AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Kingston? Keep It Switched Off
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Then keep the engine off — and your ignition too. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. The harm begins once it is sucked through the pump — it will not burn, and it will not blend with diesel. In Kingston, AdBlue in a diesel tank caught before your engine runs usually means a drain and a thorough flush, just where the vehicle is. First, call us on 0333 366 0103.
Your next steps right now, Kingston: AdBlue in the diesel tank
To do:
- Pull your keys out, so no one switches your ignition on.
- Put the hazards on if you're anywhere close to moving traffic.
- The empty bottle or the receipt tells us the fluid and the amount, so do not bin it out.
- The van locates you quickest with a postcode starting PO2 7, or just the name of a street close by, so call from the car.
Do not do these:
- No starting the engine — not briefly, not to reposition your vehicle.
- Many diesels power their fuel pump the instant your ignition comes on, so keep it off.
- Don't top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue does not mix in diesel; it separates out.
- Keep the car where it is instead of driving it anywhere, even a short stretch along Langford Road.
- Draining your tank on your own by the road isn't worth trying.
On a forecourt around Kingston, whether it is the Esso or another one, ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. At your own drive, do not move it at all.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Not your engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue belongs. Kept in a separate tank, it is squirted into the exhaust to treat the gases. Not one side suits the other: urea does not belong in a pump, and an injection pump can't deal with urea.
It doesn't combine. After it is tipped into the tank, AdBlue behaves nothing like diesel. It's heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and collects at the bottom of the tank, which is where the pickup sucks fuel from. The first thing the fuel system pulls through, after it runs, is the AdBlue. So a car that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Copnor last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the easy case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has sucked it in.
After it's drawn in, the harm takes two forms. It attacks some metals used in fuel components, working on any part it reaches until it's removed from the system. And once the water evaporates, the urea turns into crystals that clog filters and lodge in narrow channels. A motor left sitting around Kingston with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue just in its tank is not. The water in it does harm of its own: the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors depend on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's frequently worse than petrol
Fill a diesel with petrol by mistake over at the Shell, and the problem is thinned fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and whilst it is inside that tank it causes no damage; the damage comes from running the motor on it.
The trouble with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally unsuitable liquid. Since it does not burn, running it through is not an option. Nor can it be thinned, because it splits again — and the next tankful will not rinse away crystals or corrosion. So the flush matters for more with AdBlue, and turning your key "to see", in the heart of Kingston or out in Landport, does more harm than nearly any other error.
With AdBlue, the good news is no distinct from petrol. Emptying a tank is the simplest part on any fuel system, and without running, the AdBlue stays in there — anywhere in Hampshire the car has stopped.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in Kingston
It is not on purpose. Many vehicles have the AdBlue inlet beside the diesel inlet, now and then under a single flap, and muddling them up is simple in poor light. It usually happens outside the house, from a bottle grabbed on the journey home, rather than at the forecourt.
A few familiar ways cover most cases. Midway through the drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside Penbridge Junior School the top-up is hurried. Someone pours the container in at home, right off New Road, as the day ends. Otherwise, after dark outside The Stag, the vehicle gets refilled by a driver opening that flap the first time.
The least familiar cars get it most — rentals, brand-new ones, fleet cars, and the spare car in a family with one of each fuel types. Wherever you are in Kingston or the remainder of Hampshire, it is the same mistake and the same first answer: leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Kingston, and the engine started?
Then the AdBlue has left that tank. It's been sucked through the fuel filter and the lines, and if your engine ran for any time, it has reached your high-pressure pump and the injectors.
Expect rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash, or a cut-out — coming back from Kingston Recreation Ground, say, or midway across Kingston. No starting it again to check: stop once safe, then switch everything off. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Kingston lies under a mile from the M275; if you were on it, leave by the first junction and stop safely rather than carrying on.
Each mile carries the AdBlue deeper into the system. That's why crossing Kingston to park beside St Wilfrid and a drive of under 3 miles for Portsmouth are such different jobs. Tell us about how far it had come.
Once the engine has run, the flush includes more, and all of it is done where the vehicle has ended up. Very rarely does it leave permanent damage when it is noticed early.
Draining AdBlue in a diesel around Kingston: what it takes
Our engineers come to your car, wherever it has stopped in Kingston: a side street near North End Baptist Church, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Which fluid went in, roughly the quantity, plus whether your motor has been run: our engineers check first, because those decide the job.
The contaminated diesel and the urea come out together when your tank is emptied, right there. With AdBlue, more so than with petrol, the flush counts: the fuel system is cleaned right through since what remains won't wash away by itself. Testing your car comes last, after fresh diesel goes in and the fuel filter gets cleaned or, if needed, replaced. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour visit once our technicians get there, if the engine has not run. The pumps are explosion-proof, safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
The final step is to prime the fuel system on new diesel. You set off as soon as our technicians have fired it up, and it makes no difference whether your car is on a drive in Kingston or in a bay outside Fratton. Our technicians check it runs properly on new diesel before leaving. No workshop is required at any stage, with the entire job done on the spot. At the end, there is the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer.
About Kingston itself
Kingston is a suburban area located on the coast of Hampshire, situated near the city of Portsmouth on Portsea Island. Kingston sits at a low elevation of around 9 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting its historical development as a residential area. Kingston is close to other nearby places such as Buckland and North End, and is part of the larger Portsmouth urban area. Kingston has a population of approximately 18,022 residents.
Kingston and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout the PO postcode area, the vans answering AdBlue jobs in Kingston reach most of Hampshire too, Portsea Island, Buckland and North End among them. Phone and ask rather than guess when you're by a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
Anywhere your car stands — your driveway at home, a residential street, a parking area, a filling station — our technicians empty it there, with no need to take it to us; which suits Kingston, a residential suburb, well.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around Kingston?
There is no fair single price, because the jobs are not the same. Three things shift the cost: whether your engine has run and for how long, how much AdBlue got in, and where the vehicle is. That last one comes down to whether a van can get to it safely, and an open driveway is easier than a tight space behind Cross of Sacrifice.
For that reason, every call from Kingston begins by asking the identical trio — what got in, what quantity, whether it ran — ahead of a quote. Their answers narrow a range down to one number.
Our price is given during the call, before a van sets off; settling up comes on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Misfuelling cover comes with many insurance policies, so it is worth looking at yours before the van gets there.
Still next to the car in Kingston?
Then, touch nothing — that is the most helpful step there is. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Call 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, plus if the engine ran are everything our engineers ask. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest across Hampshire, Kingston included.