West Hill: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single point settles nearly everything about what comes next. Anywhere your vehicle is — Hill Top, West Hill — don't run a motor that hasn't been started yet. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush plus a drain, done right where your car stands in West Hill. Where your engine has run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then turn the vehicle off. It is a larger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Further down: the situations we see, wherever across Staffordshire. Pick the one that fits.
At the petrol pump in West Hill: AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, bottle yet in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Somewhere in West Hill, then — Texaco, Esso, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it can be. Still inside your tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. A few jobs: a push into a space with the staff assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, so it can be drained in place.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a West Hill drive?
For days the dash had been nagging you. A bottle from the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it's only by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Driveways close to High Mount Street get it as much as anywhere.
The upshot: no miles since leaves it nearly as good to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and stays put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it is emptied, be it around West Hill or Hednesford. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around West Hill?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way after the top-up. Somewhere on Stanley Road or heading towards Lichfield — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Service stations farther on can wait: from the M6 Toll, under 3 miles out of West Hill, use the first junction. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, saying what distance the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
A week back, the car was unknown to you. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so no one told you the AdBlue cap sits just beside the diesel. Any driver, wherever around Staffordshire, could make the same.
The point: just as above, divided by whether it ran, but with one added step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Sorting it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Leave it off as the reply comes, even if you are parked outside Hednesford or near Trinity Church.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around West Hill
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of West Hill Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway over in Chadsmoor.
The upshot: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up your car will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Phone with what you saw: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your motor has run.
The common ground in every West Hill AdBlue drain
No matter the case, one start applies. Anywhere the car is — The Hedgeford Lodge's car park, a street beside Memorial Wall, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks for the liquid, the amount, plus whether your motor has been run. The price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and those answers set the work.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, because deposits form and certain metals corrode, and none of it washes away unaided. Last come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the car. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers arrive.
Starting the engine comes at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we go. Long-term damage is very uncommon if it is spotted early, and the whole job is done where your car is. Payment is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About West Hill itself
West Hill is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated approximately 7.8 miles from Lichfield and near other local places such as Hednesford, High Town, and Green Heath. West Hill sits inland at an elevation of around 184 metres, with a mix of semi-detached housing that accommodates its population of around 5715 residents. West Hill is located in the West Midlands region, about 115.2 miles northwest of London.
AdBlue drains across Staffordshire, West Hill included
Throughout WS postcodes, the teams serving West Hill — a residential suburb — reach nearby places as well, High Town and Green Heath among them. Telling us a WS12 4 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Skelly or in a car park in the middle of West Hill, it does not need to move. Our van empties it where it stands. Guessing won't help beside Hednesford Library, on a border or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
The one-line version
If it hasn't run, phone and keep it that way. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Staffordshire and within West Hill — after you pull over, turn off then phone, if it's run.