AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Tipner: What Now?
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue got in? This single point settles nearly everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Tipner itself or out in Vicarage Row. Normally that means emptying and properly rinsing it on the spot around Tipner — and so leave the key and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Stop the moment you safely can then switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Anywhere in Hampshire it took place, one of the situations below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Tipner forecourt
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere around Tipner, then — Shell, Esso, or somewhere else close by.
In short: there is no better place to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. A few jobs: a shove into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home around Tipner with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Houses just off Childe Square are hit as often as everywhere else.
Put simply: if the car hasn't moved since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the pump. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles low inside the tank and waits. One night parked alters none of that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then ring. In Stamshaw or here in Tipner, the drain happens on your drive. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road around Tipner with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, drove away, and before long the engine was running unevenly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up the dash. Perhaps it was on Walden Road, maybe on the way out towards Portsmouth, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue through by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, after the filter and pipework have it. It travels deeper with each extra mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Tipner sits under a mile from the M275; on it, come off at the first junction instead of pressing on for the services. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Call us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week ago, it was new to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right by your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Any driver, wherever around Hampshire, might make it.
The upshot: just as above, split by if it ran, but with one added step. Plenty of rental and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off for work.
Do this: hire firm or fleet manager first, us second, because settling it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for an answer at the car park at Hilsea, or beside St Saviour's Church? Keep the engine off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Tipner?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in St Francis Court, or rushing by Stamshaw Junior School on the school run.
In short: spillage round your filler leaves your engine unharmed. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Turning on the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't fire it up. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one after it's been run — so ring then describe to us what you saw.
Tipner: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Forecourt, drive, Mother Shipton's car park or a road by Mountbatten Centre — the van reaches the vehicle, and three questions come next: what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run. Those replies decide the work, and you hear our quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals form and some metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. Finally are the filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a check of the car. Where your motor has not been started, expect roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
Starting the engine comes at the end. We confirm it runs correctly on fresh diesel before leaving. When it's caught early, the car very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Tipner, briefly
Tipner is a coastal suburban area in Hampshire, situated near the city of Portsmouth and close to the neighbouring areas of Stamshaw and North End. Tipner lies at a low elevation of around 6 metres, reflecting its proximity to the sea. Tipner is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, which is typical of many urban areas in southern England. Tipner is also near Whale Island, a notable local landmark.
AdBlue drains about Tipner and across Hampshire
Whale Island and North End get the identical teams as Tipner, a residential suburb, plus other towns throughout PO postcodes. A postcode starting PO2 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, be it parked in the centre of Tipner or in a lay-by en route to Alexandra Park, and so leave it put. We drain the vehicle where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Corpus Christi RC Church or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The one-line version
Motor not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Started already? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, across Tipner and Hampshire, on 0333 366 0103.