AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Harborne: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Usually, when the motor has not turned, it's drained and thoroughly cleaned where your vehicle is around Harborne. Here in advance? In that case what follows covers how it comes about and how to stop it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many modern diesels in Warley Woods, like those in Harborne, carry on two liquids; the engine gets just your diesel. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to clean them, from a separate tank.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on all the time. Much less commonly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Harborne
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Milford Road, perhaps outside The Bell on the way home after work.
The old car's filler is where the hand goes — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's a second factor: a new motor.
No part halts the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it occurs in Beech Lanes or the middle of Harborne, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Weoley Castle or a forecourt in Harborne, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it next to your diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- 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 at University (Birmingham).
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning appears — wherever you are around West Midlands — a routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Hartledon Road, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It seems silly. It works.
- Both under one flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel filler stays shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Stop when your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip gently through the own spout.
- Before starting the car, close the cap and check again that your diesel cap was never opened off.
Find at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Step five stays off limits.
Harborne: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the motor. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — the nearest petrol station, Texaco or any other — the attendants will usually help roll your car clear, if you ask. Your own driveway around Harborne is where it stays.
Already started? Stop when it is safe, then switch off. On the M5, under 3 miles from Harborne, that means the next junction. A short hop across Harborne is a smaller job than a run towards Birmingham, under 3 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Harborne: what occurs when we turn up
The van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own drive, beside Kingdom Hall Of Jehovahs Witnesses, or outside St Peters CofE Primary School. Both the work and our quote rest on three answers — what liquid, what amount, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. On the call itself, you are told the quote — ahead of dispatch.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once the filter has been cleaned — or renewed, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then your vehicle is tested. After that our technicians start the car and confirm it runs properly before we leave.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after our technicians get there, provided the motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Harborne
Harborne is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated approximately 2.9 miles southwest of Birmingham city centre. Harborne sits at an elevation of around 160 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting the area's historical development. Harborne is close to nearby places such as Beech Lanes and Lodge Hill, and is about 102 miles northwest of London. Harborne has a population of around 6616 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Harborne included
Throughout B postcodes, the vans that cover Harborne — a residential suburb — work the surrounding spots too, California and Lodge Hill included. Quickest of all: quote a B17 0 postcode to the van.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Harborne Cricket Club and Hockey Club, a side street close to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Guessing won't help at the back of Harborne Swimming Pool And Fitness Centre, on a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
For Harborne motorists, the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep the car switched off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across West Midlands.