Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Brownshill Green
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where the vehicle stands in Brownshill Green, is usually what it takes when caught before the motor runs. The rest of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds your motor — yet many current diesels driven about Brownshill Green and Allesley carry a second liquid as well. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
There is a filler for each tank. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on many motors. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. The mistake lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur in Brownshill Green?
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
Hurry follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a driveway off Hawkes Mill Lane, or heading home in the car park at The White Lion.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: a new car.
No part stops the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Brownshill Green or out in Hawkes End.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Harvest Hill or a forecourt in Brownshill Green, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Many cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Coventry Arena, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Wherever around West Midlands the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of Burton Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently using its built-in spout.
- Before starting the vehicle, close the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap never opened off.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Brownshill Green?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Keep your ignition off as well, because on many diesels it by itself runs your fuel pump. Thinning it with extra diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the base rather than blending — and that's where your fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Texaco, Gulf or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle away when asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in Brownshill Green.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your motor has already run. On the M6, under 3 miles from Brownshill Green, that means the next junction. A short hop across Brownshill Green is a smaller job than a run towards Coventry, under 5 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Brownshill Green, and what takes place next
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether by Keresley Grange Primary School, beside Hawkes Mill Sports and Social Club or on your own drive, the van comes to it. Those answers determine the work and our price, and so we ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run. No one heads out before you have heard the price over the phone.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Your engine is started next and tested to confirm it runs properly, all before our technicians head off.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies — so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Brownshill Green itself
Brownshill Green is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Coventry, near the River Sowe, with a mix of housing types but predominantly detached homes. Brownshill Green sits at an elevation of around 130 metres, close to nearby places such as Hawkes End and Coundon Green. Brownshill Green is situated approximately 3 miles from Coventry city centre, making it a popular residential choice. Brownshill Green has a population of around 1210 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains round Brownshill Green, and West Midlands beyond
Brownshill Green is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places near it, Coundon Green and Keresley among them, across the CV postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a CV5 9 postcode for our van.
The car doesn't need to move. Anywhere it stands — near St Thomas' Church, in a layby en route to Coundon Wood, on a drive — that's where it is drained. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of All Saints Parish Church.
Brownshill Green motorists: the short version
Pour nothing till you have read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it wherever it is, wherever in West Midlands: keep the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.