AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hordle: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it went in. Wherever your vehicle is — Everton, Hordle — never start a motor that has not been started yet. Leave the motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Hordle. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then switch it off. It's a bigger job, yet step one does not change.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere around Hampshire. Choose the one that fits.
At the petrol pump in Hordle: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Be it Shell, Tesco or anywhere else in Hordle, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Still inside your tank, and nothing pulled through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Your move: stay out of the car, however much the pump needs freeing. Three jobs: a shove into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Hordle drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Bought a bottle, poured it in at home, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, too late. It happens on driveways just off Myrtle Close as frequently as anywhere.
The point: no miles since makes this almost equal to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Your move: keys in the house, so no one drives your car anywhere first thing. Then, ring. In Ashley or here around Hordle, the drain is done at your drive. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Hordle?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long the motor was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Somewhere on Tiffany Close or else on the road towards Southampton — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger run, after your filter and pipework have had it. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
Do this: stop anywhere safe, then turn your engine off. Hordle lies under 15 miles from the M27; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Tell us know the distance covered as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just by the diesel cap — news to you. Across Hampshire, nobody is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. The owner frequently needs to sign off any work, under many rental and company agreements.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it beforehand saves time. Keep the vehicle switched off as the answer comes, even if you're waiting at New Milton or close to Hordle War Memorial.
Hordle: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think it did. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of Hordle CofE (VA) Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's drive out in New Milton.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach the motor at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another story. Firing up the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will pull it in.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your motor off. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Hordle: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, Miners Cider Bar and Tap Room's car park or a street beside All Saints — our van reaches the vehicle, and three questions follow: which liquid, which amount, and whether it ran. The price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies shape the job.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals in fuel systems, so it won't wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Where the engine hasn't run, allow about half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Finally, we start the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we make sure it is running properly, and then we head off. If it's spotted soon, the car very rarely has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Hordle, briefly
Hordle is a coastal village in Hampshire, situated near the towns of Ashley and Tiptoe, with Leagreen to the north. Hordle sits at an elevation of 34 metres, overlooking the Solent Strait, and is approximately 13.8 miles from Southampton. Hordle has a population of around 1940 residents, predominantly living in detached housing. Hordle is located about 82.8 miles from London, making it a relatively distant but still accessible part of the South East region.
Hordle and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout SO postcodes, the teams covering Hordle — a coastal village — reach surrounding places as well, Leagreen and Tiptoe among them. Giving us a SO41 0 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Centre of Hordle or a lay-by near Golden Hill: wherever it sits, the car never needs to shift at all for us. We drain the car where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to explain, near St. Peter's Church or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your situation, summed up
Engine never started: phone, and leave it alone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Hampshire and within Hordle — once you pull over, switch off then phone, if it's run.