AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Swillett: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has run since it went in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in The Swillett itself or out in Chorleywood. Leave your engine and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around The Swillett. Where your engine has been run, stop somewhere safe first, then turn it off. Stage one stays the same, even though the job grows.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere in Hertfordshire you are.
At the pump around The Swillett: 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. Be it Shell, BP or somewhere else around The Swillett, the case is the same.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. Only that tank holds AdBlue; not one part beyond it has drawn any in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — and so do not get back in. Ring us from the forecourt once the car sits in a space — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — then save the receipt. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Explosion-proof equipment keeps a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle in place.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a The Swillett drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it was just at the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Drives near Stag Lane get it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle has not moved since, it is close to the forecourt case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in that tank and stays. A night standing changes nothing.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Heronsgate or right here in The Swillett, the drain happens on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around The Swillett?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long the engine was turning roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Maybe it was on Heronsgate Road, perhaps on the way out towards St Albans, under 15 miles away.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue through by now. It has been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Services further on are too far: from the M25, under a mile out of The Swillett, use the first junction. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Call, and say how far your vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week ago, it was new to you. Your own car either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet was just next to your diesel. Wherever you happen to be around Hertfordshire, every motorist can slip up.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts too — run or not — plus one extra step. Any work on your car often needs the owner's approval under rental or company agreements.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Stranded near JK Club or outside Chorleywood until someone replies, your car stays turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around The Swillett?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. A slight ammonia whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of Chorleywood Primary School in a hurry, say, or a friend's drive over in Mill End.
The upshot: your motor is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed on the outside. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by turning on your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your motor off. Tell us what you saw on your phone. A clean tank checked counts as a happier outcome than a run one drained.
What each AdBlue drain around The Swillett has in common
The job opens identically, whichever your situation. Wherever your vehicle stands — The Stag's car park, a road beside Bullsland Hall, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks about the liquid, the quantity, plus if your motor has been run. Those replies settle this work, and you get the quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, because crystals form and some metals are attacked, and neither washes away unaided. Then is the filter — cleaned, or replaced where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
We fire it up last. We confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it's caught early, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About The Swillett and where it is
The Swillett is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 19.6 miles northwest of London and 10.9 miles southwest of St Albans. The Swillett sits at an elevation of around 127 metres, in a generally low-lying area of the Chiltern Hills. The Swillett is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, with nearby places including Heronsgate, Chorleywood Bottom, and Chorleywood West. The Swillett has a population of around 2139 residents.
AdBlue drains around The Swillett, and across Hertfordshire too
The Swillett is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Chorleywood Bottom and Chorleywood West among them, across the WD postcode area. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning WD3 5.
Parked heading to the green space at the edge of the village, or bang in the heart of The Swillett, your vehicle stays where it is — there's no need to move it at all. The drain is done right there. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you're by Heronsgate Hall, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave it off then phone. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whatever it is, across The Swillett and Hertfordshire, on 0333 366 0103.