What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Birdsgreen
Has the engine run since the AdBlue went in? This single question decides almost everything else from here. Anywhere the vehicle is — Hampton Loade, Birdsgreen — don't start a motor that hasn't been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and engine still off. In Birdsgreen, that is generally emptied and flushed where it stands. Pull over the minute it is safe and switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever in Shropshire it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Birdsgreen forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Be it the nearest petrol station, Shell or somewhere else around Birdsgreen, the situation is the same.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Still in the tank, and nothing pulled onwards: that is where the AdBlue is.
What to do: do not get back in and start it to clear the pump. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
Birdsgreen, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it's just by the bin that the cap caught a second look. Driveways near A442 get it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it gets drained, be it around Birdsgreen or Turleygreen. Late-night clears beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Birdsgreen: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way after filling up, the motor began playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Somewhere along Romsley Lane or on the road to Wolverhampton — under 15 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into the fuel system. Past the filter, along the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Your move: pull up somewhere sensible, then switch the motor off. Birdsgreen lies under 15 miles from the M5; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, so there is no point starting it again to check. Phone, and say what distance your car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've only driven this vehicle a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, wherever in Shropshire, might make it.
In short: an extra step on top of the cases above, and those turn on if it has run. Plenty of hire and company agreements require the owner's approval for repairs.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Stuck near Alveley Village Hall or at Kidderminster until the firm replies, the car remains turned off throughout.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Birdsgreen
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think so. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; but the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of Alveley Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's driveway over in Kingsnordley.
Put simply: a spill round the filler does the engine no harm. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting the vehicle will suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as though it did, and never start the engine. Checking a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
Birdsgreen: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work opens identically, whatever the case. Forecourt, drive, The Squirrel's car park or a street beside Church of St Mary the Virgin, Alveley — our van reaches the car, and three questions follow: which fluid, which amount, and whether it ran. Answers set the work; the price comes by phone while nobody has left yet.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out on its own; that's why the flush, after the drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If the motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our technicians fire it up at the end. Before our technicians head off, it is tested to make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. Permanent damage is very rare if it is noticed soon, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Birdsgreen and where it is
Birdsgreen is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in Shropshire, with a population of around 579 people. Birdsgreen has a mix of housing, but predominantly features detached homes, and is located near other small settlements such as Turleygreen and Alveley. Birdsgreen sits at an elevation of 96 metres, close to the larger city of Wolverhampton, which is approximately 12 miles away. Birdsgreen is also within a reasonable distance from London, being around 115 miles to the southwest.
AdBlue drains around Birdsgreen and across Shropshire
Throughout WV postcodes, the teams covering Birdsgreen — a rural hamlet — reach nearby places too, Alveley and Fenn Green among them. Quickest of all: a WV15 6 postcode for your location.
Parked en route to Alveley Recreation Ground, or right in the centre of Birdsgreen, the car stays where it is — there's no need to move it at all. Our van empties it where it stands. Phone and check rather than guess if you're close to Alveley Old Chapel, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep it off then ring. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Shropshire and in Birdsgreen — once you pull over, turn off then ring, if it's run.