AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Fleet, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the engine has been run since it went in. Not started so far? Then keep it that way, wherever your car is — Fleet or Rotten Green. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor still off. Across Fleet, such a case is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. Where your motor has been run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then switch it off. It's a larger job, though step one doesn't change.
Wherever around Hampshire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
Fleet forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. It could be the Esso, or the Shell, or a different forecourt around Fleet.
Put simply: there is no better spot to be to spot it. Nothing has pulled it in, so the AdBlue stays only inside that tank.
What to do: do not get back in and start the car to clear the petrol pump. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Stuck beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof equipment keeps a busy forecourt safe, and so it can be drained where it is.
Fleet, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Homes just off Victoria Road get caught out as often as everywhere else.
The point: no driving since leaves this almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. Being unable to mix, AdBlue drops to the base inside your tank and waits. One night standing changes none of that.
Next: stop any early-morning drive by keeping the keys indoors, then phone us. Out in Pondtail or here around Fleet, the drain happens at your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Fleet?
A short way after topping up, the engine started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Hart Shopping Centre, perhaps, or the route to Winchester — a run of under 50 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. Past your filter, along the lines, and — the further the mileage — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up anywhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Exit at the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M3, under 3 miles from Fleet. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say what distance the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
Seven days ago, it was new to you. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets are next to each other here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. Wherever you are across Hampshire, any driver can slip up.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or not — and one extra step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep it off as the answer arrives, even if you're waiting outside the nearest station or near Hart Shopping Centre.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Fleet?
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. A slight ammonia-like whiff hangs near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. A hurried top-up by the gates of Heatherside Infant School, or a call to a friend in Crookham Village: either fit.
Put simply: a spill round the filler leaves your motor unharmed. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be sucked in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it got in, and keep your motor off. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clear tank looked at is a happier result than a run one drained.
What every AdBlue drain in Fleet has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Our technicians come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Old Emporium or a side street near The Point Youth Centre, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has been run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the price, and those answers decide the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after the drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Where the engine has not been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Our technicians start the car last. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it is running correctly, and then we go. The whole job is done where your car is, and if it is caught soon, permanent damage is very unusual. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents as we travel is worthwhile.
About Fleet
Fleet is a town situated on the banks of the River Fleet in Hampshire, with a mix of residential and commercial areas. Fleet sits at an elevation of 81 metres, approximately 34.6 miles from London, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Pondtail and Elvetham Heath. Fleet has a population of around 20,464 people, predominantly living in detached housing. Fleet is located near the city of Winchester, about 25.3 miles away, and is part of the South East region of England.
Fleet and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a riverside town, Fleet shares its vans with the surrounding places — Ridgeway Parade, Elvetham Heath — all the way through GU postcodes. A postcode starting GU51 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, be it parked in the centre of Fleet or on a lay-by en route to The Views Meadow, and so leave it put. Our van drains it where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Tree of Heaven or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle that way and phone. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Fleet and anywhere around Hampshire on 0333 366 0103.