Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Nordley Hill
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Nordley Hill. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels in New Cross, like those in Nordley Hill, carry on two fluids; your engine takes just the diesel. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at each filling station visit, again and again. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens in Nordley Hill
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Amos Lane before work, or in the car park at The Castle on the way home.
The old car's cap is where the hand goes — yet a rental car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's the second factor: a new motor.
A spout-topped bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, once begun, keeps on. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Nordley Hill or out in Wednesfield.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Wood Hayes or a forecourt in Nordley Hill, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Open the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars mark which goes in each inlet just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Wolverhampton.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
On the day the warning comes on — anywhere you are in West Midlands — a simple routine to use.
- Pull in on level, engine off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of Cottage Close.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located your filler and read the cap.
- The two behind a single flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel filler is still shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then look again — confirm your diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. After that, start the car.
Find during the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Skip stage five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Nordley Hill?
The short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch it on. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Sainsbury's, JET or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the vehicle clear when asked. Your own driveway in Nordley Hill is where it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. On the M6, under 3 miles from Nordley Hill, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Nordley Hill is smaller work than a run of under 3 miles towards Wolverhampton, so say.
What occurs when our technicians turn up in Nordley Hill
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether by Wodensfield Primary School, beside St Thomas or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Which fluid was put in, the amount, and if it ran: our engineers ask because those answers decide both work and quote. During the phone call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a full flush of the system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing clears out unaided, however long it sits. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. After that we fire it up and confirm it runs correctly before leaving.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine has not run take about half an hour after our technicians arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Nordley Hill
Nordley Hill is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, near the riverside and surrounded by other nearby places such as Wednesfield and Wood End. Nordley Hill sits at an elevation of 153 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Nordley Hill is situated approximately 2.3 miles from Wolverhampton city centre, making it a convenient residential location. Nordley Hill has a population of around 6994 residents, according to approximate estimates.
AdBlue drains around Nordley Hill, and West Midlands beyond
Wood End and March End are among the towns around Nordley Hill, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout WV postcodes. Give a postcode beginning WV11 1, and our van gets there fastest.
Shifting the car is not necessary. Draining happens right there, whether a driveway, a street by War Memorial, or a layby on the way to Wednesfield F.C.. If you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Bate Monument, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Nordley Hill drivers: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in West Midlands.