Wythall: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
Engine off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Water with urea dissolved in it: that is AdBlue. The trouble starts once it's sucked through your pump — it will not burn, and it won't blend with diesel. If your engine has not run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally drained and thoroughly cleaned where the car stands in Wythall. Before you do anything else, phone 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank in Wythall
Do:
- Pocket your keys, which stops someone turning the electrics on.
- Close to moving traffic? So put the hazards on.
- Hold on to the receipt or the empty bottle, and so you can tell us what was put in and roughly how much.
- Give us a postcode starting B47 6, or whatever street lies closest, and the van finds you directly — so call from wherever you stand.
Don't:
- Don't start the motor, even for a moment to shift your car.
- Many diesels power their pump the instant your ignition comes on, so leave it off.
- No extra fuel on top. The AdBlue will not mix, so it's wasted.
- Do not drive it anywhere, not even a short distance down Alcester Road.
- Emptying the tank yourself beside the road is not worth trying.
On a forecourt around Wythall, whether it's the Esso or another one, ask the attendants to help you push the car clear of the pump. On your own driveway, don't touch it at all.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Meant for the exhaust, AdBlue has no business in your engine. Its own reservoir keeps it, and from there it is fed into your exhaust, where it treats the gas. Not one side suits the other: urea doesn't belong in a pump, and a pump can't take urea.
Fuel blends; AdBlue, once tipped in, will not. The behaviour is not at all like diesel's. The pickup sucks fuel from the lowest part of the tank, and that's exactly where AdBlue ends up: as it is denser than diesel, it sinks. Easiest of all: a vehicle that got AdBlue in Tanners Green last night and hasn't been started since. The AdBlue waits at the base of the tank, untouched — though it would be the first thing through once the motor starts, ahead of any diesel at all.
Two kinds of damage follow from there. What is left when the water goes is urea, which forms crystals: they settle in narrow passages and clog filters. Worse, it attacks certain metals in a fuel system, and carries on till it is cleared out. If the AdBlue is in the pipework, waiting overnight in Wythall leaves things worse. Inside that tank only, time does nothing. Then there is the water: it offers no protection to the parts that need it most — the high-pressure pump and every injector.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is frequently worse
Fill a diesel with petrol in error at the JET, and this problem is diluted fuel. Blended through the diesel and left still, it's harmless for now; running your engine is the damage.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally wrong substance. It can't just be run through, because it does not burn. Whether the vehicle sits in Drakes Cross or the centre of Wythall, firing it up "to see" does more harm in this case than almost any other error, and the flush counts for more. The reasons: it will not stay blended, and so diluting it is impossible; and deposits and corrosion outlast the following fill.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Anywhere in Worcestershire the vehicle has come to rest, an unrun engine means the AdBlue yet inside the reservoir: the simplest part of a fuel system to clear.
Wythall: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
After dark, two caps together — the AdBlue one and the diesel cap, occasionally behind a single flap — can appear the same. Nobody intends it; plenty of layouts allow it. Mostly it takes place with a bottle bought on the way home and poured in on the drive, not at the pump.
Mostly, it takes place in one of a couple of familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside Meadow Green Primary School the top-up is hurried. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Middle Lane. One more pattern: dim light, a pub car park outside the pub in the village, and someone opening that flap for the first time.
The least familiar cars get it the most — hire cars, new cars, company cars, and the spare vehicle in a home with one of each fuel types. Wherever across Worcestershire, Wythall as well, the slip doesn't change, and neither does the first step: leave it off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Wythall, and the engine started?
Then the AdBlue has left that tank. The fuel filter and lines have had it sucked through, and some running carries it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Lumpy running, smoke from the exhaust, dropping power, dashboard warnings or stalling: each might appear, perhaps part way across Wythall or coming back from Shawbrook Spinney. Pull over when it is safe. Switch off. Keep it off rather than restarting it to check. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
Wythall lies under 3 miles from the M42; if you were on it, exit by the next junction and stop safely rather than carrying on.
Every mile carries the AdBlue deeper in. That is why a hop across Wythall to park near Transport Museum Wythall and a drive of under 10 miles towards Birmingham are such different jobs. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
We do all of the cleaning where the vehicle has ended up, and once the engine has run there is more of it. Very rarely does it leave long-term damage if it's spotted soon.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Wythall: what it takes
Our technicians come to the car, wherever it has stopped around Wythall: a side street close to Hollywood Christian Life Centre, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. The work rests on three answers, and our technicians ask for first — what went in, the quantity, and if the engine has run.
Next, emptying your tank right there removes the polluted diesel and the AdBlue together. A careful flush matters much more after AdBlue than with petrol, because residue will not wash away on its own. Clean diesel goes in once the fuel filter is cleaned — or replaced, if it needs to be — and then your vehicle is tested. Engine not run? Then count on about half an hour once we are there for most jobs. Quiet enough to use outside a house at night, and fine on a working forecourt, the pumps are explosion-proof.
Finally, your system is bled with clean diesel. At that point our engineers start the engine and you head off, whether from a parking space by the nearest station or a driveway around Wythall. Our technicians make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. The entire job is done where the car is, so it never has to go to a garage. At the end, there is the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer.
About Wythall and where it is
Wythall is a small village in Worcestershire, situated approximately 7 miles south of Birmingham in the West Midlands region. Wythall sits at an elevation of around 168 metres, with nearby Inkford, Grimes Hill, and Shawbrook forming part of its local landscape. Wythall has a population of around 719 people, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type in the area. Wythall is located about 96 miles northwest of London, making it a relatively accessible rural community.
Wythall and Worcestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over the B postcode area, the vans taking AdBlue jobs around Wythall reach most of Worcestershire as well, Inkford, Grimes Hill and Shawbrook included. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Anywhere your vehicle sits — a driveway at home, a side street, a car park, a filling station — we drain it on the spot, with no need to bring it to us; which suits Wythall, a rural village, well.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right around Wythall
Since the callouts differ, a flat price would not be honest. The cost shifts first with how long, if at all, the engine has been running, and next with the quantity of AdBlue that went in. After that it rests on where the car is and whether our van can get to it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight space behind War Memorial.
That's why each call from Wythall starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and whether it has run. With those replies, a range narrows to one fixed figure.
Before a van heads out, you hear our quote on the phone. Then payment is on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
Beside your car around Wythall, right now?
Then, touch nothing — that's the best move there is. Ignition off, engine off, keys out. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, plus whether the engine ran is all we ask. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder across Worcestershire, Wythall included.