Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Sparkbrook: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, keep the ignition and engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Sparkbrook. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Deritend, like those in Sparkbrook, carry 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.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, while others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. It is in the gap that the mistake lives.
Sparkbrook: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the vehicle, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Montgomery Street, or outside The Rose Tavern on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: a strange car.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour once it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Sparkbrook or out in Small Heath.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Balsall Heath or a forecourt in Sparkbrook, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- On many vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — many vehicles show what belongs in each inlet right there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at Small Heath's car park, perhaps — not once the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere in West Midlands the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Dolobran Road.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located the filler and read the cap.
- The two under a single flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel side is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Step five stays off limits.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Sparkbrook?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting your motor. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Applegreen, Small Heath Highway Service Station or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle away if you ask. At home around Sparkbrook? Then the vehicle remains where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. Sparkbrook lies under 3 miles from the Aston Expressway; on it, take the next junction. Distance counts — a quick hop across Sparkbrook makes a smaller job than driving under 3 miles to Birmingham — so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival in Sparkbrook, and what happens next
The van reaches the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own driveway, beside Blue Plaque: Lanchester Brothers built Uk's first motor car here, or outside Lift Montgomery. Both the work and the quote rest on three replies — what fluid, what amount, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. On the phone call itself, you hear the price — ahead of dispatch.
Your system is then purged thoroughly, after the tank is cleared. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes away unaided. Hence it counts more. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. We don't leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your motor has not run take roughly half an hour after our engineers arrive. No money in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Sparkbrook, for a moment
Sparkbrook is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and close to the city centre of Birmingham. Sparkbrook sits at an elevation of around 123 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting its historical development as a residential area. Sparkbrook is located near other suburban areas such as Small Heath and Spring Vale, and is part of the larger Birmingham urban area. Sparkbrook has a population of approximately 12,470 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains around Sparkbrook and across West Midlands
As a residential suburb, Sparkbrook has the same vans as surrounding places — Spring Vale, Bordesley — all the way through B postcodes and the wider area beyond. Fastest of all: quote a B11 1 postcode for the van.
The car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Ukim Jamia Masjid, a lay-by on the way to Farm Park, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Home Park.
In short, for Sparkbrook people
First, the cap; then, the tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep it switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout West Midlands.