AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Rossmore? Don't Start It
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Then keep your motor off — and your ignition as well. Water with urea mixed in it: that's AdBlue. As it is water-based, it will not ignite and never combines with diesel; damage only starts when the pump starts pulling it. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Rossmore, is generally what AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it's caught before your engine has been run. Before you do anything else, ring 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Rossmore: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- Keys out — that way no one can switch anything on.
- Put your hazards on if you're anywhere near moving traffic.
- The empty bottle or the till receipt shows us the product and the quantity, so do not bin it out.
- Ring us from where you are. A postcode starting BH12 4, or the name of the nearest street, brings our van to you without a search.
Never do these:
- Not even for a second, and not to roll the car: the engine remains off.
- Don't switch the ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- Pouring in extra diesel doesn't work: AdBlue settles out rather than blending.
- Even a short stretch down Herbert Avenue is too far to drive the vehicle.
- No emptying it yourself, at all, at the roadside.
Get the people behind the counter to help you roll the car off the island if you're on a forecourt around Rossmore, whether it's the Sainsbury's or somewhere else. Stopped on your own driveway? Then it stays exactly as it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not the engine. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to fresh it. No part inside a fuel pump is made for this liquid — and no part of that was intended to go through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves very differently from fuel. It doesn't mix in. It's heavier than diesel, so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of your tank, which is where the pickup sucks fuel from. The first thing your fuel system pulls through, once it runs, is the AdBlue. So a motor that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Upper Parkstone last night, and has not been started since, is still the simple case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has sucked it in.
It does two kinds of damage from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it's corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, and so it keeps running on the parts it gets to for as long as it stays there. If the AdBlue is in the pipework, leaving it till morning around Rossmore leaves things worse. In that tank only, waiting costs nothing. The water in it does damage of its own: your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water offers them nothing.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel often the bigger problem?
A fault of thinned fuel is what you end up with after filling a diesel with petrol at the Esso. Harm just comes from driving on it. Blended into your diesel and left inside that tank, it causes none.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different matter: not thin fuel, yet no fuel at all. It does not burn, and so it cannot simply be run through. Whether your vehicle sits in Newtown or the heart of Rossmore, turning it over "to see" does more harm in this case than nearly any other error, and the flush counts more. Why: it will not remain mixed, and so diluting it fails; and crystals and corrosion survive the next tankful.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Never run? Then the AdBlue sits just in your tank, the simplest section of the entire system to empty, anywhere the vehicle has stopped across Dorset.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank in Rossmore?
In dim light, two caps together — the AdBlue one and the diesel cap, occasionally under a single flap — may look the same. No one means it; plenty of designs allow it. A container bought when heading home and poured in outside the house, instead of at the forecourt, is the typical story.
Usually, it takes place in one of a couple of familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up takes place in a hurry outside St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Poole. A driver pours the bottle in outside their house, right off Hilda Road, as the day ends. Another pattern: dim light, the car park outside New Star, and a driver opening that flap for the first time.
Hired cars, new cars, company cars, or the spare car in a home with one of each: the least familiar vehicles get it most. Leave it switched off: that's the first step to an identical mistake, anywhere in Rossmore or the rest of Dorset you are.
Rossmore: started the engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The AdBlue has left your tank, then. Through the filter, along the pipework, and — with any running — into the high-pressure pump and every injector: that is where it has gone.
Rough running, smoke from the exhaust, dropping power, dashboard warnings or stalling: each may appear, perhaps midway across Rossmore or coming back from Hatchards Field. No restarting to test: stop when safe, then turn everything off. More of that is pulled through with each start.
If you were on the M27, under 25 miles from Rossmore, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere safe rather than pressing on.
Every mile pushes the AdBlue further into your system. That is why crossing Rossmore to park beside Borne Community Hub and a drive of under 25 miles for Salisbury are such separate jobs. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
Once the engine has run, the flush includes more, and all of it is done where the vehicle has stopped. Very seldom does it leave permanent damage when it is caught early.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve around Rossmore?
Wherever it has come to rest in Rossmore — a forecourt, a lay-by, a driveway, a road by Rossmore Gospel Church — the van travels to the vehicle. The job depends on three replies, and our technicians ask for before all else — what went in, the amount, and if your engine has turned over.
The polluted diesel and the urea leave together after that tank is drained, on the spot. Residue from AdBlue won't wash away unaided, and so the whole system gets a full flush, which matters far more here than for petrol. Clean diesel goes in after your filter is cleaned — or replaced, when it needs to be — and then the car is tested. Roughly half an hour on site is usual for most jobs where your engine has not run. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt sensible to work on, and they run quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Bleeding the system with fresh diesel comes at the end. Whether it's a parking bay at Branksome or a driveway in Rossmore, that is where we start it and you set off. It's checked on clean diesel to make sure it runs properly before we go. The entire job is done where the car is, so it never needs to go to a workshop. At the end, you are given the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer.
About Rossmore itself
Rossmore is a coastal suburban area in Dorset, situated near the Bourne Valley and close to the neighbouring areas of Wallisdown and Branksome. Rossmore sits at an elevation of 53 metres, with its detached housing stock reflecting the area's residential character. Rossmore is located approximately 23.7 miles from Salisbury and 94.4 miles from London, making it a commuter base for those working in the nearby cities. Rossmore has a population of around 8047 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across Dorset, Rossmore included
Bourne Valley, Wallisdown and Branksome are among the towns near Rossmore that the same teams reach, along with much of Dorset beyond, over the BH postcode area. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask instead of guessing.
No moving is needed. In Rossmore, a residential suburb, a van that comes to you works: your car is drained where it stands, be it on a drive, a residential street, a parking area or a forecourt.
Rossmore: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Not one flat price could be honest, because every job is different. Three things change the price: whether the engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue got in, and where the car is. That last one rests on whether a van can reach it safely, and an open driveway is simpler than a tight spot behind Gateway Church.
That is why each call from Rossmore starts with the same three questions, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and if it's run. When those are known, a range becomes one fixed figure.
Priced on the call before the van sets out, it is settled on the day — card or phone, no deposit. As our engineer is travelling, dig out your insurance: plenty cover misfuelling.
Still beside the car around Rossmore?
Right now, the best thing to do with the vehicle is to not touch it. Keys out, engine off, ignition off. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, across Rossmore or wherever in Dorset, once you phone 0333 366 0103 saying it's AdBlue, roughly what quantity, and if it ran.