AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Castle Bromwich: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Stop reading for a moment when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, carried out just where the vehicle sits in Castle Bromwich, is usually what it needs if found before the motor runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the page explains the why it takes place and the ways to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
No single fluid but two: that is how many modern diesels near Castle Bromwich and Colehall run, with diesel for the engine. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream to clean it.
Each tank comes with one filler of its own. Some motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together behind one flap. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled constantly. The AdBlue side is topped up far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in that gap that the error happens.
Castle Bromwich: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Green Lane before work, or in the car park outside The Farthings on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Unfamiliar cars come next, as well. Hire cars, new motors and company cars place their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip after it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Castle Bromwich or out in Shard End.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Kingshurst or a forecourt around Castle Bromwich.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not.
- On plenty of cars, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many vehicles carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it lives if the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Water Orton.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across West Midlands that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of West Avenue.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Shut the cap, then check again — making sure the diesel filler remained shut throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Castle Bromwich?
Brief order, then. Top of that: your motor remains off. Leave your ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on by itself runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the Morrisons or the Esso, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. Your own driveway in Castle Bromwich is the place it should stay.
Already started? Stop when it is safe, then turn off. Leave the M6 — under a mile out of Castle Bromwich — at the next junction. About how far did it go? Hopping across Castle Bromwich is less work than a trip of under 10 miles to Birmingham, so say.
Our arrival around Castle Bromwich, and what takes place next
By Castle Bromwich Infant and Nursery School, near Arden Hall - Castle Bromwich Parish Council or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies decide this work and our price. You hear that quote by phone, before anyone sets off.
The system is then purged thoroughly, after that tank is cleared. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out by itself. That is why it counts more. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and check that it's running properly.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a live forecourt, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated approximately 5.8 miles east of Birmingham city centre. Castle Bromwich sits at an elevation of 107 metres, with its semi-detached housing stock characteristic of the area's residential development. Castle Bromwich is located near other suburban areas such as Shard End and Castle Vale, and is about 98.3 miles northwest of London.
Castle Bromwich and West Midlands: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout B postcodes, our vans that cover Castle Bromwich — a residential suburb — work the surrounding places too, Castle Vale and Buckland End among them. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting B36 0.
No need to move the car. Anywhere it sits — near Castle Bromwich Library, in a lay-by heading to Castle Bromwich Playing Fields, at home — that's where it gets drained. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of St Clement of Alexandria, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The short version for Castle Bromwich motorists
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around West Midlands.