AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ibthorpe: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your engine has run since it got in. Wherever your car is — Sladen Green, Ibthorpe — don't start an engine that has not been started yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Ibthorpe. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then turn it off. A larger job, yes, but the identical first move.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere in Hampshire you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Ibthorpe forecourt
Only now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. It could be the Dean Garage, or perhaps the Tesco, or a different station in Ibthorpe.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue sits only inside your tank.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the pump wants clearing. Get the attendants to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the receipt, then phone us from there. Can't move the vehicle beside the petrol pump? Our explosion-proof equipment keeps a live forecourt safe, so it can be drained where it is.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Ibthorpe drive?
Several days had gone by with the dash light on. Picked up a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Houses just off Horseshoe Lane are caught out as often as everywhere else.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle has not moved since, it's second to the forecourt case. At the floor of your tank is where AdBlue waits, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Next: stop an early-morning move by putting your keys indoors, then phone us. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it around Ibthorpe or Hurstbourne Tarrant. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Ibthorpe?
Topped up, drove away, and soon your engine was running roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe it was on Dine's Close, maybe on the way out towards Winchester, under 25 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The injection pump and every injector see it too on a bigger trip, once the filter and pipework have it. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Your move: pull up somewhere safe, then turn the motor off. Service stations farther along can wait: on the M4, under 15 miles out of Ibthorpe, use the next junction. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Tell us know the distance covered as you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had this car hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the inlet is just by the diesel cap — news to you. Anywhere you happen to be in Hampshire, any driver can be caught.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the cases above, and those depend on whether it has run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it early cuts time. Waiting for a reply in the car park outside Andover, or near Saint Peter's? Keep your car off meanwhile.
Ibthorpe: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of Hurstbourne Tarrant Church of England Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Wildhern.
Put simply: a spill near the filler does the motor unharmed. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Starting the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would pull it in.
Take it that it got in, and never start the key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Ibthorpe has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, George & Dragon Inn's car park or a road beside Hurstbourne Tarrant Community Centre — the van comes to your vehicle, and three questions follow: what fluid, what amount, and if it ran. Replies set the job; the price follows on the call while no one has left yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your car. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians turn up.
Starting it comes last. Our test that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our technicians head off. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been caught soon. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Ibthorpe itself
Ibthorpe is a small village in Hampshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 103 metres. Ibthorpe lies within the North Wessex Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty, and is close to the villages of Hurstbourne Tarrant and Upton. Ibthorpe has a population of approximately 515 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Ibthorpe is located near the city of Winchester, about 16 miles away, and is around 60 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Ibthorpe and across Hampshire
Over SP postcodes, the vans serving Ibthorpe — a village — reach surrounding towns too, Upton and Stoke among them. Quickest of all: a SP11 0 postcode to show where you stand.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Spring Row or in a car park in the middle of Ibthorpe, it does not need to move. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. Tricky to explain? Close to Ambley Manor or a county line? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
Your scenario, summed up
Where it has not run, ring and keep it that way. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Ibthorpe and anywhere across Hampshire on 0333 366 0103.