AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Upton? Don't Start It
If AdBlue has got into the diesel tank, keep the motor off then leave the ignition off. Urea mixed in water is what AdBlue is. The harm starts once it's pulled through the lines — it won't ignite, and it won't combine with diesel. In Upton, AdBlue in a diesel tank caught before your engine runs usually comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where your car is. Before you do anything else, call 0333 366 0103.
Upton, AdBlue in your diesel tank: what to do straight away
Do these:
- Remove your keys, which stops someone turning the power on.
- Put the hazard lights on if you're anywhere close to moving traffic.
- So you can tell us which liquid it was and roughly what quantity, save your receipt or the empty bottle.
- Call just where you are. Say a SO16 0 postcode or the nearest street sign, and no one has to search for you.
Don't do these:
- No starting the engine — not for a second, not to reposition the car.
- Plenty of diesels run their fuel pump the instant the ignition goes on, and so leave it off.
- No more fuel on top. The AdBlue will not blend, and so it is pointless.
- Don't drive the vehicle anywhere, not even a short way along Lymer Villas.
- Do not try to drain it yourself at the kerbside.
The staff on duty at any Upton forecourt — the BP among them — will usually help rolling it aside if you ask. At home, the vehicle stays exactly as it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Made for your exhaust, AdBlue has no place in the motor. Its own reservoir keeps it, and from there it is fed into the exhaust, and there it cleans the gas. A fuel pump isn't designed to take it, and AdBlue was never intended to go through one.
It doesn't blend. After it's poured into a tank of diesel, AdBlue behaves not at all like diesel. It sinks, since it is denser than diesel, and settles low where the pickup takes its fuel from. The first thing your fuel system pulls through, after it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Hillyfields last night, and has not been started since, is still the simple case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of the tank, and nothing has drawn it in.
Two kinds of harm come from there. What is left when the water evaporates is urea, which forms crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and clog filters. Worse, it eats at certain metals in a fuel system, and carries on until it is cleared out. Lines holding AdBlue spell damage by morning for a car sitting around Upton. Only in your tank, it stays the same. Diesel lubricates the high-pressure pump and each injector as it passes; water gives none of that, which is a second kind of damage.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel regularly the bigger issue?
Petrol pumped into a diesel on Sainsbury's's forecourt leaves the fuel thin — that's the whole fault. It mixes with the diesel, and while it's in that tank it does no damage; the harm comes from running your motor on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is another problem: not thin fuel, yet no fuel at all. Since it doesn't burn, running it through isn't an option. Whether the vehicle is in Toothill or the heart of Upton, turning it over "to see" costs more in this case than nearly any other slip, and the flush matters for more. Why: it won't remain mixed, and so watering it down fails; and deposits and corrosion survive the following tankful.
The same good news holds as with petrol. Clearing a tank is the simplest part on a fuel system, and without running, the AdBlue remains in there — wherever around Hampshire your car has stopped.
Upton: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
After dark, two caps side by side — the AdBlue cap and the diesel cap, occasionally under one flap — can look the same. Nobody means it; many designs allow it. A container bought when driving home and tipped in at home, instead of at the filling station, is the typical story.
It tends to take place in a couple of familiar ways. The refill is hurried outside Nursling Church of England Primary School, because your dash lit up with a warning while the kids were taken in. A driver pours the bottle in outside their house, just off Upton Lane, as the day ends. Else, in dim light by The Four Horseshoes, the car gets refilled by someone opening that flap for the first time.
The least familiar vehicles get it most — hire cars, new cars, company ones, and the spare vehicle of a home with both fuel types. Same slip, an identical first response — keep it switched off — anywhere you happen to be around Upton or the remainder of Hampshire.
Upton: started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the AdBlue has left your tank. The fuel filter and lines have had it sucked through, and some running time carries it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Lumpy running, smoke, dropping power, dashboard warnings or stalling: each may appear, perhaps midway across Upton or returning from Half Way Acre. No restarting to check: stop when it is safe, then turn everything off. Every start pulls more of that through.
Exit the M27, under a mile from Upton, by the next junction and stop somewhere safe, not driving on.
Every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper into the system. That's why crossing Upton to park beside Nursling and Rownhams Village Hall and a drive of under 5 miles towards Southampton are very separate jobs. Roughly how far it had come is worth telling us.
Wherever your car came to a stop is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out once the engine has been started. When it's spotted early, long-term damage is very rare.
Emptying AdBlue in a diesel in Upton: what it takes
Our engineers come to the vehicle, wherever it has stopped around Upton: a side street near St John's, Rownhams, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Which fluid went in, about how much, and whether the motor has been run: our technicians ask first, since those shape the job.
Then your tank is emptied where the vehicle stands, so the tainted fuel and the AdBlue come out together. Your system is flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol, since what it leaves behind does not rinse out on its own. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our engineers arrive. The equipment is explosion-proof, and so a live forecourt is no problem, and it's hushed enough for a residential street after dark.
The last step is to prime your system on clean diesel. Then we start the engine and you head off, whether from a parking space by Redbridge or a driveway around Upton. Our technicians confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, so it never has to go to a workshop. At the end, you are given the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer.
About Upton itself
Upton is a small suburban area located on the coast of Hampshire, situated near the city of Southampton. Upton sits at an elevation of 39 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Upton is close to nearby places such as Nursling, Rownhams, and Lee, and is approximately 69.7 miles from London. Upton has a population of around 1051 residents.
Upton and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Nursling, Rownhams and Lee are among the towns near Upton that the same teams reach, along with much of Hampshire beyond, throughout the SO postcode area. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Wherever your car sits — your driveway at home, a side street, a car park, a filling station — our technicians empty it on the spot, and there's no need to bring it to us; which suits Upton, a residential suburb, well.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Upton: the cost of fixing it
Since the callouts differ, a single price would not be fair. Three things move the cost: whether the engine has run and for how long, how much AdBlue got in, and where your car is. That last one rests on whether a van can reach it safely, and an open driveway is easier than a tight space behind War Memorial.
That is why each call from Upton starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what went in, how much, and whether it's run. The replies turn a range into a straight quote.
The price is quoted during the call, before anyone sets off; payment happens on the day, by card or over the phone, and nothing upfront. Look at your policy whilst we are on the way: plenty include misfuelling cover.
Still alongside the vehicle around Upton?
Right now, the most helpful thing to do with the car is to leave it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Phone 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, plus whether it ran are all our technicians ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder throughout Hampshire, Upton too.