AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Billingham, and What to Do Next
All of it turns on one detail: if the motor has started since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Wherever your vehicle stands — Newton Bewley, Billingham — don't start a motor that hasn't run yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor still off. Across Billingham, that is generally drained and flushed where it stands. Pull over the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. A bigger job, then, yet the same opening move.
Further down: the cases our technicians see, wherever in Durham. Pick the one that fits.
Billingham forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere around Billingham, then — JET, Tesco, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it can be. Only the tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt once the car sits in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then keep the receipt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets cleared right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Billingham
For days the dash had been warning you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Just off Kingsway is no less likely from any other place.
The point: zero driving since leaves this almost as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of the tank and remains put, however long the night.
Put your keys in the house overnight — otherwise someone may drive it off first thing — and call us. Out in Wolviston or here in Billingham, the draining is done at your drive. The equipment runs quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Billingham?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon the motor was turning unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Somewhere along Queensway or else on the road to Durham — under 25 miles away.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue through already. Through your filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Next: find a safe spot, pull in, and turn the engine off. On the A1(M), under 10 miles from Billingham, that means the next junction, not the services further on. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Let us hear the distance covered as you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a motor you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Anywhere you are across Durham, every motorist can be caught.
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 car.
Settling it before we arrives is faster, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside the nearest station, or beside Billingham Community Centre? Leave the car off meanwhile.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Billingham?
Honestly, the best answer may be that you think so. Which cap came off, you cannot say; but the bottle feels lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by your filler. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Pentland Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Mount Pleasant.
The point: the engine isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on your car would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it was put in, and never start your engine. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clear tank checked is a better outcome than a run one drained.
What each AdBlue drain around Billingham has in common
No matter the situation, one start is used. Three things are asked once we reach the car — on a forecourt, a drive, a street beside Boyes or the car park outside The Astronaut: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has run. Answers set the job; the quote comes on the call whilst no one has set off yet.
Then the tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Then comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped where needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Where the motor has not run, allow roughly half an hour on site, for most jobs.
Lastly, we fire it up. Before our engineers head off, it is checked to confirm it runs correctly on new diesel. Lasting damage is very rare when it's spotted soon, and the whole job is done where the car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Billingham and where it is
Billingham is a town situated on the north bank of the River Tees in County Durham, with a population of around 21670 people. Billingham sits at a relatively low elevation of 20 metres, close to the nearby villages of Wolviston, Norton, and Cowpen Bewley. Billingham has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Billingham is located approximately 16 miles from the city of Durham and 220 miles from London.
AdBlue drains round Billingham and across Durham
Being a riverside town, Billingham has the same vans as the nearby towns — Cowpen Bewley, Norton — right across TS postcodes. Giving us a TS23 2 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to John Whitehead Park or in a car park in the middle of Billingham, it does not need to move. The drain happens on the spot. Phone and ask instead of guessing when you are close to Billingham Scout Hut, on a boundary, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
In one line: your scenario
Engine not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Billingham or anywhere in Durham.