AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Wingham: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it got in. Not started so far? Then leave it that way, wherever the vehicle sits — Wingham or Wingham Well. Normally this means emptying and properly rinsing it on the spot in Wingham — so keep the ignition and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. A larger job, then, but the same first step.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Kent it happened.
On a Wingham forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you are stood at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Perhaps you're at the Shell, possibly at the another forecourt nearby, possibly somewhere else around Wingham.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — so do not get back in. Ring us from the forecourt once the vehicle sits in a space — the staff will help push it — then keep the receipt. If it cannot be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Wingham
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. Bought a bottle, poured it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, too late. Drives near Sweetlove Place get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as the car hasn't moved since, it is close to the pump case. At the floor of your tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, since it will not blend with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — otherwise someone may drive it away at breakfast — then phone us. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether around Wingham or Broomhill. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Wingham: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Somewhere on St. Marys Meadow or else heading to Canterbury — under 10 miles away.
What it means: the system has pulled the AdBlue in. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It travels further with every mile covered and each restart.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then turn your motor off. Exit at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M20, under 15 miles from Wingham. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say what distance the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week ago, it was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right by your diesel inlet — news to you. Throughout Kent, nobody is immune.
In short: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on if it has run. Plenty of hire and fleet agreements require the owner's sign-off before work.
Settling it before we arrives is quicker, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Hanging on for an answer in the car park outside Adisham, or beside St Mary's? Leave the engine off meanwhile.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Wingham
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia whiff hangs near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. The gates of Wingham Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Shatterling.
In short: a spill near your filler does your engine unharmed. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the car will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, then keep your engine off. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Wingham: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Anywhere your car is — The Anchor Inn's car park, a road beside Wingham Village Hall, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the liquid, the amount, plus whether the motor has turned over. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told our quote, and those answers decide the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that's why the flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your car. Where the motor hasn't run, expect roughly half an hour on site, in most jobs.
Our engineers start the engine at the end. Our test that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before our technicians leave. We do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very rare when it has been noticed early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as we travel pays.
About Wingham, briefly
Wingham is a village situated on the banks of the River Stour in Kent, with nearby settlements including Broomhill, Well Head, and Wingham Green. Wingham has a population of around 1417 people and is characterized by semi-detached housing. Wingham sits at a low elevation of approximately 8 metres above sea level, close to the city of Canterbury. Wingham is located about 60 miles from London, making it a relatively rural community in the South East of England.
AdBlue drains around Wingham, and across Kent too
Wingham is a village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Well Head and Wingham Green among them, across the CT postcode area. Your whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning CT3 1.
Central Wingham or a lay-by near Vinyard Wood: either way it sits, the vehicle doesn't need to move at all for us. The van drains it where it stands. Awkward to explain? Close to Wingham Wildlife Park or a border? Checking is better than guessing, so ring.
Your situation, in one line
If it has not run, phone and keep it that way. Run already: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in Wingham or anywhere in Kent.