Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Romsey
Motor off, ignition off: that's how you start if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Water with urea mixed in it: that is AdBlue. Being water-based, it will not burn and never combines with diesel; trouble only comes once your pump begins drawing it. In Romsey, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before your engine runs usually comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, right where the vehicle is. Ring 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Romsey: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- Take your keys out, and so no one switches the ignition on.
- Close to moving traffic? So put the hazards on.
- Which product, and about what amount? Hang on to the bottle or the receipt, and we can know.
- Our van locates you quickest with a postcode starting SO51 8, or simply the name of a street nearby, so phone from the car.
Never do these:
- No starting your engine — not for a second, not to reposition your vehicle.
- Many diesels run their pump the moment your ignition comes on, and so leave it off.
- Adding more diesel doesn't help: AdBlue separates out rather than blending.
- Never drive it anywhere, not even a short distance along Market Place.
- Don't try to drain the vehicle yourself by the kerbside.
On a forecourt in Romsey, whether it is the BP or another one, ask the staff to help you roll your car away from the pump. On the drive, the vehicle stays exactly as it was left.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
The engine is not what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is fed into the exhaust, and there it treats the fumes. A fuel pump is not made to cope with it, and AdBlue was never intended to travel through one.
It doesn't combine. After it's tipped into the tank, AdBlue acts nothing like fuel. It sinks, because it is heavier than diesel, and pools down where the intake draws its supply from. Once your system runs, the AdBlue is first to go through. Before then it waits underneath the diesel, which is why a car filled in Ashfield yesterday and never switched on stays the simple one, provided no one touches the key.
Two kinds of damage follow from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it is corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, so it keeps running on the parts it gets to for as long as it remains there. A vehicle left standing in Romsey with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue just in its tank isn't. Water lubricates nothing. The injection pump and each injector depend on diesel flowing through them, and so the water content damages them by itself.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it is frequently worse than petrol
Petrol pumped into a diesel on Esso's forecourt makes the fuel thin — that is the main problem. Mixed through the diesel and sitting unused, it is harmless at that stage; using the motor does the damage.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid as such is plainly the wrong one. Not burning, it can't just be run through. Deposits and corrosion stay through the next tankful, and AdBlue splits again out of your diesel, so watering it can't help. Hence the flush matters so much, and trying your engine "to see" does more harm with AdBlue than almost any other slip — in Whitenap or the centre of Romsey equally.
The good news is the same as with petrol. If the engine has not run, the AdBlue is still in that tank, and the tank is the simplest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever around Hampshire the vehicle is sitting.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank in Romsey?
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on plenty of vehicles sits right next to the diesel filler, sometimes under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. It mostly occurs outside the house, from a container bought en route home, not at the filling station.
Usually, it occurs in one of a few familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside Romsey Abbey Church of England Primary School the refill is hurried. Close to Bell Street, a driver pours a container in on that drive in the evening. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park at Cocky Anchor, in poor light, by somebody who has never opened that flap before.
It comes up the most in a hire car, a brand-new vehicle, a fleet vehicle, or the other car in a home with both fuel types — the vehicles drivers use the least. Keep it off: that is the first step to an identical mistake, wherever around Romsey or the remainder of Hampshire you happen to be.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank around Romsey?
Then the AdBlue has left your tank. Given any running, it goes on to the injection pump and each injector, having passed through the filter and pipework.
Rough running, smoke from the exhaust, dropping power, dashboard lights or stalling: each might show up, maybe part way across Romsey or coming back from King John's Garden. Stop when it is safe. Switch off. Leave the vehicle off rather than restarting it to check. More of that is pulled through with each start.
If you were on the Nursling Spur Motorway, under 3 miles from Romsey, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere safe rather than pressing on.
How far it went counts. A few hundred yards across Romsey to the car park by Lord Palmerston is a very different job from a run towards Southampton, under 10 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into the system with each mile. Let us know about how far it had come.
We do all of the cleaning where the vehicle has ended up, and once the motor has been run there is more of it. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it is noticed early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Romsey: what it takes
The car remains put, whether that is a street beside Romsey Town Hall, a drive, a lay-by or a filling station around Romsey, and our van comes to it. What was put in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has turned over: our technicians ask before all else, since those decide the work.
Right there, your tank is then drained, and both the contaminated diesel and the urea come out at once. A full flush counts much more with AdBlue than after petrol, because residue won't wash out on its own. Testing the car follows at the end, once clean diesel goes in and your filter gets flushed or, where needed, replaced. If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our engineers are there. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt sensible to work on, and they're quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
New diesel goes in to prime the fuel system, and that is the final step. After that our engineers start the engine and you set off, whether from a parking bay by the nearest station or a driveway around Romsey. Before leaving, our engineers make sure it's running smoothly with fresh diesel in. No garage is needed at any point, with the whole job done then and there. Afterwards, you are given the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer.
About Romsey
Romsey is a town situated on the banks of the River Test in Hampshire, with a mix of terraced housing and other residential properties. Romsey sits at a relatively low elevation of around 20 metres above sea level, close to the larger city of Southampton. Romsey is located near several smaller places, including Cupernham, Harefield, and Halterworth, and is about 69 miles from London. Romsey has a population of approximately 9187 people.
Romsey and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Cupernham, Harefield and Halterworth are among the places near Romsey that the same vans serve, together with much of Hampshire beyond, throughout the SO postcode area. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask rather than guessing.
A van that comes to you suits Romsey, a riverside town: there's no need to take your vehicle to us, since our engineers drain it on the spot, on a drive, a side street, a parking area or a forecourt.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Romsey: the cost of fixing it
Each job differs, and so no single quote is fair. What changes the cost is, firstly, whether the motor has been running and for how long; then how much AdBlue got in; and finally where the vehicle is and whether a van can get to it safely, which is simpler on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind Romsey United Reformed Church.
With that in mind, each enquiry from Romsey opens with the identical trio — which fluid got in, what quantity, whether it ran — before a quote. Those replies shrink a range down to a single figure.
Priced by phone before the engineer heads out, the job is paid for on the day — card or phone, nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
In Romsey and still beside your car?
Then, do nothing — that is the most helpful step available. Keys out; motor and ignition off. Phone 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and if it ran are all we need. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder throughout Hampshire, Romsey included.