Gravelly Hill: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
All of it hinges on one detail: whether the motor has been run since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not started yet? Then keep the car that way, whether the vehicle is — Gravelly Hill or Erdington. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine both off. In Gravelly Hill, such a case is generally drained and flushed on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A larger job, then, yet the identical opening move.
Compare what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere across West Midlands you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Gravelly Hill forecourt
Only now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the pump. Maybe you're at the Esso, possibly at the Murco, perhaps somewhere else around Gravelly Hill.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Still inside your tank, with nothing pulled onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Do this: stay out of the car, however much the pump wants clearing. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
At home in Gravelly Hill with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used on the driveway. It happens on drives just off Wheelwright Road as often as anywhere.
In short: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the base of that tank and remains there, however long the night.
Next: the keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle off at breakfast. Then, phone. Our engineers drain the car on your driveway, whether that's around Gravelly Hill or out in Birches Green. Late-night clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
On the road around Gravelly Hill with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and before long the motor was running roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Perhaps it was on Kingsbury Road, perhaps on the way out towards Birmingham, under 5 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Gravelly Hill sits under a mile from the Aston Expressway; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on to the services. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say how far your car was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
Seven days ago, it was unknown to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right by your diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you happen to be around West Midlands, every motorist could slip up.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts here — run or not — and one further stage. The owner frequently needs to approve any work, under plenty of hire and company agreements.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers get there than after. Stranded by Blue Plaque: Dr George Boddington or outside the nearest station till someone answers, the vehicle remains turned off the whole time.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Gravelly Hill?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. What cap was taken off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of SS Mary & John Catholic Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's drive over in Washwood Heath.
In short: spillage round your filler leaves the motor unharmed. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Turning on the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would suck it in.
Do this: behave as though it did, and don't start the motor. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
What each AdBlue drain in Gravelly Hill has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Our engineers come to the vehicle, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Lad in the Lane or a side street close to SS Mary and John, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether the engine has run. The price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and those answers shape the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Then is your filter — flushed, or swapped when needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Never started? Then about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
The last step is starting the engine. Before our engineers head off, it's tested to make sure it runs properly on fresh diesel. If it's caught soon, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your policy as we travel pays.
About Gravelly Hill and where it is
Gravelly Hill is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and close to the city of Birmingham. Gravelly Hill has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant, and the area is located at an elevation of around 126 metres. Gravelly Hill is part of the larger Birmingham urban area, with nearby places including Birches Green, Stockland Green, and Nechells. Gravelly Hill is approximately 100.9 miles northwest of London, and about 3.3 miles from Birmingham city centre.
AdBlue drains around Gravelly Hill and across West Midlands
Stockland Green and Nechells get the same vans as Gravelly Hill, a residential suburb, plus further places throughout B postcodes. Fastest of all: a B24 8 postcode to show your location.
Centre of Gravelly Hill or a layby near Rookery Park: either way it sits, your vehicle never needs to shift at all for the drain. The van empties it in place. Assuming doesn't help beside St Chad, close to a border or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
Your scenario, summed up
Where it has not run, ring and leave it that way. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Gravelly Hill or wherever in West Midlands.