AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bedlington, and What to Do Next
One thing matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your engine has run afterwards. Over in Bebside or right in Bedlington, an unstarted motor should remain unrun. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits around Bedlington. Stop the minute it is safe and turn off, if it has already run. A larger job, then, but the identical opening step.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Northumberland it happened.
On a Bedlington forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, bottle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Somewhere around Bedlington, then — BP, Shell, or anywhere else nearby.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
Clearing the pump is no reason to start it — so don't get back in. Get the attendants to lend a hand pushing it to a bay, save the bottle, then phone us right there. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt safe, so we can drain the vehicle in place.
At home around Bedlington with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. It occurs on driveways just off Front Street West as frequently as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't moved since, it's close to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of that tank and remains put, no matter how long the night.
Next: prevent an early-morning move by putting your keys in the house, then phone us. Out in Bedlington Station or here around Bedlington, the draining is done at your driveway. Night-time clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Bedlington?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been heading for Newcastle upon Tyne, under 15 miles away, or just down Choppington Road.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. It's been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. On the A167(M), under 15 miles from Bedlington, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us hear the distance driven as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this car barely a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was just next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Northumberland.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Settling it before we arrives is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep the car switched off while the reply arrives, even if you're parked at the nearest station or close to Dr. James Trotter Memorial.
Bedlington: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in Scotland Gate, or in a rush by Bedlington West End Primary School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler never reach the engine at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up your car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and don't turn the key. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it has been run — so phone and tell us what you noticed.
Bedlington: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Three things are asked once our engineers arrive — on a filling station, a driveway, a street beside Community Help Hub or the car park outside The Red Lion: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told our price, and those replies decide the job too.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is crucial, since deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. Next comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your car. Where the motor hasn't run, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
The last step is starting the car. Before we go, it's checked to confirm it runs correctly on new diesel. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it's noticed early, lasting damage is very rare. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as we travel pays.
About Bedlington itself
Bedlington is a town in south-east Northumberland, situated approximately 10 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Bedlington sits inland, with an elevation of around 61 metres, and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Bedlington is part of a wider urban area that includes nearby places such as Bedlington Station, Nedderton, and Choppington. Bedlington has a population of around 11,371 people, making it a significant settlement in the region.
AdBlue drains across Northumberland, Bedlington included
Nedderton and Choppington have the same vans as Bedlington, a town, plus further places throughout NE postcodes. Fastest of all: a NE22 6 postcode to show your location.
No moving is required, be it stopped centrally in Bedlington or on a lay-by heading to Bedlington Cricket Club, so keep it where it is. The van empties it in place. Assuming won't help beside Trinity Church, close to a border or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check.
The one-line version
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle that way then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Bedlington and anywhere around Northumberland on 0333 366 0103.