Hednesford: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, leave the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. In Hednesford, catching it before the engine runs normally means a drain and a full flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one liquid but two: that is what many newer diesels near Hednesford and Church Hill carry, with diesel feeding your motor. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has one filler of its own. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. The slip lives in that gap.
Hednesford: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Market Street, or at The Hedgeford Lodge on the way home that evening.
Then the car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
A spouted bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after begun, carries on. Whether it occurs in West Hill or the middle of Hednesford, it is the same few seconds.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Look at these before pouring, at a forecourt around Hednesford or a drive out in Green Heath. A few seconds, that's all.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it beside the diesel filler? Then check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Check when you pick up a rental or company car — from the nearest station's car park, perhaps — not when the warning appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning appears — anywhere you are in Staffordshire — a simple routine to use.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Victoria Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- Both behind a single flap? So make sure the cap on your diesel filler stays shut before raising the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then check once more — making sure the diesel filler remained shut throughout. After that, start your car.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Skip step five entirely.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Hednesford already?
Do not start your engine: that's where the short order of things begins. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help push your car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Texaco, the Esso or anywhere else. If you're on your own drive around Hednesford, leave the vehicle where it sits.
Already run? Stop when it's sensible, then turn off. On the M6 Toll, under 3 miles from Hednesford, that means the next junction. Distance matters — a short hop across Hednesford is a smaller job than driving under 10 miles towards Lichfield — so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our technicians arrive around Hednesford, what happens?
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Poppyfield Primary Academy, near Hednesford Library or on your own driveway. What fluid got in, the quantity, and if it ran: we ask since the replies decide both work and price. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, after your tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that matters more here than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, if needed, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of your car. After that we start the engine and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided the motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It's worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Hednesford and where it is
Hednesford is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated near the River Trent and close to the city of Lichfield. Hednesford sits at an elevation of 163 metres, with nearby neighbourhoods including West Hill, High Town, and Hill Top. Hednesford has a population of around 4291 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Hednesford is located approximately 115 miles northwest of London, in the West Midlands region.
AdBlue drains across Staffordshire, Hednesford included
Hednesford is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the towns around it, High Town and Hill Top among them, across the WS postcode area. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting WS12 1.
The vehicle remains where it is. Wherever it sits — near The Lightworks, on a layby en route to Hednesford Park, at home — that is where it gets emptied. Guessing won't help at the back of Trinity Church, close to a boundary, or anywhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
In short, for Hednesford people
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere in Staffordshire.