Whitton: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has been run since it was put in. Anywhere your car is — Strawberry Hill, Whitton — don't run a motor that has not been started yet. Usually this is emptying and properly flushing it right there around Whitton — so leave the ignition and motor off and ring 0333 366 0103. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Greater London it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Whitton forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it as you're standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Be it Esso, Shell or somewhere else around Whitton, the situation is identical.
Put simply: no better spot to be to discover it. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Clearing the pump is no reason to start it — and so do not get back in. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle is in a bay — the staff will help push it — and save the bottle. Can't move the car by the petrol pump? Explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, and so we can drain it where it is.
At home in Whitton with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. Bought a container, poured it in at home, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, after the fact. Houses just off High Street Whitton are caught out as much as everywhere else.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not moved since, it is second to the forecourt case. On the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue waits, since it will not blend with diesel — and a night going by makes no difference.
Keep the keys in the house tonight — otherwise someone may drive it off at breakfast — and phone us. We drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is around Whitton or out in Hounslow. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Whitton: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Anywhere on Cypress Avenue or else on the road towards Westminster — under 15 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into your fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then turn the engine off. Services farther on can wait: on the M4, under 3 miles out of Whitton, use the next junction. No test restarts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue does. Phone, and say what distance the vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You have had this car hardly a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap sits just next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Greater London.
The point: just as above, split by whether it ran, but with an added step. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. If you're stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Whitton Library, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Whitton?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Hampton Hill, or in a rush outside St Edmund's Catholic Primary School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach your engine at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another story. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it was put in, and don't turn your engine. Ring and give the details: we'd sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one once the engine has run.
Whitton: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Anywhere the car is — The Admiral Nelson's car park, a road beside Whitton Youth Zone, a driveway, a filling station — the van gets there and asks for the fluid, the amount, plus if your motor has turned over. Those answers decide this work, and you get our quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is crucial, because deposits build up and certain metals are attacked, and none of it rinses away unaided. Then is your filter — cleaned, or replaced when necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of the car. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, we start it. Before we leave, it is checked to be sure it runs correctly on new diesel. Permanent damage is very unusual if it is spotted soon, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Whitton
Whitton is a suburban area in southwest London, situated on the River Crane and close to the River Thames. Whitton has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Whitton is located near several other suburban areas, including Hounslow, Woodlands, and Fulwell, and is about 10.6 miles from central London. Whitton sits at a relatively low elevation of 17 metres above sea level.
AdBlue drains around Whitton and across Greater London
Over TW postcodes, the teams covering Whitton — a residential suburb — reach surrounding towns too, Woodlands and Fulwell included. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode that starts TW2 7.
No towing is required, be it stopped centrally in Whitton or on a lay-by heading to Old Latymerians Sports Ground, and so leave it where it is. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near St Edmund of Canterbury Catholic Church, on a border or somewhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle that way and phone. Run by now: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Whitton or anywhere across Greater London.