AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Nichols Town: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it was put in. Out in Bedford Place or right around Nichols Town, an unstarted engine must remain that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush plus a drain, done right where the vehicle sits around Nichols Town. Already run? Stop when you safely can, then switch everything off. It's a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around Hampshire it happened.
Nichols Town forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, nozzle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. It could be the Esso, or perhaps the Texaco, or a different forecourt in Nichols Town.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, this is the best. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue stays only inside your tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — and so do not get back in. Three jobs: a shove into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets emptied where it is at the pump.
Nichols Town, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had been lit all week. Bought a bottle, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, too late. It happens on drives just off Trinity Road as regularly as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car hasn't moved since, it's almost equal to finding out at the forecourt. On the bottom of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. In Newtown or right here in Nichols Town, the draining happens on your drive. Our pumping kit works quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Nichols Town?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the top-up. Anywhere along St Matthews Close or heading towards Southampton — under a mile away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Mileage decides how deep it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
Your move: pull up somewhere safe, then turn the motor off. Leave by the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M27, under 3 miles from Nichols Town. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly what distance did it go? Say so as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this vehicle barely a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Hampshire.
The point: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with one added step. Many hire and company contracts need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. Waiting for an answer in the car park outside Southampton Central, or near Hamwic? Keep the engine off meanwhile.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Nichols Town
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of St Mary's Church of England Primary School & Nursery, or a call to a friend in Southampton: both fit.
In short: spillage round the filler does your motor no harm. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be pulled in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it went in, and don't start the engine. Phone with the details: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Nichols Town has in common
The work opens the same way, whatever your situation. Wherever the vehicle is — King Alfred's car park, a street by Southampton Lighthouse International Church, a driveway, a forecourt — the van arrives and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has turned over. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the price, and those answers shape the job too.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Finally come your filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your car. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment we turn up.
Starting the engine comes last. Before our technicians head off, it is checked to be sure it runs properly on fresh diesel. We do the whole job where the car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon if it has been spotted soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Nichols Town and where it is
Nichols Town is a suburban area located on the coast of Hampshire, with an elevation of approximately 7 metres above sea level. Nichols Town sits adjacent to the city of Southampton, with which it is closely tied economically and socially. Nichols Town is characterized by a high proportion of flat housing, reflecting its urban setting. Nichols Town is one of several suburban areas in the vicinity, including Newtown and Kingsland Place.
AdBlue drains across Hampshire, Nichols Town included
Over SO postcodes, the vans serving Nichols Town — a residential suburb — work nearby places too, Kingsland Place and Bellevue among them. Quickest of all: a SO14 0 postcode for where you stand.
Centre of Nichols Town or a lay-by towards Rope Walk Community Garden: wherever it sits, your car doesn't need to shift an inch for us. Where it stands, that is where it is drained. Phone and ask rather than guess when you are by The Abu Bakr Jamia Masjid, near a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle that way and phone. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Hampshire and in Nichols Town — after you pull over, switch off and phone, if it's run.