AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hawks Green: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where your car stands in Hawks Green, is normally what it needs when found before the motor runs. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads around Hawks Green and Hill Top carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to clean it, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have the two together behind one flap. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. It is in that gap that the slip happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Hawks Green: how it happens
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Eastern Way before work, or in the car park at Newhall Farm heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and once it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
New-to-you vehicles come second, too. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
No part stops the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Hawks Green or out in Blackfords.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Hawks Green or a driveway out in Chadsmoor. Seconds, no more.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside the diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Check with 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 Cannock.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Staffordshire that is.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — not rushing on the side of A460.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — once you have located your filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
Find at the second or third step that AdBlue went into the diesel tank? That's where you stop. Step five is out.
Hawks Green: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Do not start your engine: that's how the short order of things starts. Keep your ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone runs your fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
Ask the staff to help roll your car clear of the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Tesco, the Esso or anywhere else. Your own drive around Hawks Green is the place it stays.
Already started? Stop once it is sensible, then switch off. Come off the M6 Toll — under 3 miles out of Hawks Green — at the next junction. A short hop across Hawks Green is a smaller job than a run towards Lichfield, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our technicians get there in Hawks Green, what takes place?
By Chadsmoor CofE (VC) Junior School, near St Chad or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies settle the work and our quote. No one heads out until you've had our quote over the phone.
Your system is then flushed thoroughly, after that tank is emptied. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and nothing clears out unaided, however long it sits. Filter flushed or, if needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your vehicle. Before we leave, we start the engine and check that it is running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once we get there, as long as your engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Before we get there, take a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Hawks Green
Hawks Green is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 141 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Hawks Green lies approximately 7.6 miles from the city of Lichfield and is surrounded by nearby places such as Blackfords, Mill Green, and Rumer Hill. Hawks Green has a population of around 4329 residents and is located in the West Midlands region, about 114.4 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Staffordshire, Hawks Green included
As a residential suburb, Hawks Green has the same vans as nearby places — Mill Green, Rumer Hill — right through WS postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quickest of all: quote a WS11 7 postcode for our van.
Your car stays where it is. Wherever it sits — near Chadsmoor Methodist Church, in a layby en route to Mill Green Nature Park, at home — that's where it is cleared. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Kingsmead Independent Baptist Church, ring and ask instead of assuming.
For Hawks Green drivers, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Staffordshire.