What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Butts
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has been run since it went in. Out in Chawton or here around The Butts, an unstarted motor must remain unrun. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. Across The Butts, that is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Hampshire it happened.
The Butts forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the pump, gripping the nozzle, you spot the filler you took off was not the right one. It could be the BP, or the another forecourt nearby, or a different station in The Butts.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the queue needs freeing. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed away is drained where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in The Butts
For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it's only by the recycling that the cap got your eye. Just off Lincoln Green is no less likely from anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low in that tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it gets emptied, whether in The Butts or Newtown. Late-night drains outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
The Butts: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, drove away, and before long your motor was running unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Butts Mews, say, or the way to Winchester — a run of under 25 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Through the filter, through the lines, and — the further the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: further it travels.
Pull in safely — that is the first step — then turn everything off. Services further along can wait: on the M3, under 10 miles out of The Butts, take the next junction. No test restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only driven the car a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you happen to be across Hampshire, any motorist can slip up.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. The owner frequently needs to approve the work, under many rental and fleet agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside Alton, or beside All Saints Church? Leave the car off meanwhile.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around The Butts
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at The Butts Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Wilsom.
The upshot: your motor isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Take it that it went in, and never start the key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Every AdBlue drain around The Butts shares these steps
Each situation gets the same opening to the job. Three things come when we reach the car — on a forecourt, a driveway, a street beside Alton Baptist Church or the car park at The French Horn: the liquid, the amount, and if it has run. Replies shape the work; the quote comes by phone whilst nobody has set off yet.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Clean diesel is put in once the filter is flushed or replaced, and your car is then checked. Where your engine has not been started, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians go, it's checked to confirm it runs smoothly on clean diesel. If it is caught early, the vehicle very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Many policies include misfuelling, and so check yours as we head over.
About The Butts, briefly
The Butts is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Hampshire, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 4863 residents. The Butts sits at an elevation of 115 metres, approximately 15 miles from the city of Winchester and 44 miles from London. The Butts is located near other local areas such as Newtown, Mount Pleasant, and Alton, and is part of the wider South East region. The Butts has a relatively quiet setting, with the river running nearby.
The Butts and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, The Butts shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Alton, Mount Pleasant — all the way through GU postcodes. Telling us a GU34 1 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to the green space at the edge of the village or in a car park in the middle of The Butts, it doesn't need to move. Our van drains it in place. Ring and check instead of guessing if you are close to Alton Methodist Church, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't run, phone and leave it that way. Run already: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within The Butts or wherever across Hampshire.