfolk
The Close is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Norwich and Thorpe Hamlet among them, across the NR postcode area. Fastest of all: a NR3 1 postcode to show where you stand.
Centre of The Close or a layby near The Oasis: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to move at all for this drain. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near Magistrates' Court, close to a border or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in The Close and anywhere across Norfolk on 0333 366 0103.