What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Woodgate
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 was put in. Over in Nyton or here in Woodgate, an unrun engine must stay unrun. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and engine both off. In Woodgate, that is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. Stop the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around West Sussex it happened.
On a Woodgate forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Possibly you're at the the nearest petrol station, maybe at the Esso, possibly somewhere else around Woodgate.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to spot it. Only that tank has AdBlue; not one part beyond it has taken it in.
Next: avoid the urge to start it just to move away from the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt once the car sits in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to push it — then save the bottle. Can't move the car by the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt sensible, so it can be drained in place.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Woodgate
The warning light had been on for days. 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. Houses just off Oak Tree Lane are hit as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it is emptied, be it around Woodgate or Westergate. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Woodgate?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Woodgate Close, say, or the route towards Chichester — a run of under 10 miles.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, after the filter and pipework have it. It goes deeper with each mile covered and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible spot, pull in, and turn your motor off. Services farther along can wait: on the A3(M), under 25 miles out of Woodgate, use the next junction. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Tell us know the mileage driven as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days ago, the car was new to you. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Any driver, anywhere in West Sussex, could do the same.
The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, but with an added step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Do this: hire firm or fleet manager to begin with, us second, since settling it early cuts time. If you're stuck in the car park at Barnham, or by St George’s Church, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Woodgate: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A rushed stop by the gates of Aldingbourne Primary School, or a call to a friend in West Barnham: either fits.
The point: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue splashed around the outside. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up the vehicle will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, then leave your motor off. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a better result than a run one emptied.
Woodgate: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation has the same start to the work. Our engineers come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside Prince of Wales or a side street near Aldingbourne Community Sports Centre, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has been run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you hear our quote, and those answers decide the work too.
Draining the tank comes first, then a full flush — more important with urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where the motor hasn't been started, expect about half an hour on site, for most cases.
Starting it comes at the end. We confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and if it is spotted quickly, permanent damage is very unusual. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you get what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About Woodgate, briefly
Woodgate is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in West Sussex, with an elevation of around 8 metres above sea level. Woodgate lies close to the city of Chichester, approximately 5 miles away, and is near other local places such as Westergate, Eastergate, and Lidsey. Woodgate has a population of around 626 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Woodgate is located in the South East region of England, about 52 miles from London.
Woodgate and West Sussex: AdBlue drains across the area
Woodgate is a rural hamlet, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Eastergate and Lidsey among them, across the PO postcode area. Quickest of all: a PO20 3 postcode for your location.
Parked en route to Nyton Spinney, or bang in the heart of Woodgate, your vehicle remains where it is — there is no need to shift it anywhere. Wherever it sits, that is where it gets emptied. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to Westergate Methodist Church or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Whatever line fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout West Sussex and within Woodgate — once you pull over, switch off and ring, if it's run.