AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Oscott, and What to Do Next
All of it turns on one detail: if the engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Oscott itself or out in Kingstanding. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where your car stands around Oscott. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A bigger job, then, but the identical opening move.
Below: the situations we meet, wherever around West Midlands. Pick the one that fits.
Oscott forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, bottle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the pump. It might be the BP, or perhaps the Tesco, or another station around Oscott.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. Just your tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it only to move away from the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push your car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the pump is fine if it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Oscott with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it was only at the recycling that the cap got your eye. It happens on driveways just off Thornby Road as regularly as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car hasn't moved since, it is almost as good as finding out at the forecourt. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base inside your tank and stays. A night standing changes nothing.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one takes the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. In Perry Common or right here in Oscott, the draining happens at your driveway. Night-time clears beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Oscott?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Shepherds Way, perhaps, or the way to Birmingham — a trip of under 5 miles.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Mileage decides how deep it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: stop anywhere sensible, then switch the motor off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M6, under 3 miles from Oscott. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Let us hear the mileage covered when you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have just driven the vehicle for days. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Across West Midlands, no one is safe from it.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stuck in the car park outside Erdington, or by St Martin's Church Centre, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Oscott: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. A slight ammonia whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. Maybe on a friend's driveway in Upper Witton, or in a rush by Story Wood School on the school run.
Put simply: spillage round the filler does your motor no harm. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different matter. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by firing up your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Your move: act as if it got in, and don't start your engine. Ring with what you saw: we'd rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the engine has been run.
Every AdBlue drain around Oscott shares these stages
No matter the situation, a single start applies. Filling station, driveway, The Beggars Bush's car park or a road beside Perry Common Pentecostal Church — our van reaches your car, and three questions come next: what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run. Those answers settle this work, and you get our quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then that tank is emptied and the system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Where your motor has not been started, allow about half an hour on site, in most jobs.
Firing it up comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running smoothly, and then we leave. If it is caught quickly, the car very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Oscott and where it is
Oscott is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated approximately 4.6 miles north of Birmingham city centre. Oscott occupies a relatively low-lying area at an elevation of around 118 metres, with nearby neighbourhoods including Perry Common and Short Heath. Oscott has a population of around 10,450 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Oscott is also close to the nearby area of New Oscott, which is often associated with the suburb.
Oscott and West Midlands: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, Oscott shares its vans with the nearby towns — New Oscott, Short Heath — all the way across B postcodes. Telling us your B23 5 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Parked heading to Perry Common Ring, or bang in the centre of Oscott, the car stays where it is — there's no need to shift it at all. The drain is done on the spot. Guessing won't help near Perry Common Community Centre, on a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
The one-line version
Where it has not run, ring and leave it that way. Whichever case fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout West Midlands and within Oscott — once you pull over, turn off then ring, if it has run.