AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thurnham: What Now?
All of it turns on a single detail: if your engine has started after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Over in Weavering Street or right around Thurnham, an unstarted engine must remain unrun. Call 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor still off. In Thurnham, such a case is typically emptied and flushed on the spot. Already run? Stop once safe, then turn it off. It's a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Anywhere around Kent it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Thurnham forecourt
Just now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the pump. It could be the Shell, or perhaps the another forecourt nearby, or a different station in Thurnham.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits only inside the tank.
Clearing the pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Phone us from the forecourt after your vehicle is in a bay — the attendants will help push it — then save the bottle. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets emptied right at the pump.
At home around Thurnham with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the driveway — and it was only at the bin that the cap caught a second look. It happens on driveways just off Castle Hill as regularly as anywhere.
Put simply: if the car has not been driven since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the pump. As it is reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low inside the tank and stays. One night parked alters none of that.
Next: prevent any early-morning move by putting your keys indoors, then ring us. Your drive is where it gets emptied, whether in Thurnham or Friningham. Late-night clears beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Thurnham: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and soon the motor was running unevenly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe heading to Southend-on-Sea, under 25 miles away, or just along Thurnham Lane.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. It's been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. On the M20, under a mile from Thurnham, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance had it go? Say so when you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
Seven days back, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you happen to be in Kent, any driver could be caught.
The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, only with one added step. The owner often has to approve the work, under plenty of hire and fleet contracts.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it beforehand saves time. Hanging on for an answer at the car park outside Bearsted, or beside Thurnham Castle? Keep the engine off meanwhile.
Thurnham: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. A slight ammonia smell hangs near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. The gates of Leigh Academy Bearsted in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Roseacre.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler don't touch your motor at all. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in the tank will be pulled in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Assume it went in, and don't start the engine. Phone and give the details: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after the motor has been run.
Every AdBlue drain around Thurnham shares these stages
Every situation has the same start to the job. Three questions are asked once our engineers arrive — at a forecourt, a drive, a road by St Mary the Virgin or the car park outside The Black Horse Inn: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has run. The price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies set the work.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's essential, since deposits form and some metals corrode, and none of that washes out unaided. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of the vehicle. If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
The last step is starting the engine. Our check that it runs smoothly on new diesel comes before our engineers leave. Our technicians do the whole job where the car is, and long-term damage is very unusual if it has been caught early. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Thurnham itself
Thurnham is a small hamlet in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of around 120 metres, and is located near the villages of Friningham and Detling. Thurnham is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its rural setting. Thurnham sits within the wider landscape of the North Downs, approximately 34 miles from London and 18 miles from the coast at Southend-on-Sea.
AdBlue drains around Thurnham, and across Kent too
As a rural hamlet, Thurnham shares its vans with the nearby towns — Ware Street, Detling — all the way through ME postcodes. The whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode that starts ME14 3.
No towing is required, be it stopped centrally in Thurnham or in a lay-by en route to Gore Wood, and so keep it where it is. The drain is done on the spot. Awkward to explain? Close to Kent Showground or a border? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
In one line: your situation
Unstarted? Leave it that way and ring. Run by now: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Thurnham or anywhere across Kent.