Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Chasetown: Why It Happens
Keep your motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Usually, if the engine hasn't run, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where the car sits in Chasetown. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one fluid but two: that is what many modern diesels near Chasetown and Chase Terrace run, with diesel for your motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the fumes.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Other motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together under one flap. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur around Chasetown?
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a drive off Cottage Lane before work, or in the car park outside Cottage of Content heading home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part stops the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Highfields or the heart of Chasetown: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these first, on a forecourt in Chasetown or a drive over in Gorstey Ley. A few seconds, that's all.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many motors. Look for it.
- The handbook shows which it is when the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Landywood? Check with whoever drove it last before leaving, rather than when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Wherever in Staffordshire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Queens Drive, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Find at the second or third step that the bottle went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Step five is off limits.
Chasetown: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with not starting the engine. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Morrisons, Esso or another forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the car away if asked. At home around Chasetown? So your car stays put.
Already started? Pull over once it's sensible, then turn off. The next junction is the place to come off when you are on the M6 Toll, under a mile from Chasetown. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Chasetown is less work than a trip of under 5 miles to Lichfield, so say.
When we turn up around Chasetown, what takes place?
Wherever your car has stopped, be it by St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, near Chasetown Methodist Church or at home, the van comes to it. Both the work and the price depend on three answers — which fluid, which amount, and if it's run — so we ask. You get that price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that matters 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. The filter cleaned or, if it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run need about half an hour once our technicians arrive. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Chasetown and where it is
Chasetown is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated near the city of Lichfield and surrounded by other nearby places such as Highfields, Burntwood Green, and Burntwood. Chasetown has a population of approximately 6739 residents and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Chasetown sits inland, with an elevation of around 152 metres, and is located about 111 miles northwest of London. Chasetown is part of the larger West Midlands region, but remains a distinct community with its own local identity.
Chasetown and Staffordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Chasetown is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Burntwood Green and Burntwood among them, across the WS postcode area. Give a postcode that starts WS7 4, and our van gets there quickest.
The vehicle does not need to move. Draining happens on the spot, be it a driveway, a road near St. Anne's Church, or a layby on the way to Oakfield Park. If you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Burntwood Leisure Centre, ring and ask instead of guessing.
For Chasetown motorists, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it stands, wherever across Staffordshire: switch it off and phone 0333 366 0103.