AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Short Heath: What Now?
Has the engine run since the AdBlue went in? That one point settles almost everything about what comes next. Anywhere the car stands — Upper Witton, Short Heath — don't start a motor that hasn't run yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush plus a drain, done just where the vehicle stands in Short Heath. Already run? Stop once safe, then switch everything off. Step one stays unchanged, even though the work is bigger.
Below: the cases we meet, anywhere in West Midlands. Choose yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Short Heath forecourt
Picture it: standing by the pump, gripping the nozzle, you realise the cap you took off wasn't the correct one. It might be the BP, or perhaps the Tesco, or another forecourt in Short Heath.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to spot it. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue stays just inside the tank.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants freeing. A few jobs: a push into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the pump is possible when it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Short Heath
For days the dash had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. It takes place on driveways just off Chipstead Road as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Being unable to mix, AdBlue drops low inside your tank and waits. A night standing alters nothing.
Keep the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone might take it away at breakfast — then call us. Perry Common or Short Heath: wherever your driveway is, that is where it gets emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Short Heath with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two after the fill. Somewhere on Sheddington Road or else heading towards Birmingham — under 5 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. Past your filter, through the pipework, and — the more the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Next: pick a safe place, pull in, and turn your engine off. On the M6, under 3 miles from Short Heath, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, so there's no point restarting to find out. Roughly how far had it gone? Tell us as you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had the vehicle barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers are side by side here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or keeps it in another spot. Any driver, wherever across West Midlands, could do the same.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies too — run or unrun — and one extra step. The owner often has to approve any work, under many hire and fleet agreements.
Settling it before we arrives is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck by Beacon Lighthouse or outside Erdington till the firm answers, your car remains switched off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Short Heath?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by your filler. The gates of Oasis Academy Short Heath in a hurry, say, or someone's drive out in New Oscott.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no harm to your motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: act as though it got in, then leave your engine off. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than emptying one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
The common ground in every Short Heath AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever your car is — The Greyhound's car park, a street beside Perry Common Pentecostal Church, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and if the engine has turned over. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the price, and those replies shape the work too.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Then is the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced when necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Starting it comes last. Our check that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before we head off. Our engineers do the whole job where your car is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. Payment is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Short Heath itself
Short Heath is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated approximately 4.4 miles north of Birmingham city centre. Short Heath sits at an elevation of around 118 metres, with its semi-detached housing stock characteristic of the local residential landscape. Short Heath is bordered by nearby places such as Perry Common, Oscott, and Stockland Green, and is home to a population of around 9143 people.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Short Heath included
Throughout B postcodes, the vans serving Short Heath — a residential suburb — reach surrounding towns as well, Oscott and Stockland Green included. Your location comes clearest from a postcode that starts B23 5.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Perry Common Meadows or in a car park in the middle of Short Heath, it doesn't need to move. The drain happens on the spot. Awkward to explain? By St Martin's Church Centre or a border? Asking beats assuming, and so phone.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't started, ring then leave it that way. Run by now: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Short Heath or wherever in West Midlands.