AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Soho: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
Keep the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, done right where the car stands in Soho, is normally all it needs if found before your motor runs. Reading in advance? In that case what follows explains why it comes about and how to prevent it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Many newer diesels in Handsworth, as well as Soho, run on two fluids; your motor takes just the diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Many of vehicles share a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes out of a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the error lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Soho: how it happens
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Foundry Lane, or on the way home in the car park outside The Old Corner House.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
No part halts the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, be it out in Black Patch or right in the heart of Soho.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Smethwick or a forecourt in Soho, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you pick up a rental or fleet car — from The Hawthorns's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Wherever across West Midlands the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Cornwall Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Stage five is out.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Soho?
Brief list, then. First: the motor stays off. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not 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 JET, Texaco or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push your car clear if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Soho.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Soho lies under 3 miles from the M5; on it, use the next junction. Mileage matters — a short hop across Soho is a smaller job than driving under 3 miles to Birmingham — so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Soho, and what takes place next
Anywhere the car has stopped, be it by Oasis Academy Wattville, near Blue Plaque: Soho Foundry or at home, our van travels to it. Our technicians ask what got in, roughly how much, and whether it's run, since those answers settle this work and the price. You get that quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, after your tank is cleared. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away unaided. Hence it matters more. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of the car. Your engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs smoothly, all before our engineers head off.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run need about half an hour once we are there. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Soho
Soho is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and close to the city of Birmingham. Soho sits at an elevation of around 136 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Soho is located near other local places such as Black Patch and Sandwell, and is approximately 2.5 miles from Birmingham city centre.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Soho included
Throughout B postcodes, our vans covering Soho — a residential suburb — work the nearby spots too, Sandwell and Merry Hill included. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting B66 2.
Shifting your car is not necessary. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a road near Good News Asian Church, or a layby on the way to Booth Street Recreation Ground. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Junction Road Evangelical Church? By a border? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
Soho motorists: the short version
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in West Midlands, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — and so leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103.