--- title: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Coundongate: Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/coundongate-durham/ location: Coundongate county: Durham latitude: 54.661820 longitude: -1.650600 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-19 --- # Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Coundongate: Why It Happens Leave the motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before the engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Coundongate. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time. ## AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Coundongate and Coundon Grange carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to clean them, from a separate tank. Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less regularly, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the slip happens. ## Coundongate: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up at once. Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a driveway off Hazelbank, or heading home in the car park outside The Top House. Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't. A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once begun, carries on. It's seconds, whether out in New Coundon or right in the centre of Coundongate. ## How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Howlish or a forecourt around Coundongate, check these. They take a few seconds. - Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally don't. - The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two. - A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it. - Can't see it beside your diesel filler? Then check below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual will say which. - The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Bishop Auckland, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on. ## Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank For the day the warning appears — wherever it is around Durham — a simple routine to follow. - Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush by A688 on the verge. - Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it works. - Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle. - Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty. - Only then, start your car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Find during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the diesel tank? That's where you stop. Skip step five entirely. ## Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Coundongate? Then the order of things is short. Do not start the motor. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from. Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump if you're on a forecourt — the Gulf, the Asda or somewhere else. On your own drive in Coundongate? Then your car stays where it is. Already started? Stop once it is sensible, then switch off. The next exit means where to leave when you're on the A1(M), under 10 miles from Coundongate. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Coundongate is less work than a run of under 10 miles towards Durham, so tell us. ## Our arrival in Coundongate, and what occurs next Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by Prince Bishops Community Primary School, near Auckland Park Methodist Church or at home, the van travels to it. Those answers settle this work and the quote, and so our technicians ask what went in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out. Draining the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. After the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — clean diesel goes in, and then your vehicle is tested. Your engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers head off. Unrun cars mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies. ## About Coundongate itself Coundongate is a small village in County Durham, situated inland at an elevation of around 145 metres. Coundongate lies approximately 8.5 miles from the city of Durham and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Coundongate is part of a network of nearby settlements, including New Coundon, Coundon, and South Church, in the north east of England. ## Coundongate and Durham: AdBlue drains across the area Coundongate is a rural village, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Coundon and South Church among them, across the DL postcode area. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting DL14 8. The vehicle doesn't need to move. The drain happens on the spot, be it a drive, a street near Church of St James, or a lay-by on the way to Sewell's Wood. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Coundon War Memorial, ring and ask instead of assuming. ## Coundongate motorists: the short version Always, the cap; then, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere across Durham.