AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Ten Acres: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Pause here a minute if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where the vehicle sits in Ten Acres, is normally what it needs when caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads about Ten Acres and Bournbrook carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. The exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to clean it, from a separate tank.
Different tanks, different fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on every forecourt visit, week in, week out. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Ten Acres: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Pershore Road before work, or in the car park at The Bournbrook Inn on the way home.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, whether in Selly Park or bang in the centre of Ten Acres.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Ten Acres forecourt or a drive over in Bournville, take a few seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Pineapple Road.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
The day the light comes on, anywhere around West Midlands, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Ribblesdale Road, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found the filler and read it.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both share a flap, confirm it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Stop once the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Leave out step five altogether.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Ten Acres?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the motor. Leave the ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on alone starts your fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Mary Vale Service Station or the BP, ask the attendants to help roll the car away from the petrol pump. On your own drive in Ten Acres? So the car remains where it is.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next exit means where to leave when you are on the Frankley Services Southbound, under 5 miles from Ten Acres. Distance matters — a short hop across Ten Acres makes a smaller job than driving under 5 miles to Birmingham — so tell us about how far it went.
What happens when our technicians turn up around Ten Acres
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside St Edward's Catholic Primary School, near Selly Park Baptist Church or on your own drive. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — which liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then your tank is emptied and your system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The motor is started next and tested to make sure it runs smoothly, all before our technicians go.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. 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, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Ten Acres itself
Ten Acres is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Rea and close to the city of Birmingham. Ten Acres has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterized by terraced homes. Ten Acres is located near other local areas such as Selly Park and Stirchley, and is about 3.3 miles from Birmingham city centre. Ten Acres sits at an elevation of around 125 metres above sea level, in a region of gentle slopes and valleys.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Ten Acres included
Ten Acres is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the places around it, Stirchley and Moor Green among them, across the B postcode area. Fastest of all: quote a B30 2 postcode for our van.
Moving the vehicle is not needed. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to the green space at the edge of the village, a side street close to Stirchley Community Church: we drain the car where it sits. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Stirchley Library? By a county line? Asking beats guessing, so ring.
For Ten Acres motorists, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere around West Midlands, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.