AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Lower Marlbrook: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, keep the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out right where your car sits around Lower Marlbrook, is normally all it needs if found before your motor runs. Reading in advance? Then the rest covers why it comes about and what to prevent it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
No single fluid but two: that's how plenty of modern diesels around Lower Marlbrook and Wildmoor run, with diesel for the engine. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Other motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place both side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Lower Marlbrook: how it happens
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Halesowen Road, perhaps outside The Royal Oak on the way home that evening.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as easily, and once the pour begins, nothing stops it. Whether it takes place in Upper Catshill or the middle of Lower Marlbrook, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Hall Flat or a forecourt in Lower Marlbrook, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Check for it.
- The handbook shows which it lives when your filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Barnt Green, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light goes on, wherever around Worcestershire, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Woodrow Lane, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off first.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you've located the filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Skip step five altogether.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Lower Marlbrook already?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch it on. Topping up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of the tank, just where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at Esso, Harvest Energy or any forecourt will normally help to push the car away when you ask. On your own drive around Lower Marlbrook? So your car remains where it is.
When the engine has been run by now, pull over safely then turn it off. On the M5, under a mile from Lower Marlbrook, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Birmingham, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Lower Marlbrook.
What occurs when our engineers turn up in Lower Marlbrook
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Catshill First School, close to St Luke or on your own drive. What liquid got in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the answers decide both work and quote. No one heads out before you have had our quote by phone.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out by itself. That is why it counts more. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Before we go, our engineers start it and check that it is running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our technicians arrive, as long as the motor has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Lower Marlbrook, briefly
Lower Marlbrook is a village in Worcestershire, situated inland at an elevation of 169 metres, with a mix of rural and residential areas. Lower Marlbrook lies near several other communities, including Upper Catshill and Lydiate Ash, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Lower Marlbrook is located approximately 9.7 miles from Birmingham, making it a commuter-friendly location. Lower Marlbrook has a population of around 1494 residents.
Lower Marlbrook and Worcestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a rural village, Lower Marlbrook shares its vans nearby areas — Lydiate Ash, Upper Marlbrook — all the way through B postcodes and the wider area around them. Give a postcode beginning B61 0, and our van gets there quickest.
Shifting the vehicle isn't needed. Wherever it stands — beside Welcome Hall Evangelical Church, in a layby heading to Round Hill, at home — that's where it gets cleared. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Catshill Methodist Church, ring and ask instead of guessing.
In short, for Lower Marlbrook drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Worcestershire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.