Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Northfield: Why It Occurs
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. In Northfield, catching it before your engine runs normally means draining and a full flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
No single fluid but two: that's how many modern diesels around Northfield and Cofton Common run, with diesel feeding the engine. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. It's in the gap that the error lives.
Northfield: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Frankley Beeches Road before work, or in the car park outside The Black Horse on the way home.
Then your car is new. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. It's a few seconds, be it in Turves Green or right in the heart of Northfield.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Northfield or a drive over in Woodcock Hill. Seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Check for it.
- Can't see it next to the diesel inlet? Then look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The previous driver knows. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere across West Midlands, use this routine.
- Turn off once parked — level ground, motor stopped, and not rushed by Sir Herbert Austin Way on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- Both under one flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel side is still closed ahead of raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and check again that the diesel cap never came off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Step five is off limits.
Northfield: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so keep it off. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the car away from the petrol pump if you are on a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the Shell or anywhere else. At home around Northfield? Then the vehicle remains put.
Already run? Pull over when it is sensible, then turn off. Northfield lies under 3 miles from the M5; there, use the next junction. A short hop across Northfield is a smaller job than a run towards Birmingham, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when we get there in Northfield
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether outside St Brigid's Catholic Primary School, beside Northfield Methodist Church or on your own drive, the van comes to it. Which liquid went in, the amount, and if it ran: we ask because those replies decide both work and price. Nobody heads out before you have heard our quote over the phone.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of that washes out unaided. Hence it counts more. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Next our engineers start the engine and check it runs smoothly before leaving.
Unstarted vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Northfield
Northfield is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and approximately 5.5 miles southwest of Birmingham city centre. Northfield sits at an elevation of around 185 metres, with nearby areas including Turves Green, Shenley Fields, and Longbridge. Northfield has a population of around 8179 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Northfield is also located about 100 miles northwest of London, making it a commuter hub for those working in the capital.
Northfield and West Midlands: AdBlue drains across the area
Shenley Fields and Longbridge are among the places around Northfield, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout B postcodes. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting B31 5.
Shifting the vehicle isn't necessary. Wherever it stands — beside Northfield Baptist Church, on a layby en route to Walmesley Way Park, at home — that's where it is cleared. Guessing doesn't help behind Northfield Library, on a boundary, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
Northfield people: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across West Midlands.