AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Branksome: What Now?
Everything hinges on one fact: if your engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then leave the vehicle like that, whether your vehicle sits — Branksome or Archdeacon Newton. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your key and engine both off. In Branksome, that is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever around Durham it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Branksome forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. It could be the Shell, or perhaps the Morrisons, or another forecourt around Branksome.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it can be. Still in the tank, with nothing drawn through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Your move: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Have the attendants to lend a hand rolling it into a space, save the receipt, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed clear gets cleared where it is at the pump.
At home in Branksome with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the drive — and it was just by the recycling that the cap got a second look. Driveways near Berwick Road get it as much as anywhere.
The upshot: no miles since leaves this almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Cockerton or Branksome: wherever your drive sits, that is where it gets drained. Our equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Branksome: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the fill. Anywhere on Branksome Lodge or else on the road towards Durham — under 25 miles away.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue through by now. It has been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Next: pick a safe place, pull in, and turn the motor off. Exit at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the A1(M), under a mile from Branksome. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense restarting to find out. Let us know the mileage driven when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had the vehicle hardly a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets sit side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Across Durham, nobody is safe from it.
In short: one extra step on top of the cases above, and those depend on if it's run. Many rental and company contracts require the owner's sign-off before work.
Do this: hire firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it early saves time. Stuck near rock sculpture or at North Road till someone answers, your car stays turned off throughout.
Branksome: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like whiff hangs around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. The gates of Mount Pleasant Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Pierremont.
Put simply: a spill near your filler does your engine no harm. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on your car would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Assume it went in, and don't turn the engine. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
What every AdBlue drain in Branksome has in common
Each situation gets the same opening to the work. Anywhere the car is — The Deacon's car park, a road beside Water Vole, a drive, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks about the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been run. Those answers settle this work, and you get the price by phone, before anybody heads out.
Emptying your tank comes first, then a full flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Last are the filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your car. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers arrive.
Finally, our technicians start the car. Our test that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before we head off. Our technicians do the entire job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very rare when it has been spotted early. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling, so look at yours as we head over.
About Branksome and where it is
Branksome is a suburban area in County Durham, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 67 metres. Branksome is located near the cities of Durham and Darlington, with nearby places including Cockerton, Mowden, and Faverdale. Branksome has a population of approximately 5941 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Branksome is positioned in the north east of England, around 218 miles north of London.
Branksome and Durham: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, Branksome shares its vans with the surrounding places — Faverdale, Mowden — right through DL postcodes. A postcode starting DL3 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, be it parked in the centre of Branksome or on a layby heading to West Park, and so leave it put. We drain it where it is. Awkward to explain? Close to Amphitheatre or a county line? Checking is better than guessing, and so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
Unstarted? Leave it that way and phone. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Branksome and anywhere around Durham on 0333 366 0103.