What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Welsh Harp
One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your motor has been started since. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is in Welsh Harp itself or out in Dollis Hill. Leave the motor and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Welsh Harp. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then turn everything off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Greater London you are.
At the pump around Welsh Harp: AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It might be the Esso, or the Shell, or a different station around Welsh Harp.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Only that tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has drawn it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — and so don't get back in. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home in Welsh Harp with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown for days. Bought a container, tipped it in outside the house, binned the empty — and only then checked the cap again, after the fact. Right off Edgware Road West Hendon Broadway is not different from anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Our technicians drain the car on your drive, whether that is around Welsh Harp or out in Staples Corner. The equipment runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Welsh Harp: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Edgware Road West, perhaps, or the route to Westminster — a run of under 10 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into the fuel system. It has been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then turn your motor off. Welsh Harp sits under a mile from the M1; on it, pull off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, saying what distance the car went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only driven this vehicle a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are side by side here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Across Greater London, no one is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Plenty of rental and company agreements require the owner's sign-off before work.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Stuck near Here we come, here we rise or outside Brent Cross West until someone replies, the vehicle stays switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Welsh Harp?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. A faint ammonia-like whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. Maybe on a friend's driveway in Hendon, or in a rush outside Parkfield Primary School at the school run.
The point: the motor isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by starting your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Your move: act as though it got in, and never start the engine. Ring us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Each AdBlue drain around Welsh Harp shares these stages
Every case has the same start to the work. Filling station, drive, Whelan's's car park or a road beside Jesus House for All The Nations — the van comes to the vehicle, and three questions follow: what fluid, what amount, and if it has run. Answers set the job; the price comes on the call while nobody has set off yet.
Then that tank is drained and your system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Next comes your filter — flushed, or replaced when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the car. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Firing it up comes last. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it's running properly, and then we leave. Lasting damage is very unusual if it is caught early, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while we travel pays.
About Welsh Harp, for a moment
Welsh Harp is a suburban area in northwest London, situated on the shores of the Welsh Harp reservoir at an elevation of around 44 metres. Welsh Harp is characterized by its lakeside setting and predominantly flat housing stock, with many residents enjoying views of the water. Welsh Harp is located near several major transport hubs, including Staples Corner and Brent Cross, and is within easy reach of central London, being approximately 6.4 miles from the city centre.
AdBlue drains around Welsh Harp, and across Greater London too
West Hendon and Brent Cross get the identical teams as Welsh Harp, a residential suburb, plus further towns throughout NW postcodes. Telling us a NW2 7 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Sturgess Park or in a car park in the middle of Welsh Harp, it does not need to move. The van empties it in place. Awkward to pin down? Close to The Platform or a county line? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
The one-line version
Engine never started: ring, leaving it alone. Whatever case applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Greater London and within Welsh Harp — after you pull over, switch off and ring, if it has run.