AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Aykley Heads: What Now?
Has the motor run since the AdBlue was put in? This single question decides almost everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around Aykley Heads itself or out in Framwellgate Moor. Leave your engine and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Aykley Heads. Already started? Pull over when you safely can, then switch it off. Step one stays the same, even though the work grows.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, wherever across Durham you are.
On a Aykley Heads forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It might be the Esso, or perhaps the Shell, or another station around Aykley Heads.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Still in your tank, and nothing drawn through: that is where the AdBlue is.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. A few things: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Can't move the car beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a busy forecourt safe, so we can drain it where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Aykley Heads drive?
On your dash, a warning had been lit all week. Bought a bottle, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, too late. Driveways near Southfield Way get it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the floor of the tank is exactly where AdBlue stays, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes nothing of the difference.
Your move: keys indoors, and so no one drives your vehicle off at breakfast. After that, phone. In North End or here in Aykley Heads, the drain is done at your driveway. Late-night empties outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
Aykley Heads: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two beyond topping up, the motor started misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on your dash. Maybe heading to Durham, under a mile away, or just along Boste Crescent.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue through by now. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. It travels further with each extra mile driven and each restart.
Next: pick a safe place, pull in, and switch your motor off. On the A1(M), under 3 miles from Aykley Heads, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. About how far did it gone? Say so as you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've had this car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you happen to be around Durham, every driver could slip up.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies here — run or not — plus one extra step. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or fleet terms.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Durham, or near Durham Martyrs' Memorial? Keep your car off meanwhile.
Aykley Heads: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap came off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of Framwellgate Moor Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Durham.
The upshot: your engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed on the filler. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up the vehicle would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Assume it got in, and don't start the key. Phone with the details: we'd sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one after the engine has run.
The common ground in each Aykley Heads AdBlue drain
Each situation gets the same start to the work. Filling station, drive, The Cartologist's car park or a street by County Hall — the van comes to your vehicle, and three answers follow: what liquid, which quantity, and if it has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told the quote, and those replies shape the job too.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, however long it sits. Clean diesel goes in once your filter is flushed or replaced, and the car is finally tested. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running smoothly, and then we head off. Permanent damage is very rare when it's caught soon, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Paying is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, and so check yours as we head over.
About Aykley Heads
Aykley Heads is a locality situated near the city of Durham, lying at an elevation of 93 metres in the inland area of County Durham. Aykley Heads is characterised by its semi-detached housing and is located close to nearby places such as North End and Whitesmocks. Aykley Heads has a population of approximately 1644 residents and is situated about 0.6 miles from Durham city centre.
AdBlue drains across Durham, Aykley Heads included
Whitesmocks and Western Hill have the same vans as Aykley Heads, a neighbourhood, plus further towns over DH postcodes. Quickest of all: a DH1 5 postcode to show where you stand.
No moving is needed, be it stopped in the centre of Aykley Heads or on a layby heading to Aykley Heads Woodland, and so leave it where it is. The drain is done on the spot. Ring and check rather than guess when you're close to 50 years of landscape architecture, on a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
If it has not run, ring then leave it that way. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Durham and within Aykley Heads — once you pull over, turn off then ring, if it has run.