What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thornhill
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your engine has run afterwards. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in Thornhill itself or out in Sholing. Usually that is emptying and properly flushing it on the spot around Thornhill — so leave the ignition and motor off then ring 0333 366 0103. Where your engine has run, stop somewhere safe first, then switch the car off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, anywhere across Hampshire you happen to be.
At the petrol pump in Thornhill: AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Be it Esso, Southampton Logs or somewhere else in Thornhill, the situation is the same.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. Draining it right at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Thornhill drive?
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It takes place on driveways just off Hinkler Road as frequently as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your car has not been driven since, it's close to the pump case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or a person might drive it away at breakfast — then call us. Your drive is where it gets drained, whether in Thornhill or Hightown. Night-time drains beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Thornhill: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way beyond filling up, the motor started playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. It might have been driving for Southampton, under 3 miles away, or simply along Tatwin Crescent.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in already. Past the fuel filter, along the pipework, and — the further the mileage — on into the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more starts: deeper it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. On the M27, under a mile from Thornhill, that means the next exit, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to check. Tell us hear the mileage covered when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have only had this car for days. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across Hampshire, nobody is safe from it.
The point: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with an added stage. Plenty of rental and fleet contracts require the owner's sign-off before work.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we get there than after. Leave it off while the answer arrives, whether you're waiting outside Sholing or near St Christopher.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Thornhill?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. Which cap was taken off, you cannot recall; but the bottle feels less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Thornhill Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Thornhill Park.
The upshot: your engine is not harmed by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and don't turn the engine. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in each Thornhill AdBlue drain
Each case has the same opening to the job. Our engineers come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at The Hinkler or a side street near Thornhill Library, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and whether the engine has been run. Those replies determine the work, and you get our price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining your tank comes first, then a full flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long you wait. Last are the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Last, our engineers fire it up. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we go. Lasting damage is very rare if it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where your car is. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while we travel pays.
About Thornhill itself
Thornhill is a suburban area located on the coast of Hampshire, sitting approximately 54 metres above sea level. Thornhill is situated near the city of Southampton, with Hightown, Harefield, and Sholing Common nearby. Thornhill has a population of around 8353 people and is predominantly composed of flat housing. Thornhill is also within commuting distance to London, being around 66.7 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Thornhill, and across Hampshire too
Thornhill is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Harefield and Sholing Common among them, across the SO postcode area. Giving us a SO19 6 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Central Thornhill or a lay-by near Hinkler Park: wherever it sits, your vehicle never needs to shift at all for us. Draining happens on the spot. Tricky to pin down? By Ninja Warrior UK or a county line? Checking is better than assuming, and so ring.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't started, phone then leave it off. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Thornhill or wherever in Hampshire.