AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thorns? Keep It Switched Off
If AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank, leave the motor off and keep the ignition off. Urea mixed in water is all AdBlue is. Not like fuel, it neither ignites nor mixes, and nothing happens till the motor pulls it through. In Thorns, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the engine runs usually comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where the vehicle is. Before you do anything else, call 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank around Thorns
To do:
- Pull your keys out, and so nobody switches the ignition on.
- Near moving traffic? So put the hazards on.
- So you can tell us which liquid it was and roughly what quantity, keep your receipt or the empty bottle.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting CB8 8, or the name of the nearest street, brings our van to you without a search.
Don't:
- No starting the engine — not briefly, not to shift your vehicle.
- Do not switch your ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- AdBlue doesn't mix in diesel — it separates out — so adding more diesel will not thin it.
- Never drive the car anywhere, not even a short stretch along Thorns Close.
- Beside the road, don't attempt emptying it on your own.
The staff working at any Thorns forecourt — the the nearest petrol station among them — will usually lend a hand rolling it clear if you ask. On your own drive, don't touch it at all.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. Its own reservoir holds it, and from there it is sprayed into the exhaust, and there it cleans the gas. Nothing in it is supposed to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is made to handle it.
Fuel mixes; AdBlue, after poured in, will not. Its behaviour is not at all like fuel's. It drops, because it is heavier than diesel, and pools down where the intake takes its supply from. Once your pump runs, the AdBlue is first to be pulled through. Until then it waits underneath your diesel, and that is how a vehicle topped up in Coltsfoot Green last night and never started stays the straightforward one, provided nobody turns the key.
Once it's pulled in, the damage takes two forms. It attacks certain metals used in fuel components, working on any part it reaches until it's cleared from your system. And when the water evaporates, the urea forms crystals that clog filters and lodge in narrow passages. If the AdBlue has reached the pipework, waiting till morning around Thorns leaves it worse. Inside that tank alone, time costs nothing. And there's the water: it brings no protection to the parts that need it the most — the high-pressure pump and every injector.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it is frequently worse than petrol
Fill a diesel with petrol in error at the another forecourt nearby, and the problem is diluted fuel. Mixed through the diesel and sitting unused, it is harmless for now; running the engine does the harm.
AdBlue in a diesel is a fault of the wrong substance altogether. Because it does not burn, running it through isn't an option. Whether the car is in Attleton Green or the centre of Thorns, firing it up "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other error, and the flush matters for more. The reasons: it won't remain mixed, and so watering it down is impossible; and crystals and corrosion survive the next tankful.
As with petrol, there is good news. Clearing a tank is the simplest job on a fuel system, and with no running, the AdBlue stays in it — anywhere in Suffolk the vehicle sits.
Thorns: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
Many motors place the AdBlue cap alongside the diesel cap, now and then behind a single flap, and after dark the two may appear the same. No one means it. Usually it is never the filling station: someone picks up a container heading home and pours it in at home.
It tends to occur in a couple of familiar ways. Rushing, outside Wickhambrook Primary Academy, after a warning light came on during the school run, someone refills the car. Close to Thorns Meadow, a driver pours a bottle in at home in the evening. Else, in dim light outside Greyhound Inn, the vehicle gets refilled by a driver opening that flap for the first time.
The least familiar vehicles see it most — hire cars, new ones, fleet ones, and the other motor of a family with one of each fuel types. Anywhere in Suffolk, Thorns as well, the mistake does not change, and nor does the first response: leave it switched off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Thorns, and your engine started?
Then your tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. It's been sucked through the filter and the lines, and if your engine ran for any time, it has reached your high-pressure pump and your injectors.
Maybe coming back from Four Acre Wood, or part way across Thorns, the motor might run lumpy, smoke, drop pace, light up your dash or stall. No starting it again to check: pull over once safe, then switch everything off. With each start, more of that is pulled through.
Thorns lies under 25 miles from the M11; if you were on it, leave at the next junction and pull up somewhere safe instead of carrying on.
A quick hop across Thorns to the car park by Wickhambrook Village Sign is one thing; driving for Cambridge, under 25 miles away, is another, since every mile carries the AdBlue further in. So mileage counts. Tell us about how far it had come.
Our engineers do all of the cleaning where your car has come to a stop, and once your engine has run there is more of it. When it's caught soon, long-term damage is very uncommon.
Thorns: how AdBlue is cleared from a diesel
The vehicle stays put, whether that is a road near Wickhambrook Memorial Social Centre, a drive, a layby or a filling station in Thorns, and our van travels to it. The work rests on three answers, which our technicians get first — which fluid got in, the quantity, and if the motor has turned over.
The contaminated diesel and the urea leave as one after that tank is emptied, on the spot. Residue from AdBlue won't flush away by itself, so the whole system gets a careful flush, which matters much more here than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once our technicians are there. Our pumping gear is explosion-proof, so a busy filling station is no issue, and it is hushed enough for a residential street after dark.
Finally, your system is primed with fresh diesel. Whether it is a parking space outside Newmarket or a driveway around Thorns, that is where our engineers fire it up and you drive off. Our engineers check it runs correctly on fresh diesel before leaving. Our engineers do it all wherever your car has ended up, and it never has to be taken to a garage. The insurer will want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — both yours once the job is done.
About Thorns, for a moment
Thorns is a small suburban area in Suffolk, situated inland at an elevation of around 104 metres. Thorns lies approximately 18 miles from Cambridge and 54 miles from London, placing it within commuting distance of both cities. Thorns is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock and is surrounded by nearby places such as Wickhambrook and Meeting Green. Thorns has a population of around 589 residents.
AdBlue drains across Thorns and Suffolk
Wickhambrook, Mole Hill and Meeting Green are among the places around Thorns that the same vans serve, together with most of Suffolk beyond, throughout the CB postcode area. Close to a border, or somewhere tricky to explain? Asking is better than guessing, and so phone.
A van that comes to you suits Thorns, a residential suburb: you have no need to bring the car to us, because we drain it on the spot, on a drive, a side street, a parking area or a filling station.
Thorns: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Since each jobs vary, a single figure would not be honest. What moves the cost is, first, whether the motor has been running and for how long; then how much AdBlue went in; and after that where the car is and whether our van can reach it safely, which is easier on an open drive than in a tight gap behind Wickhambrook Womens Institute.
Before any quote, never afterwards, every enquiry from Thorns begins with three checks: the fuel, the amount, plus if it ran. Those answers turn a range into a straight price.
You hear that quote by phone, before anyone sets off, and you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. While our engineer is on the way, check your policy: many cover misfuelling.
In Thorns and still next to your car?
Then the most useful thing you can do is nothing to the vehicle. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Phone 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether it ran are everything our technicians ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest throughout Suffolk, Thorns too.