AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Hythe, and What to Do Next
One fact matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether the engine has run afterwards. Not started yet? Then keep the vehicle that way, whether the vehicle is — The Hythe or Colchester. Leave your motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in The Hythe. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then turn it off. A larger job, then, but the identical opening step.
Below: the cases our technicians see, anywhere in Essex. Pick yours.
The Hythe forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Whether Tesco, Murco or anywhere else in The Hythe, the situation is identical.
The upshot: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. No pump has drawn it through, so the AdBlue sits only in the tank.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs freeing. Three things: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is cleared where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in The Hythe
Days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Houses just off Distillery Lane get caught out as often as everywhere else.
Meaning? As long as your car hasn't been driven since, it's close to the forecourt case. On the floor of that tank is exactly where AdBlue waits, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing changes nothing of the difference.
Next: keys indoors, and so no one drives the vehicle off at breakfast. Then, phone. Your drive is where it is drained, whether in The Hythe or Old Heath. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around The Hythe?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the fill. Maybe it was on Waterside Lane, maybe on the way out towards Colchester, under 3 miles away.
What it means: the system has pulled the AdBlue in. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It travels further with every extra mile driven and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible place, pull in, then turn the motor off. Exit by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M11, under 50 miles from The Hythe. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
It's a car you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just beside your diesel. Any driver, wherever in Essex, might do the same.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts too — run or not — and one extra step. Any work on your car frequently needs the owner's approval under hire or fleet terms.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we get there than after. Stranded near Colchester Christian Spiritualist Church or at Hythe till the firm replies, the car stays turned off the whole time.
The Hythe: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Kendall Church of England Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Berechurch.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to your engine. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and never start the motor. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain around The Hythe has in common
Each situation gets the same start to the job. Our technicians come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Spinnaker or a side street close to Hythe Community Centre, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has run. Answers set the work; the price follows on the call whilst no one has left yet.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a full flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a check of your car. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers turn up.
Finally, we start it. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it's running properly, and then we leave. Our technicians do the whole job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very unusual if it has been caught soon. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you get what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About The Hythe and where it is
The Hythe is a suburban area located on the River Colne in Essex, with a mix of residential and industrial development. The Hythe sits at a low elevation of around 6 metres, close to the city of Colchester and near other local areas such as Old Heath and Greenstead. The Hythe is characterized by its predominantly flat housing stock, with many residents enjoying views of the river. The Hythe is also relatively distant from London, at around 52 miles away.
AdBlue drains around The Hythe and across Essex
As a residential suburb, The Hythe has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Abbey Field, Greenstead — all the way through CO postcodes. A postcode starting CO2 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Scarletts Wood or in a car park in the middle of The Hythe, it does not need to move. The van empties it in place. Ring and ask rather than guess if you're by Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, near a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Essex and in The Hythe — once you stop, turn off and ring, if it's run.