What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Ham
Everything turns on one detail: whether your motor has started after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then keep the vehicle like that, wherever the vehicle sits — West Ham or Houndmills. Normally that means draining and thoroughly flushing it right there around West Ham — so keep the ignition and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Below: the cases we meet, wherever across Hampshire. Choose the one that fits.
West Ham forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only now, bottle yet in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Possibly you are at the Texaco, possibly at the Morrisons, maybe somewhere else around West Ham.
Put simply: no better place to be to spot it. Only the tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Draining it right at the pump is possible if it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in West Ham with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it was just by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Drives close to Churchill Way West get it as much as any other street.
In short: if the car hasn't moved since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the base of the tank and remains there, no matter how long the night.
Your move: keys indoors, so nobody drives the car off first thing. After that, ring. Out in Winklebury or here in West Ham, the drain happens on your drive. Late-night empties outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in West Ham?
A mile or two beyond filling up, your engine began playing up: rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on the dash. Possibly it was on West Ham Roundabout, perhaps on the way out towards Winchester, under 25 miles away.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it too on a longer trip, after the fuel filter and lines have it. It goes further with every extra mile driven and each restart.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then switch your motor off. West Ham lies under 3 miles from the M3; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. About what distance had it go? Say so when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days ago, the car was unknown to you. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Throughout Hampshire, no one is safe from it.
The upshot: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with an added stage. Many hire and company agreements require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it beforehand cuts time. If you're stranded in the car park at Basingstoke, or by iFLY, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around West Ham
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. Which cap was taken off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Winklebury Infant School, or on a friend's drive in Kings Furlong.
The upshot: the motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. Starting your car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would draw it in.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Phone and give what you saw: we'd rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the motor has run.
West Ham: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whichever your situation. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Winkle or a side street close to Odeon, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and if your motor has been run. Your price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies set the job.
Emptying your tank comes first, followed by a full flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, however long it sits. Finally come the filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Not started? In that case roughly half an hour on site is most jobs.
Finally, our engineers start the engine. Before our technicians leave, it's tested to confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and lasting damage is very rare when it has been spotted quickly. Nothing is taken upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes built into plenty of policies.
About West Ham itself
West Ham is a suburban area in Hampshire, situated on the riverside with an elevation of around 88 metres. West Ham lies near the cities of Winchester and London, with the former being approximately 16 miles away. West Ham is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing and is surrounded by nearby places such as Winklebury, South Ham, and Buckskin. West Ham has a population of around 4457 residents.
AdBlue drains across Hampshire, West Ham included
West Ham is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, South Ham and Buckskin among them, across the RG postcode area. Giving us your RG22 6 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Parked heading to Winklebury Playing Fields, or right in the heart of West Ham, the vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to shift it at all. The van empties it where it stands. Tricky to explain? By Planet Ice or a county line? Asking beats assuming, and so ring.
In one line: your situation
Unstarted? Keep the vehicle off and ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within West Ham or anywhere across Hampshire.