What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Ruislip
All of that turns on a single fact: whether the engine has started after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in West Ruislip itself or out in Ruislip Manor. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, carried out just where the car stands around West Ruislip. Already started? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. A larger job, yes, yet the same first move.
Compare what happened to a situation from the list below, wherever in Greater London you happen to be.
On a West Ruislip forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are 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 could be the Gulf, or the Shell, or a different forecourt in West Ruislip.
In short: there is no better spot to be to discover it. Only that tank holds AdBlue; not one part past it has drawn any in.
What to do: don't get back in and start it to clear the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will help roll it — then keep the receipt. Emptying it there at the pump is possible if it cannot be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a West Ruislip drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Drives near Harwell Close get it as much as any other street.
The upshot: zero miles since makes this almost equal to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of the tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
Put your keys indoors overnight — or a person might take it off first thing — then call us. In Ruislip or here around West Ruislip, the draining is done at your drive. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in West Ruislip?
A short way after topping up, the engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Perhaps it was on Ickenham Road, maybe on the way out towards St Albans, under 15 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and lines to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
Next: find a sensible place, stop, then turn the engine off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M40, under 3 miles from West Ruislip. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Phone, and say what distance your vehicle went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've just had the vehicle for days. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so no one told you the AdBlue cap was just next to the diesel. Anyone, anywhere in Greater London, might do it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Many hire and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off before repairs.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our engineers get there than after. Hanging on for a reply in the car park at the nearest station, or near Sea Cadet Corps Ruislip? Leave your engine off throughout.
West Ruislip: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. It might have been at a friend's drive in Ruislip Common, or in a rush by Bishop Winnington-Ingram CofE Primary School on the school run.
The point: your engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will suck in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not start the car. Ring and give the details: we would sooner find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has been run.
West Ruislip: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Each case gets the same start to the job. Our technicians come to your car, whether it's on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Hop & Vine or a side street near 114 Squadron Air Training Corps, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and if the engine has run. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the work too.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which matters 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 the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced when necessary — then clean diesel, and a test of the car. Never started? Then about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Our engineers start it last. Our check that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before our engineers head off. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's spotted quickly, long-term damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About West Ruislip, for a moment
West Ruislip is a suburban area in northwest London, situated near the River Pinn and the Grand Union Canal. West Ruislip lies close to the neighbouring areas of Ruislip, Ruislip Gardens, and Ickenham, and is approximately 13.9 miles from central London. West Ruislip has a population of around 6624 people, predominantly residing in flat-type housing. West Ruislip is also near the city of St Albans, which is 13.1 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, West Ruislip included
West Ruislip is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Ruislip Gardens and Ickenham among them, across the HA postcode area. Quickest of all: a HA4 7 postcode for your location.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Ruislip Golf Course or in a car park in the middle of West Ruislip, it doesn't need to shift. The van drains it in place. Guessing doesn't help beside Ruislip Golf Centre, close to a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
Still unrun? Keep the car that way and ring. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around West Ruislip and anywhere across Greater London on 0333 366 0103.