AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Whyteleafe, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has been run since it was put in. Over in Riddlesdown or here around Whyteleafe, an unstarted engine must remain unrun. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush plus a drain, done just where your car sits around Whyteleafe. Pull over the minute it is safe and turn off, if it has been run. It is a larger job, though step one doesn't change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Surrey it happened.
At the petrol pump around Whyteleafe: AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Be it BP, Shell or anywhere else in Whyteleafe, the situation is identical.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away is drained right at the petrol pump.
At home in Whyteleafe with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Homes just off Whyteleafe Roundabout are caught out as often as everywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. On the floor of your tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — otherwise someone might take it away first thing — and phone us. Your drive is where it is drained, whether in Whyteleafe or Warlingham. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Whyteleafe?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Possibly it was on Godstone Road, perhaps on the way out towards Westminster, under 15 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. Past the filter, through the lines, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Service stations further on are too far: on the M25, under 5 miles out of Whyteleafe, use the first junction. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Call, and say how far your vehicle was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have just had this vehicle a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it in another spot. Anywhere you happen to be across Surrey, every driver can be caught.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Any work on the car frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it early saves time. If you're stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Saint Luke, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Whyteleafe?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Whyteleafe Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Woldingham Garden Village.
The point: your motor is not harmed by a little AdBlue spilled around the outside. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be sucked in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the car. 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.
What every AdBlue drain in Whyteleafe has in common
Each situation gets the same start to the job. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Whyteleafe Tavern or a side street close to Whyteleafe Football Club, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and if the motor has run. On the phone, before anything else, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the job too.
Then your tank is cleared and your system flushed 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. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Not started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Starting it comes last. Before our engineers leave, it is tested to be sure it runs smoothly on new diesel. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's spotted quickly, permanent damage is very uncommon. Paying is on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours as we head over.
About Whyteleafe and where it is
Whyteleafe is a village in Surrey, situated inland at an elevation of 101 metres, approximately 13.8 miles from London. Whyteleafe lies near the settlements of Warlingham, Kenley, and Hamsey Green, and is characterized by a predominance of flat housing. Whyteleafe is a relatively small community with a population of around 3029 residents. Whyteleafe's proximity to Westminster, just 13.3 miles away, makes it a commuter-friendly location.
Whyteleafe and Surrey: AdBlue drains across the area
Whyteleafe is a rural village, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Kenley and Hamsey Green among them, across the CR postcode area. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning CR3 0.
No moving is needed, be it stopped centrally in Whyteleafe or on a layby heading to Whyteleafe Parish Council Garden, and so keep it put. The van drains it in place. Guessing doesn't help beside Warlingham Rugby Club, close to a border or somewhere hard to describe; phone and check.
Your scenario, in one line
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Whyteleafe or anywhere in Surrey.