AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Nechells Green: What Now?
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your motor has run afterwards. Out in Aston or here in Nechells Green, an unstarted engine must stay unrun. Leave the motor and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Nechells Green. Stop the moment you safely can and turn off, if it has been run. Step one stays unchanged, even though the job grows.
Below: the cases our engineers meet, anywhere around West Midlands. Choose yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Nechells Green forecourt
Only now, bottle still in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. It might be the the nearest petrol station, or the Gulf, or another forecourt in Nechells Green.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the queue needs freeing. Ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the pump is possible if it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Nechells Green drive?
Days had passed with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Homes just off Rupert Street get hit as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and stays. One night parked changes none of that.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so nobody takes your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. In Vauxhall or right here in Nechells Green, the draining is done on your driveway. The pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Nechells Green: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, pulled away, and before long the engine was running roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Anywhere on Nechells Parkway or on the road to Birmingham — under 3 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it too on a longer run, once your filter and pipework have it. More miles, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Stop somewhere safe — that is the first job — then turn everything off. Service stations further on are too far: from the Aston Expressway, under a mile out of Nechells Green, use the first junction. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only had this car a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right next to your diesel. Throughout West Midlands, nobody is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Work on your vehicle often requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or company terms.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at Duddeston, or beside St Vincent de Paul? Leave your engine off throughout.
Nechells Green: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Bordesley, or in a rush outside St Matthew's CofE Primary School on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to the motor. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. Starting the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would pull it in.
Do this: act as if it did, and never start your engine. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it's been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
Every AdBlue drain in Nechells Green shares these steps
Every situation gets the same opening to the work. Forecourt, drive, Gosta Green's car park or a road beside Nechells Community Sports Centre — our van reaches your car, and three answers come next: which fluid, which amount, and whether it has run. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told our price, and those answers decide the job too.
Then your tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Finally are the filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your car. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, we start the engine. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it is running correctly, and then we head off. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it is noticed early, lasting damage is very uncommon. Nothing is taken upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About Nechells Green and where it is
Nechells Green is a suburban area located on the riverside in the West Midlands, with a mix of residential and industrial land use. Nechells Green sits near the centre of Birmingham, at an elevation of around 116 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Vauxhall and Aston New Town. Nechells Green is predominantly composed of flat housing, which accommodates its population of approximately 6450 residents. Nechells Green is situated about 1.2 miles from Birmingham city centre, making it a convenient location for those working in the city.
AdBlue drains about Nechells Green and across West Midlands
Being a residential suburb, Nechells Green has the same vans as the nearby towns — New Town Row, Aston New Town — right through B postcodes. A postcode starting B7 5 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Bloomsbury Community Garden or in a car park in the middle of Nechells Green, it doesn't need to move. The drain is done on the spot. Assuming won't help near St Matthew's, close to a border or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it has not run, phone and keep it off. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Nechells Green or wherever in West Midlands.