AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Nechells, and What to Do Next
Has your engine run since the AdBlue went in? This one point settles nearly everything else from here. Not started so far? Then leave the vehicle like that, whether the vehicle sits — Nechells or Gravelly Hill. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush after a drain, done just where your vehicle sits around Nechells. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere in West Midlands you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Nechells forecourt
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you are at the Esso, perhaps at the Costco, maybe somewhere else around Nechells.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, even if the pump wants clearing. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. Stuck beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a busy forecourt safe, so it can be drained in place.
At home in Nechells with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used on the drive. Homes just off Needham 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. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles low inside that tank and stays. One night standing alters none of that.
Next: stop any early-morning drive by keeping the keys in the house, then ring us. Your driveway is where it gets emptied, be it in Nechells or Washwood Heath. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Nechells?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon the motor was turning unevenly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Possibly it was on Mount Street, possibly on the way out towards Birmingham, under 3 miles away.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a longer trip, after the fuel filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop anywhere sensible, then switch your motor off. Nechells sits under a mile from the M6; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pushing on for the services. It won't have cleared, so there is no sense restarting to find out. Call, and say how far the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had this car hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit next to each other here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it in another spot. Throughout West Midlands, no one is safe from it.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, which depend on whether it's run. Work on your vehicle frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Stranded near Nechells Baths or at Aston until someone answers, your car remains turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Nechells?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Lighter, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of E-ACT Nechells Academy in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway out in Nechells Green.
Put simply: spillage near your filler leaves your motor no harm. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Starting the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would pull it in.
Do this: act as though it did, and never start the motor. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Nechells: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation has the same opening to the work. Our technicians come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Heartlands Club or a side street close to Ebenezer Mission Hall, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and if your engine has run. Those replies decide the work, and you hear the quote on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more important after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, no matter how long you wait. Next is your filter — cleaned, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Where the engine has not run, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
The final step is firing it up. Before our engineers leave, it's checked to be sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel. We do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very uncommon if it has been noticed quickly. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Nechells and where it is
Nechells is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and close to the city centre of Birmingham. Nechells has a mix of terraced housing and local amenities, with nearby areas including Washwood Heath, Aston, and Vauxhall. Nechells is located approximately 2.3 miles from Birmingham city centre, making it a convenient residential area. Nechells sits at an elevation of around 102 metres, with the surrounding landscape shaped by the riverside setting.
AdBlue drains around Nechells and across West Midlands
As a residential suburb, Nechells shares its vans with the nearby towns — Vauxhall, Aston — right through B postcodes. The location comes clearest from a postcode that starts B7 5.
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, it does not need to move. We drain the vehicle where it stands. Phone and check rather than guess when you're by Methodist Church, on a boundary, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Your situation, summed up
Motor never started: phone, and leave it alone. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, in Nechells or wherever across West Midlands.