Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Caldmore: Why It Occurs
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your engine hasn't turned, it is drained and thoroughly rinsed where your vehicle is in Caldmore. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
No single liquid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels near Caldmore and Pleck run, with diesel feeding your engine. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
There's a filler for every tank. Many of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the pump happens all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which cap to use. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Caldmore: how it happens
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up at once.
On a drive off Rutter Street before work, or in the car park at Crown & Anchor heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode follows.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
Nothing halts the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. New Mills or the heart of Caldmore: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in The Chuckery or a forecourt around Caldmore, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- On many motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Walsall, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in West Midlands that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Watery Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — after you've located your filler and read the cap.
- The two behind a single flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel side stays closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Stage five is off limits.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Caldmore?
Do not start the engine: that's how the short order of things begins. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the car on. Diluting it with more diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of mixing — and that's where the fuel is sucked from.
On a forecourt — the nearest petrol station, Shell or any other — the attendants will normally help roll your car away, when you ask. Your own driveway in Caldmore is the place it stays.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M6, under a mile from Caldmore, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Caldmore is less work than a trip of under 10 miles to Wolverhampton, so say.
What takes place when we turn up around Caldmore
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Caldmore Primary Academy, near Caldmore Methodist Church or on your own driveway. Those replies decide the work and the quote, so our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and whether it has run. You hear that price by phone, before anyone heads out.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it washes out by itself. Hence it counts more. A test comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or replaced as needed. Before leaving, our engineers start the car and confirm that it is running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor hasn't run need about half an hour after our technicians are there. 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, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Caldmore
Caldmore is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Tame and close to the city of Wolverhampton. Caldmore has a mix of terraced housing and local amenities, with nearby places including New Mills, Palfrey, and Walsall. Caldmore is located at an elevation of around 135 metres, approximately 6 miles from Wolverhampton and 108 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Caldmore included
Caldmore is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places near it, Palfrey and Walsall among them, across the WS postcode area. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting WS1 4.
Your car stays where it is. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Aisha Mosque & Islamic Centre, a lay-by on the way to Caldmore Green, a drive. Guessing won't help at the back of White Hart, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
Caldmore drivers: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it is, wherever in West Midlands: switch the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.