AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thundridge, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on one fact: if your motor has started after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not run yet? Then leave the vehicle like that, whether your vehicle sits — Thundridge or Ware. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, done just where your car sits around Thundridge. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. It's a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Match what happened to one of the list below, wherever across Hertfordshire you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Thundridge forecourt
Just now, nozzle still in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Whether JET, Esso or anywhere else around Thundridge, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. No pump has drawn it in, so the AdBlue stays only inside that tank.
Next: resist the temptation to start it just to free up the pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the car sits in a bay — the attendants will help push it — then keep the bottle. Can't move the car by the petrol pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, so it can be drained in place.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Thundridge
Days had gone by with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It happens on drives just off Poles Lane as often as anywhere.
In short: if your car hasn't moved since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. Being unable to mix, AdBlue drops low inside that tank and stays. A night parked alters none of that.
Next: prevent an early-morning drive by keeping the keys in the house, then ring us. Our engineers drain the car on your drive, whether that's around Thundridge or out in Wadesmill. Night-time drains beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
On the road around Thundridge with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Cambridge Road, say, or the route towards St Albans — a run of under 15 miles.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. Thundridge sits under 10 miles from the A1(M); there, come off at the first junction rather than pushing on to the services. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
A week back, it was unknown to you. Your own car either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap sits just next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Hertfordshire.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or unrun — and one further step. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or fleet terms.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you are stranded in the car park at Ware, or by St Mary, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Thundridge?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Thundridge Church of England Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Tonwell.
In short: a spill round the filler leaves your engine no harm. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't crank it. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather find a clean tank than drain one after the motor has been run.
Thundridge: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Anywhere the car stands — Sow and Pigs's car park, a road beside Thundridge Village Hall, a driveway, a forecourt — our van arrives and we ask about the liquid, the quantity, plus whether your engine has turned over. Answers shape the work; the price follows on the call whilst no one has set off yet.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is essential, because crystals build up and certain metals corrode, and neither washes out unaided. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If the motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The final step is firing it up. Before our engineers leave, it is checked to make sure it runs correctly on new diesel. We do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very uncommon if it has been noticed soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Thundridge itself
Thundridge is a village in Hertfordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 79 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Thundridge lies near the villages of Wadesmill, Cold Christmas, and High Cross, and is approximately 14.3 miles from St Albans. Thundridge is also within commuting distance of London, being around 22.9 miles from the city. Thundridge has a population of around 834 residents.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Thundridge included
Thundridge is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Cold Christmas and High Cross among them, across the SG postcode area. A postcode starting SG12 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is required, whether parked in the centre of Thundridge or in a lay-by heading to North Belt, and so keep it where it is. Wherever it sits, that is where it is emptied. Ring and check instead of guessing if you're close to First turnpike house, near a border, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your scenario, in one line
Still unrun? Keep it off then phone. Whichever line fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Hertfordshire and within Thundridge — once you stop, switch off then ring, if it has run.