Butlocks Heath: 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 motor has been run since it got in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Butlocks Heath itself or out in Bursledon. Usually this is draining and properly rinsing it on the spot around Butlocks Heath — so leave your key and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It is a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Below: the cases we see, anywhere across Hampshire. Choose the one that fits.
Butlocks Heath forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Somewhere around Butlocks Heath, then — Tesco, BP, or somewhere else close by.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it gets. Just your tank holds AdBlue; not one component past it has drawn any in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — so don't get back in. Have the staff to help rolling it to a bay, save the receipt, then ring us from there. Draining it there at the pump is possible when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Butlocks Heath, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, after the fact. Driveways near The Grove see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — or someone may take it away first thing — and phone us. Your drive is where it is emptied, be it around Butlocks Heath or Hound. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Butlocks Heath with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. It might have been driving to Southampton, under 5 miles away, or just along Old School Close.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. It has been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Every restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
Pull in safely — that's the first step — then turn it off. Service stations farther along can wait: from the M27, under 3 miles out of Butlocks Heath, use the next junction. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say what distance your car went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have only had this vehicle for days. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are next to each other here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Across Hampshire, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts here — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under many rental and company agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is faster, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for a reply in the car park at Netley, or near Hound Parish Hall? Leave the car off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Butlocks Heath?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Lowford, or in a rush by Netley Abbey Junior School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler don't reach your motor at all. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Turning on the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
Assume it got in, and never turn the key. Phone and give what you saw: we would sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one once your motor has run.
What every AdBlue drain in Butlocks Heath has in common
The work opens identically, whatever the situation. Three things come when our technicians reach your car — on a forecourt, a drive, a road by St Mary's or the car park outside The Cottage: the liquid, the amount, and if it has run. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the price, and those replies decide the work too.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more vital with urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go on their own, however long you wait. Next is the filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the car. Where the motor hasn't run, allow about half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Last, our engineers start it. Before we go, it is tested to be sure it runs properly on fresh diesel. Lasting damage is very unusual when it's noticed quickly, and the whole job is done where the car is. Paying is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Butlocks Heath
Butlocks Heath is a small village on the coast of Hampshire, situated near the city of Southampton and close to the neighbouring communities of Hound, Netley, and Old Netley. Butlocks Heath has a relatively low elevation of around 25 metres above sea level and is characterized by semi-detached housing. Butlocks Heath is located approximately 68 miles from London and has a population of around 2040 residents.
AdBlue drains across Hampshire, Butlocks Heath included
Netley and Old Netley have the identical teams as Butlocks Heath, a coastal village, along with further towns throughout SO postcodes. The whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode that starts SO31 5.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Butlocks Heath Recreation Ground or in a car park in the middle of Butlocks Heath, it doesn't need to shift. Our engineers drain the vehicle where it stands. Phone and check instead of guessing if you're by Church of the Annunciation, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't started, ring then keep it that way. Run already: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Butlocks Heath or anywhere across Hampshire.