Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Albion: Why It Happens
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where the car sits around Albion, is usually all it needs if caught before the motor runs. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page covers the why it happens and the ways to prevent it altogether.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many modern diesels around Lamberts End, as well as Albion, carry on two fluids; your engine takes only the diesel. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there spraying treats the gas.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think what cap to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
Albion: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Union Road before work, or in the car park outside Yew Tree Bar & Grill on the way home.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Albion or out in Greets Green.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Albion forecourt or a drive over in Brades Village, spend a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps are often blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars mark which belongs in each filler just there.
- The handbook shows which it is when the filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver knows. Check as you collect a hire car or company car — from Sandwell & Dudley's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere across West Midlands, follow this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Oldbury Road.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It works.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two sit under a flap, confirm it is closed before lifting the bottle.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, pour slowly through its own spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Step five is off limits.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Albion?
Do not start the engine: that is where the short order of things begins. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Shell or the BP, ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Albion.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is the place to leave if you are on the M5, under 3 miles from Albion. A short hop across Albion is a smaller job than a run towards Birmingham, under 10 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
What takes place when we arrive in Albion
Our van reaches the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, near Jules' Pool, or outside Newtown Primary School. What liquid was put in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the answers decide both work and quote. You hear that price by phone, before anybody sets off.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears out by itself. Hence it counts more. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Albion itself
Albion is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Tame and close to the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Albion sits at an elevation of around 144 metres, with its semi-detached housing stock reflecting the typical residential architecture of the region. Albion is located near other local suburbs, including Greets Green, Ryders Green, and Swan Village, and is around 5.6 miles from Birmingham city centre. Albion has a population of approximately 3213 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Albion included
Ryders Green and Swan Village are among the towns near Albion, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over B postcodes. A postcode starting B70 9 gets our van to you fastest.
No need to shift the vehicle. Anywhere it stands — near Iron Horse, in a layby en route to Black Country Millennium Forest, on a drive — that's where it is emptied. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Ryders Green Methodist Church.
Albion motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it wherever it stands, anywhere in West Midlands: keep the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.