Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Enmore Green
Engine off, ignition off: that's where you begin if AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank. Chemically, AdBlue is simply urea in water. The trouble begins once it is sucked through your pump — it won't ignite, and it will not blend with diesel. If the engine has not run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally emptied and thoroughly purged where the vehicle sits around Enmore Green. First, phone us on 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Enmore Green: the first few minutes
To do:
- Take the keys out, and so nobody switches the ignition on.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is anywhere near.
- Hold on to the till receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what went in and roughly how much.
- The van locates you quickest with a postcode starting SP7 8, or simply the name of a street nearby, and so call from the car.
Not to do:
- Not even for a second, and not to shift your vehicle: your motor remains off.
- Your ignition remains off: on lots of diesels, turning it on is enough to run the fuel pump.
- No extra fuel added. The AdBlue will not blend, so it's wasted.
- Even a short distance down New Road is too far to drive the vehicle.
- No emptying it yourself, at all, on the verge.
On a forecourt around Enmore Green, whether it is the Esso or another one, ask the staff to help you push your car clear of the pump. Parked on your own driveway? Then it stays just as it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Not the engine but the exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. From a dedicated reservoir it is fed straight to your exhaust, cleaning what the engine lets out. A fuel pump is not made to take it, and AdBlue was never supposed to travel through one.
Fuel blends; AdBlue, once poured in, won't. The behaviour is nothing like fuel's. The pickup takes fuel from the deepest part of that tank, and that's precisely where AdBlue ends up: as it is heavier than diesel, it sinks. Easiest of all: a vehicle that had AdBlue in St James overnight and hasn't been started since. The liquid waits at the base of the tank, undrawn — but it will be first through if the engine runs, before any diesel at all.
Once it's drawn in, the harm comes in two forms. It eats at certain metals used in fuel components, working on any part it reaches till it's cleared completely. And when the water evaporates, the urea forms crystals that block filters and settle in tiny channels. Overnight, a car parked around Enmore Green with AdBlue in its lines grows worse; if it's only in that tank, it doesn't. And there's the water: it brings no lubrication to the parts that rely on it most — the high-pressure pump and every injector.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel frequently the bigger fault?
Petrol put into a diesel on Tesco's forecourt leaves the fuel thin — that is the whole fault. Blended into the diesel and left unused, it's harmless for now; running the engine does the damage.
The trouble with AdBlue in a diesel is a completely wrong liquid. It can't simply be run through, because it doesn't burn. Whether your car is in Ivy Cross or the heart of Enmore Green, firing it up "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other slip, and the flush counts more. The reasons: it won't remain mixed, so diluting it fails; and deposits and corrosion outlast the following fill.
The same good news applies as with petrol. Not run? Then the AdBlue sits only in that tank, the easiest bit of the entire system to clear, anywhere your vehicle has stopped across Dorset.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in Enmore Green
It's not on purpose. Many vehicles have the AdBlue inlet alongside the diesel one, occasionally under one flap, and mixing them up is easy in poor light. A container picked up when driving home and tipped in at home, rather than at the forecourt, is the usual story.
Mostly, it happens in one of a few familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside The Abbey CofE VA Primary School, Shaftesbury the refill is rushed. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Woolands Lane. Another version: darkness, the car park outside The Ship Inn, and someone opening that flap for the first time.
The least known cars see it most — hire cars, brand-new cars, fleet ones, and the other vehicle in a family with one of each fuel types. Leave it off: that is the first response to an identical mistake, anywhere in Enmore Green or the rest of Dorset you are.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank around Enmore Green?
Then the AdBlue has left your tank. The filter and lines have had it sucked along, and some running time carries it on to the high-pressure pump and every injector.
You may see the motor running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, perhaps on the way back from Enmore Green playing field or halfway across Enmore Green. No starting it again to check: pull over once it is safe, then switch it off. Each start pulls more of that through.
On the M27, under 50 miles from Enmore Green, the first junction is where to leave, and somewhere safe is where to park — not carrying on.
Hopping across Enmore Green to the car park by St John the Evangelist is one thing; heading for Salisbury, under 25 miles away, is another, because every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. So distance counts. Let us know roughly how far it had come.
Our technicians do all of the cleaning where the car has ended up, and once the engine has run there is more of it. If it is noticed quickly, lasting damage is very rare.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve around Enmore Green?
The vehicle remains put, whether that's a road beside Castle Hill, a driveway, a lay-by or a filling station around Enmore Green, and our van comes to it. Before anything else our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has been run, since those replies determine this work.
The contaminated diesel and the urea come out together when the tank is drained, right there. The system is flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, since what it leaves behind doesn't rinse out on its own. Next, the filter: cleaned, or changed if it has to be. Then clean diesel, and then a test of the vehicle. Not run? Then expect roughly half an hour on site for most jobs. The pumps are explosion-proof, safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Finally, the fuel system is primed with clean diesel. Starting the car comes next, and then you set off from where the vehicle is parked, by Gillingham (Dorset) or on a drive around Enmore Green. Our engineers confirm it runs properly on clean diesel before we go. No workshop is needed at any point, with the entire job done on the spot. Insurers want a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both at the end.
About Enmore Green and where it is
Enmore Green is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Dorset, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 1112 residents. Enmore Green sits at an elevation of 157 metres, near the towns of Shaftesbury and Long Cross. Enmore Green is located near the city of Salisbury, which is approximately 18 miles away, and is also within a reasonable distance from London, at around 96 miles. Enmore Green has a scenic setting, with the surrounding countryside offering views of the nearby rivers and hills.
AdBlue drains across Dorset, Enmore Green included
AdBlue call-outs around Enmore Green are passed to teams that serve the towns near it — Long Cross, Alcester as well as Shaftesbury — and much of Dorset further out, across SP postcodes. Ring and ask rather than guess when you are close to a county line, or somewhere awkward to explain.
A van that comes to you suits Enmore Green, a residential suburb: there's no need to bring your vehicle to us, because our technicians empty it there, in a driveway, a side street, a car park or a forecourt.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right in Enmore Green
Since each callouts vary, a flat figure wouldn't be honest. Three things change the price: whether your engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue was put in, and where the car is. That last one comes down to whether a van can reach it safely, and an open drive is simpler than a tight space behind Friends Meeting House.
Before any figure, not afterwards, each call from Enmore Green opens with three questions: the liquid, the quantity, plus if it ran. With those replies, a range shrinks to one firm number.
You hear that price on the phone, before anyone heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. As the van is on the way, dig out your policy: many cover misfuelling.
Enmore Green: still next to the car?
Leaving your vehicle alone is, then, the best move you can do. Keys out; engine and ignition off. Call 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether the engine ran is everything our engineers need. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest throughout Dorset, Enmore Green too.