AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Kettlebrook? Keep It Switched Off
Motor off, ignition off: that is how you begin if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. Not like fuel, it neither ignites nor mixes, and nothing happens till your motor pulls it round. In Kettlebrook, AdBlue in a diesel tank caught before your motor runs usually comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, right where the car is. Ring 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Kettlebrook: the first few minutes
Do:
- Keys out — that way no one can switch anything on.
- Near moving traffic? So put the hazard lights on.
- The empty bottle or the till receipt tells us the fluid and the amount, so don't bin it away.
- Ring just where you are. Say a B77 1 postcode or the nearest street sign, and no one has to search for you.
Things not to do:
- Not even for a second, and not to shift your vehicle: your motor stays off.
- Your ignition remains off: on many diesels, turning it on is enough to run your pump.
- Don't top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue doesn't dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Don't drive it anywhere, not even a short stretch up Reedmace.
- No emptying it yourself, either, on the roadside.
Get the attendants to help you roll your car off the island if you are at a forecourt around Kettlebrook, whether it's the Texaco or elsewhere. At home, the car remains just as it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
AdBlue is made for the exhaust, not your motor. Stored in a dedicated tank, it's squirted into the exhaust to clean the gases. Neither side suits the other: urea does not belong in a pump, and an injection pump can't deal with urea.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves very differently from fuel. It does not mix in. The pickup sucks fuel from the lowest part of that tank, and that's just where AdBlue settles: as it is heavier than diesel, it sinks. The first thing the system pulls through, after it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Bolehall last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the easy case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of the tank, and nothing has sucked it in.
It causes two kinds of harm from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it leaves urea that crystallises in filters and tiny channels; meanwhile, since it attacks some metals, each part it touches suffers for as long as it stays inside. Where the AdBlue is in the lines, waiting overnight in Kettlebrook makes it worse. In the tank only, waiting costs nothing. Diesel protects the injection pump and every injector as it flows; water offers no lubrication, and that is a separate form of damage.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel often the bigger problem?
Top up a diesel with petrol by mistake over at the Asda, and the issue is thinned fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and while it is in that tank it causes no harm; the harm comes from running the engine on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a problem of the wrong substance altogether. It does not burn, so it can't just be run through. Whether the vehicle is in Belgrave or the centre of Kettlebrook, turning it over "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other mistake, and the flush counts more. The reasons: it won't stay blended, so diluting it fails; and crystals and corrosion survive the next fill.
With AdBlue, the good news is no distinct from petrol. Emptying a tank is the easiest part on any fuel system, and without start-up, the AdBlue remains in it — wherever across Staffordshire your car sits.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank in Kettlebrook?
In dim light, two caps together — the AdBlue cap and the diesel cap, now and then behind one flap — can look the same. No one means it; many layouts allow it. A container bought while driving home and poured in at home, rather than at the filling station, is the usual route.
It tends to take place in a couple of familiar ways. Hurrying, outside William MacGregor Primary School, after a warning light came on during the school run, someone tops up the vehicle. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Celandine. Or a driver new to that flap tops up the vehicle after dark, parked in the car park outside The Mercian.
It takes place most in the vehicles drivers know least: a hire car, a new motor, a company car, or the second motor of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Anywhere in Staffordshire, Kettlebrook as well, the slip doesn't change, and neither does the first step: keep it off.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank around Kettlebrook?
Then that tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. Your filter and lines have had it pulled along, and any running time carries it on to the injection pump and each injector.
You may notice the engine running unevenly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, possibly on the way back from Tameside Nature Reserve or halfway across Kettlebrook. Stop when safe. Turn off. Keep it off instead of restarting it to check. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Leave the M42, under 3 miles from Kettlebrook, at the next junction and park somewhere safe, not carrying on.
How far it went matters. A few hundred yards across Kettlebrook to the car park by St Andrew is a very different job from a run towards Lichfield, under 10 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into the fuel system with each mile. Tell us roughly how far it had come.
Our engineers do all of the cleaning where the car has stopped, and once the motor has run there is more of it. Noticed quickly, it very rarely leaves long-term damage.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve in Kettlebrook?
The car stays put, whether that's a road beside Tamworth FC, a driveway, a lay-by or a forecourt around Kettlebrook, and the van travels to it. Before anything else our engineers ask what went in, roughly how much, and if the engine has run, since those replies settle the work.
Then the tank is cleared where your car sits, and so the contaminated fuel and the AdBlue come out together. What remains from AdBlue won't wash out by itself, so the fuel system gets a full flush, which matters far more here than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If the engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once our technicians arrive. The pumps are explosion-proof, safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Lastly, the system is primed with clean diesel. At that point our technicians start the engine and you drive off, whether from a parking bay by Tamworth or a drive around Kettlebrook. Our technicians make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. Our engineers do it all wherever the car has stopped, and it never has to go to a garage. Your insurer will want an engineer's report and your VAT invoice — each handed over once this job is done.
About Kettlebrook itself
Kettlebrook is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 63 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Kettlebrook lies approximately 7 miles from the city of Lichfield and is close to nearby places such as Bitterscote, Tamworth, and Glascote. Kettlebrook is home to around 3694 residents and forms part of the wider West Midlands region. Kettlebrook is located 101 miles northwest of London, making it a relatively accessible location.
Kettlebrook and Staffordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
AdBlue call-outs in Kettlebrook go to vans that cover the towns near it — Bitterscote, Tamworth plus Glascote — and much of Staffordshire beyond, throughout B postcodes. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask instead of assuming.
No moving is needed. In Kettlebrook, a residential suburb, a mobile service works: your car is emptied where it stands, be it in a driveway, a side street, a parking area or a forecourt.
Kettlebrook: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
There is no honest single quote, since the jobs are not the same. Three things change the price: whether the motor has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue was put in, and where your car is. That last one comes down to whether our van can reach it safely, and an open driveway is simpler than a tight spot behind Snowdome.
For that reason, every call from Kettlebrook opens by asking the identical trio — what went in, how much, if it ran — before a figure. Once they are answered, a range turns into one fixed figure.
Quoted by phone before the engineer heads out, the job is paid for that day — card or phone, no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
Kettlebrook: still next to the car?
Then, do nothing — that is the most helpful move available. Engine off, keys out, ignition off. Call 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, plus whether the engine ran is everything our engineers need. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder throughout Staffordshire, Kettlebrook too.