Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Highcliffe
With AdBlue in your diesel tank, the ignition stays off and so does your engine. Water with urea mixed in it: that is AdBlue. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the damage it does starts when the system pulls it in. In Highcliffe, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the engine runs normally comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where the vehicle is. No step comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Highcliffe: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- Keys out — that way nobody can switch anything on.
- Put the hazards on if you're at all near moving traffic.
- Which fluid, and about how much amount? Save the bottle or the till receipt, and we can see.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting SO23 0, or the name of the nearest street, brings our van to you without a search.
Things not to do:
- Shifting the vehicle even a few yards is no reason to fire up the engine.
- Don't switch your ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to dilute it. AdBlue does not mix in diesel; it separates out.
- Leave it where it is rather than driving it anywhere, even a short stretch up Barfield Close.
- No emptying it yourself, at all, on the verge.
Get the people behind the counter to help you move your car off the pumps if you're on a forecourt around Highcliffe, whether it is the BP or elsewhere. At home, the vehicle remains exactly as it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
Not your engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue belongs. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it's fed into your exhaust, and there it cleans the gas. Not one side suits the other: urea does not belong in a pump, and an injection pump can't take urea.
It does not blend. After it is poured into the tank, AdBlue behaves nothing like diesel. Heavier than diesel, it sinks and pools underneath it — the very place the intake sucks from. Simplest of all: one that got AdBlue in Winchester last night and has not turned since. The AdBlue waits at the foot of that tank, untouched — though it will be first through if your motor runs, before any diesel at all.
From there it does two kinds of damage. What is left when the water evaporates is urea, which turns into crystals: they settle in tiny passages and clog filters. On top of that, it attacks certain metals in the fuel system, and keeps going until it is flushed out. Overnight, a vehicle parked in Highcliffe with AdBlue through its pipework grows worse; if it's only inside your tank, nothing changes. And there is the water: it offers no lubrication to the components that rely on it most — the high-pressure pump and every injector.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is frequently more major than petrol
Fill a diesel with petrol in error over at the Esso, and the issue is diluted fuel. No damage is done while it stays put, blended into the diesel — only when your motor runs on it.
The trouble with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally wrong substance. It cannot simply be run through, because it doesn't burn. Whether your vehicle sits in St Giless Hill or the centre of Highcliffe, firing it up "to see" does more harm in this case than nearly any other mistake, and the flush counts for more. Why: it won't remain mixed, so diluting it is impossible; and crystals and corrosion outlast the following fill.
With AdBlue, the good news is no distinct from petrol. Wherever in Hampshire the vehicle has stopped, an unstarted motor means the AdBlue yet in the tank: the simplest part of a fuel system to clear.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Highcliffe: how it ends up there
Nobody means to do it. The AdBlue filler on plenty of motors waits right next to the diesel filler, sometimes under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. A container bought while driving home and poured in at home, rather than at the forecourt, is the usual story.
The ways it happens are few and familiar. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside All Saints Church of England Primary School the top-up is rushed. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off East Hill. Or your car is topped up in the car park at Black Boy, in poor light, by a person who has never opened that flap before.
Rented cars, new motors, fleet cars, or the spare vehicle in a family with both fuels: the least known cars see it the most. Keep it switched off: that is the first step to the same slip, anywhere around Highcliffe or the remainder of Hampshire you are.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Highcliffe, and the motor started?
Then the AdBlue has left that tank. Your filter and lines have had it sucked through, and any running carries it on to the high-pressure pump and every injector.
You may notice your engine running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, possibly on the way back from Wrack Hill or halfway across Highcliffe. Once safe, pull over then switch everything off — without turning it on again to see. Each start pulls more of it through.
On the M3, under a mile from Highcliffe, the next junction is where to exit, and somewhere safe is where to stop — not driving on.
A quick hop across Highcliffe to the car park by All Saints is one thing; heading towards Winchester, under a mile away, is something else, because every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. So distance matters. Let us know about how far it had come.
Wherever the vehicle came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out after the motor has been running. Long-term damage is very unusual when it is noticed early.
What emptying AdBlue from a diesel involves in Highcliffe
The car remains where it is, whether that's a road beside Beech Lookout, a driveway, a layby or a filling station in Highcliffe, and the van travels to it. The work depends on three replies, which we get before all else — what was put in, the amount, and whether the engine has turned over.
The contaminated diesel and the urea come out together when your tank is drained, right there. What remains from AdBlue will not wash away by itself, so the fuel system gets a careful flush, which counts far more with urea than with petrol. A test of the vehicle follows last, once fresh diesel is added and the fuel filter gets flushed or, where needed, replaced. Engine not run? In that case count on roughly half an hour once we are there for most jobs. The pumping gear is explosion-proof, and so a busy filling station is no issue, and it is hushed enough for a residential street late at night.
Bleeding the fuel system with new diesel comes at the end. Whether it is a parking space outside Winchester or a drive around Highcliffe, that is where we fire it up and you head off. Before we go, our engineers check it is running smoothly with new diesel in. No workshop is needed at any point, with the entire job done then and there. Insurers want a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both afterwards.
About Highcliffe
Highcliffe is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Winchester in Hampshire, with a riverside setting and an elevation of around 46 metres. Highcliffe is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing and is located near other local areas such as Wharf Hill and The Soke. Highcliffe is also close to Bar End and is part of the wider Winchester urban area. Highcliffe has a population of approximately 4741 residents.
AdBlue drains across Highcliffe and Hampshire
Wharf Hill, The Soke and Bar End are among the towns near Highcliffe that the same vans reach, together with much of Hampshire further out, throughout the SO postcode area. Close to a border, or anywhere tricky to explain? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
No towing is needed. In Highcliffe, a residential suburb, a mobile service works: your vehicle is emptied where it stands, be it in a driveway, a residential street, a parking area or a forecourt.
Highcliffe: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Not one flat price could be fair, since each job differs. Three things move the cost: whether the engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue was put in, and where the car is. That last one rests on whether our van can get to it safely, and an open drive is simpler than a tight spot behind Chesil Theatre.
Ahead of any figure, never afterwards, every call from Highcliffe opens with the same three checks: the liquid, the amount, and if the engine ran. Those answers turn a range into a straight price.
Quoted on the call before the van sets out, the job is settled on the day — card or phone, no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
In Highcliffe and still alongside the car?
Right now, the most helpful thing to do with the vehicle is to leave it. Keys out, engine off, ignition off. Call 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether the engine ran are everything our technicians ask. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder across Hampshire, Highcliffe too.