Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bromford: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Bromford, catching it before your engine turns normally leaves a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. Reading before the event? Then what follows explains how it comes about and how to prevent it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels around Buckland End, as well as Bromford, carry on two fluids; the motor gets just the diesel. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to clean it, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together under one flap. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. The AdBlue side is filled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Bromford: how it happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a drive off Ayrshire Close before work, or in the car park at The Racecourse on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Nothing halts the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Bromford or out in Hodgehill.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Bromford or a drive over in Stechford. Seconds, that's all.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually aren't.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — many cars show what goes in each filler just there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Stechford? Ask the person who drove it last before leaving, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere in West Midlands, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Wetherby Close.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you've located the filler and read the cap.
- The two under a single flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel side is still closed ahead of raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop just there. Skip step five altogether.
Bromford: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at the nearest petrol station, Shell or another forecourt will usually help pushing the car away if you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive around Bromford.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M6, under a mile from Bromford, that means the next junction. A short hop across Bromford is a smaller job than a run towards Birmingham, under 5 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Bromford: what occurs when we turn up
Wherever your car has stopped, whether outside Tame Valley Academy, beside Bromford Bridge Christian Church or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Which liquid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask because the answers decide the work and quote. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Your system is then flushed thoroughly, once the tank is drained. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes away on its own, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. The motor is started next and tested to make sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers leave.
Using pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor has not run need about half an hour after we arrive. Payment happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Bromford
Bromford is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated on the River Rea and close to the city of Birmingham. Bromford has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant, and its riverside setting provides a distinctive character. Bromford is located near other suburban areas such as Hodgehill and Birches Green, and its proximity to Birmingham makes it a popular residential choice. Bromford sits at an elevation of around 87 metres above sea level, relatively low compared to other parts of the region.
Bromford and West Midlands: AdBlue drains across the area
Birches Green and Ward End are among the places around Bromford, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over B postcodes. A postcode starting B36 8 gets our van to you fastest.
No need to shift the car. Draining happens right there, be it a driveway, a street near Firs and Bromford Sports and Community Centre, or a lay-by on the way to Hodge Hill Common. Assuming doesn't help at the back of Scallywags, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
For Bromford motorists, the short version
Pour no AdBlue until you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across West Midlands, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — so leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103.