AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Highfields? Keep It Switched Off
If AdBlue has got into the diesel tank, leave the engine off then leave your ignition off. In plain terms, AdBlue is just urea in water. Unlike fuel, it neither burns nor blends, and no harm happens until your engine sucks it through. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Highfields, is normally what AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it is caught before your motor has been run. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Highfields, AdBlue in your diesel tank: what to do right away
Things to do:
- So no one can turn your ignition on, take your keys away.
- If you are anywhere close to moving traffic, put your hazards on.
- Which product, and roughly what volume? Hang on to the bottle or the till receipt, and our technicians can know.
- Ring just where you are. Say a WS7 3 postcode or the closest street name, and no one has to search for you.
Do not do these:
- Moving the vehicle just a short way is no reason to start your engine.
- Many diesels power their fuel pump the moment the ignition comes on, and so leave the vehicle off.
- No more fuel on top. The AdBlue will not mix, so it's pointless.
- Even a short distance up Church Street is too far to drive it.
- No draining it yourself, either, on the verge.
The attendants working at any Highfields filling station — the Morrisons included — will normally lend a hand rolling it aside if you ask. If you're on your own drive, leave the car just where it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
Not the engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to fresh it. A fuel pump is not made to cope with it, and AdBlue was never supposed to go through one.
It doesn't combine. After it is tipped into the tank, AdBlue acts not at all like fuel. The pickup takes fuel from the lowest part of that tank, and that is exactly where AdBlue ends up: as it is heavier than diesel, it sinks. When your pump runs, the AdBlue is first to be pulled through. Until then it sits beneath your diesel, which is how a vehicle filled in Burntwood Green yesterday and never switched on stays the straightforward one, provided no one turns the key.
It does two kinds of harm from there. What remains when the water evaporates is urea, which turns into crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and clog filters. On top of that, it eats at some metals in a fuel system, and carries on till it is flushed out. Pipes carrying AdBlue spell damage overnight for a car sitting in Highfields. Only in your tank, it stays stable. Then there's the water: it brings no protection to the parts that rely on it most — the injection pump and every injector.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger fault?
A problem of thinned fuel is what you end up with from filling a diesel with petrol at the Esso. Damage only comes from running on it. Blended into the diesel and left in your tank, it does nothing.
AdBlue in a diesel is another matter: not thin fuel, yet no fuel at all. It does not burn, so it can't just be run through. Deposits and corrosion remain after the following tankful, and AdBlue splits back from the diesel, so thinning it won't help. Hence the flush matters more, and trying your engine "to see" costs more with AdBlue than almost any other mistake — in Norton Canes or the heart of Highfields alike.
The good news is the same as with petrol. If your engine hasn't run, the AdBlue is still inside your tank, and the tank is the quickest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever around Staffordshire your car is standing.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around Highfields
Many cars put the AdBlue filler beside the diesel one, occasionally behind a single flap, and in dim light the two can look the same. No one means it. Mostly it's not the filling station: a driver buys a container heading home and pours it in at home.
A few familiar ways cover most cases. Rushing, outside St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, after a warning light came on during the school run, someone tops up your car. In the evening, a bottle goes in on a driveway near Pool Road. Another version: dim light, the car park outside The Uxbridge Arms, and a driver opening that flap the first time.
The least known vehicles see it most — rentals, brand-new cars, fleet cars, and the spare motor in a family with both fuel types. Same mistake, same first step — keep it switched off — wherever you happen to be around Highfields or the remainder of Staffordshire.
Started your engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank in Highfields?
Then the AdBlue has left the tank. It's been sucked through your filter and the fuel lines, and if the motor ran for any time, it has got to the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors.
Perhaps returning from Oakfield Park, or part way across Highfields, the engine might go rough, smoke, lose power, flash your dash or cut out. When you safely can, pull over then switch everything off — without restarting to see. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Highfields sits under a mile from the M6 Toll; if you were on it, exit by the first junction and pull up somewhere safe rather than driving on.
A quick hop across Highfields to the car park by St. Anne's Church is one thing; driving for Lichfield, under 5 miles away, is another, since every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. So mileage counts. Tell us about how far it had come.
Our engineers do all of the cleaning where the car has come to a stop, and once the motor has been run there is more of it. Permanent damage is very rare if it's caught soon.
Highfields: how AdBlue is emptied from a diesel
Our technicians come to your car, wherever it has stopped around Highfields: a side street close to Chasetown Methodist Church, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Which fluid was put in, roughly how much, plus whether your engine has been run: our engineers ask before all else, since those shape the work.
Then the tank is drained where the vehicle stands, and so the contaminated fuel and the AdBlue come out together. A careful flush counts much more with AdBlue than after petrol, because residue will not wash away by itself. Fresh diesel goes in after your filter is cleaned — or swapped, when it needs to be — and after that your car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour visit once our technicians turn up, provided your motor has not run. The pumps are explosion-proof, fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Fresh diesel goes in to bleed the system, and that's the final step. Starting it comes next, and then you drive off from where the vehicle is parked, at Landywood or on a driveway in Highfields. It's tested on new diesel to make sure it runs properly before our technicians leave. Our engineers do it all wherever the car has ended up, and it never needs to go to a garage. Your insurer will want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — both yours once this job is done.
About Highfields
Highfields is a suburban area situated near the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, with a lakeside setting that adds to its natural beauty. Highfields has a mix of semi-detached housing and is located at an elevation of 158 metres, providing a pleasant living environment for its residents. Highfields is close to several nearby places, including Chasetown, Brownhills West, and New Town, and is about 4.6 miles from Lichfield city centre.
AdBlue drains across Highfields and Staffordshire
Chasetown, Brownhills West and New Town are among the places around Highfields that the same vans reach, together with most of Staffordshire further out, over the WS postcode area. Assuming doesn't help close to a county line or somewhere tricky to pin down; phone and check.
Wherever the car sits — your drive at home, a side street, a parking area, a filling station — our technicians drain it on the spot, and there's no need to bring it to us; that suits Highfields, a residential suburb, well.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Highfields: the cost of fixing it
Every job differs, and so no single price is honest. Three things shift the cost: whether the motor has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue went in, and where the vehicle is. That last one turns on whether a van can get to it safely, and an open driveway is easier than a tight gap behind Chasewater Outdoor Education Centre.
That's why each call from Highfields starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and whether it's run. Given those replies, the range narrows to one firm figure.
You hear that quote by phone, before anyone sets off, and you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. Check your policy while we are on the way: plenty carry misfuelling cover.
Highfields: still next to your car?
In that case, do nothing — that's the most helpful step there is. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Phone 0333 366 0103 and tell us it's AdBlue, roughly how much, and whether it's run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, around Highfields or anywhere around Staffordshire.