What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Portsmouth
Everything hinges on one detail: whether the motor has started after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then keep it like that, whether your car is — Portsmouth or Landport. Leave the motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Portsmouth. When the motor has been run, stop safely first, then switch it off. A bigger job, then, but the identical first step.
Wherever around Hampshire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
Portsmouth forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: standing by the pump, gripping the nozzle, you spot the filler you opened was not the correct one. Possibly you are at the Esso, maybe at the Asda, maybe somewhere else in Portsmouth.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, this is the best. Only that tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has taken it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Three jobs: a push into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Portsmouth
For days the dash had been nagging you. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it's just by the bin that the cap caught a second look. Right off Charles Dickens Street is not different from any other place.
The upshot: zero miles since makes it almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. On the bottom of that tank is where AdBlue waits, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Next: stop any early-morning drive by putting the keys indoors, then phone us. We drain it on your drive, whether that is in Portsmouth or out in Somers Town. Late-night empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
Portsmouth: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe driving to Chichester, under 15 miles away, or simply along The Mary Rose Street.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. Through your filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More driving, more starts: deeper it goes.
Do this: pull up somewhere sensible, then turn the motor off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M275, under a mile from Portsmouth. It won't have cleared, so there is no point starting it again to find out. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've just driven the car a week. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Anyone, wherever across Hampshire, could make the same.
In short: one extra step on top of the cases above, and those depend on whether it has run. The owner frequently needs to approve the work, under plenty of hire and fleet contracts.
Sorting it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stranded in the car park at Portsmouth & Southsea, or by Central Library, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Portsmouth?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of Ark Ayrton Primary Academy, or a visit to a friend in Old Portsmouth: either fits.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet never reach the motor at all. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Firing up the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not fire it up. Ring with what you saw: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the motor has run.
The common ground in every Portsmouth AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Wherever the vehicle is — The Dockyard's car park, a road beside Queen Victoria Monument, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and asks for the liquid, the quantity, plus whether your engine has turned over. Those answers settle the work, and you hear our price by phone, before anybody sets off.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it's essential, since deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses away unaided. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Last, our engineers fire it up. Our check that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians leave. If it is caught soon, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many policies include misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Portsmouth itself
Portsmouth is a major coastal city in southern England, situated on the shores of the Solent Strait at an elevation of around 10 metres. Portsmouth sits approximately 64 miles south-west of London and is close to the nearby city of Chichester. Portsmouth has a mix of housing types, but terraced housing is predominant, and includes areas such as Somers Town, Portsea, and Fratton. Portsmouth is home to around 151,693 people, making it a significant urban centre in the region.
Portsmouth and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
As a cathedral city, Portsmouth shares its vans with the nearby towns — Fratton, Portsea — all the way through PO postcodes. Your location is quickest from a postcode beginning PO1 2.
No moving is needed, be it parked centrally in Portsmouth or on a layby en route to Victoria Park, so keep it where it is. The drain happens on the spot. Ring and check instead of guessing if you're by Portsmouth Crown Court, near a boundary, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle off and ring. Run by now: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Portsmouth or wherever across Hampshire.