How It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Castletown
Pause here for a moment if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Around Castletown, catching it before your engine turns usually leaves draining and a full flush where it stands. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page explains the reasons it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Hylton Red House, as well as Castletown, carry on two liquids; the engine takes just your diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Other motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have both side by side under one flap. Diesel goes in at every filling station visit, again and again. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. The error lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around Castletown?
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Grange Road before work, or in the car park outside Brewers Fayre on the way home.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the tip begins, no part halts it. It's a few seconds, be it in North Hylton or right in the centre of Castletown.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Castletown forecourt or a driveway out in Downhill, take a few seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Read the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually aren't.
- Many cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many motors show which belongs in each inlet right there.
- Cannot find it beside the diesel inlet? Then look below the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say where.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside East Boldon? Check with whoever drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Tyne and Wear that is.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of Lansbury Way.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — after you have located your filler and read the cap.
- The two under one flap? Then make sure the lid on your diesel filler is still closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Finish once that tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, pour gently through the own spout.
- Shut the cap, then check again — confirm the diesel cap remained closed the whole time. Only then, start your car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Never carry on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Castletown already?
Short list, then. First: your motor remains off. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so keep it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at BP, Sainsbury's or any forecourt will usually help to push the car away if you ask. On your own drive around Castletown? Then the vehicle stays where it is.
When the engine has run already, stop safely then turn the vehicle off. The next exit means where to come off when you're on the A194(M), under 5 miles from Castletown. About how far did it go? Crossing Castletown is less work than a run of under 3 miles towards Sunderland, so say.
Our arrival around Castletown, and what occurs next
By Castletown Primary School, close to Castletown Community Centre or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, since those answers settle this work and the quote. Nobody heads out until you've had the price over the phone.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. Before we go, our engineers start it and check that it's running properly.
If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Castletown itself
Castletown is a suburban area located on the riverside in Tyne and Wear, with a population of around 3464 people. Castletown sits at an elevation of 28 metres, close to the city of Sunderland, which is approximately 2.5 miles away. Castletown is characterised by its semi-detached housing and is situated near other local places such as North Hylton and South Hylton. Castletown is also near the historic Hylton Castle, a notable landmark in the area.
Castletown and Tyne and Wear: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, Castletown has the same vans as surrounding areas — Hylton Castle, South Hylton — right through SR postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Give a postcode that starts SR5 3, and our van arrives fastest.
The car stays where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Wear River Bank SSSI, a side street close to Castletown Methodist Church: our engineers drain it where it stands. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Billy Hardy Sports Complex.
Castletown drivers: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it is, anywhere across Tyne and Wear: switch it off then ring 0333 366 0103.