Old Portsmouth: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has your engine run since the AdBlue got in? That one question decides nearly everything else from here. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is around Old Portsmouth itself or out in Gosport. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine still off. Across Old Portsmouth, that is typically drained and cleaned on the spot. Already started? Stop once you safely can, then turn everything off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Hampshire it happened.
On a Old Portsmouth forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. It could be the Esso, or the Asda, or another forecourt in Old Portsmouth.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, this is the best. Just your tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Three things: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed away is cleared right at the pump.
Old Portsmouth, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the dash light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Houses just off Penny Street get caught out as often as everywhere else.
The point: zero miles since makes this almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Portsea or right here in Old Portsmouth, the draining is done at your driveway. Late-night drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Old Portsmouth?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the top-up. Farthing Lane, say, or the route to Portsmouth — a run of under a mile.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop safely — that's the first step — then turn everything off. Service stations farther on are too far: from the M275, under 3 miles out of Old Portsmouth, take the first junction. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you happen to be around Hampshire, every motorist could be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with one added stage. Many rental and company agreements need the owner's sign-off before work.
Your move: hire firm or fleet manager to begin with, us second, because sorting it beforehand cuts time. If you are stuck in the car park outside Portsmouth Harbour, or by Vicat Cole, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Old Portsmouth
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think so. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of St Jude's CofE Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Southsea.
The point: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Firing up the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will suck it in.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start the motor. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats draining one once it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
The common ground in every Old Portsmouth AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Filling station, drive, The Pembroke's car park or a road beside Royal Garrison Church — our van comes to your car, and three answers follow: what liquid, which quantity, and if it has run. Those replies decide this work, and you hear the quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since deposits build up and some metals corrode, and none of it rinses out unaided. Last are your filter, flushed or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the car. If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, our technicians fire it up. With new diesel in, it runs while we check it's running correctly, and then we go. Our technicians do the whole job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very unusual if it has been caught quickly. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as we travel pays.
About Old Portsmouth itself
Old Portsmouth is a suburban area located on the coast of Hampshire, sitting at an elevation of around 5 metres above sea level. Old Portsmouth is situated close to the city of Portsmouth, with which it is closely associated, and is near other areas such as Portsea and Somers Town. Old Portsmouth is characterized by its predominantly flat housing stock, which reflects its urban setting. Old Portsmouth is also relatively close to London, being around 65 miles to the south-west of the capital.
AdBlue drains around Old Portsmouth and across Hampshire
Being a residential suburb, Old Portsmouth has the same vans as the surrounding places — Somers Town, Portsmouth — right across PO postcodes. A postcode starting PO1 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Governor's Green or in a car park in the middle of Old Portsmouth, it does not need to move. Where it sits, that is where it gets drained. Awkward to explain? By Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury or a border? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Still unrun? Keep the vehicle that way and ring. Whichever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Hampshire and in Old Portsmouth — once you stop, turn off then ring, if it's run.