Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bishopsgarth: Why It Happens
Leave the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. In Bishopsgarth, catching it before the motor turns normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one fluid but two: that is what many modern diesels around Bishopsgarth and Newham Grange carry, with diesel for the motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the fumes.
There is a filler on every tank. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Bishopsgarth: how it takes place
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up at once.
Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off Leam Lane, or on the way home in the car park outside The Five Alls.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Third, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour begins, no part halts it. Whether it happens in Hardwick or the middle of Bishopsgarth, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Bishopsgarth forecourt or a drive over in Carlton, spend a couple of seconds on these before any goes in.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check when you collect a rental or fleet car — from Stockton's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Durham that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Harrowgate Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- The two under one flap? Then make sure the cap on your diesel filler is still closed before lifting the bottle.
- Stop when that tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip slowly through its own spout.
- Shut the cap, then check once more — confirm the diesel filler stayed shut throughout. Only then, start the car.
Find at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the wrong filler? That's where you stop. Don't carry on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Bishopsgarth?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, right where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at Esso, another forecourt nearby or another forecourt will usually lend a hand to push your car away when you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Bishopsgarth.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. Bishopsgarth sits under 10 miles from the A1(M); on it, use the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Durham, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Bishopsgarth.
What takes place when our technicians get there around Bishopsgarth
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Hardwick Green Primary Academy, close to St Patrick RC Church or on your own drive. Both the work and the quote rest on three answers — what fluid, which amount, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. You hear that price by phone, before anybody heads out.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. More than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing clears out on its own, no matter how long it sits. After your filter is flushed — or replaced, where needed — clean diesel is added, and then the car is tested. Before we go, our technicians fire it up and make sure that it's running properly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers arrive, provided the engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet at night beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Bishopsgarth
Bishopsgarth is a suburban area located on the riverside in County Durham, with a population of around 4450 residents. Bishopsgarth sits at an elevation of 34 metres, close to nearby places such as Hardwick, Elm Tree, and Roseworth. Bishopsgarth is characterized by its predominant semi-detached housing stock, typical of many suburban areas in the North East of England. Bishopsgarth is situated approximately 16.3 miles from the city of Durham, and 218.3 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Durham, Bishopsgarth included
Bishopsgarth is a residential suburb, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Elm Tree and Roseworth among them, across the TS postcode area. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting TS19 8.
There's no need to move the vehicle. Wherever it stands — near Swimming Pool, on a layby heading to Newham Grange Park, at home — that's where it gets drained. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Stockton Town Football Club, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Bishopsgarth drivers: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave it off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere in Durham.