AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stonnall: What Now?
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue got in? This single point settles almost everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Stonnall itself or out in Springhill. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where the car sits around Stonnall. Already run? Stop once you safely can, then turn it off. A bigger job, yes, but the same first step.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, anywhere across Staffordshire you are.
On a Stonnall forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Perhaps you're at the Shell, perhaps at the Esso, perhaps somewhere else in Stonnall.
The upshot: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
What to do: don't get back in and start it to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Stonnall drive?
Several days had passed with the warning light on. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Driveways near Garnet Close see it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if the car hasn't been driven since, it is almost as good as finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Your move: keys in the house, so no one drives your car off first thing. After that, phone. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it in Stonnall or Thornes. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road around Stonnall with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Westwick Close, perhaps, or the route to Lichfield — a trip of under 5 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. It has been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then turn the motor off. Stonnall lies under 3 miles from the M6 Toll; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. No test starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Roughly how far had it go? Tell us when you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a car you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was right beside the diesel. Anyone, wherever around Staffordshire, could do it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we turn up than after. Leave the car switched off while the answer arrives, whether you're parked outside Shenstone or near Stonnall Village Hall.
Stonnall: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like smell lingers around your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Peter's Church of England Primary Academy, or on a friend's drive in Holly Bank.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no harm to the engine. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting the vehicle would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it went in, and leave the engine off. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clean tank looked at is a better result than an already-run one drained.
What each AdBlue drain in Stonnall has in common
Whatever the case, a single start applies. Filling station, drive, The Royal Oak's car park or a road beside Stonnall Youth & Community Education Centre — the van comes to your vehicle, and three answers come next: which liquid, what amount, and whether it has run. Your price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and the replies set the job.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Then is the filter — cleaned, or swapped when necessary — then clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Not started? In that case about half an hour on site is most jobs.
The final step is starting the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we check it's running correctly, and then we go. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it is caught early, lasting damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Stonnall
Stonnall is a small village in Staffordshire, situated approximately 4.6 miles from Lichfield, with a mix of semi-detached housing and rural surroundings. Stonnall sits at an elevation of around 130 metres, in a gently rolling inland landscape. Stonnall is close to nearby places such as Thornes, Lower Stonnall, and Lynn, and is about 108 miles northwest of London. Stonnall has a population of around 814 people, living in a predominantly residential community.
AdBlue drains in Stonnall, and across Staffordshire too
Stonnall is a rural village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Lower Stonnall and Lynn among them, across the WS postcode area. Quickest of all: a WS9 9 postcode to show where you stand.
No moving is required, whether parked in the centre of Stonnall or in a lay-by en route to Castlebank Plantation, so keep it where it is. The drain is done on the spot. Guessing doesn't help near St Peter's Stonnall, on a border or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it has not started, ring then keep it off. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Stonnall and anywhere in Staffordshire on 0333 366 0103.