AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Dyke House: What Now?
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single question decides almost everything about what comes next. Not run yet? Then keep the car that way, whether the vehicle is — Dyke House or Old Town. Leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Dyke House. Where your motor has been run, stop safely first, then turn the car off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Durham it happened.
At the petrol pump in Dyke House: AdBlue in a diesel
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. Maybe you're at the Asda, possibly at the Morrisons, maybe somewhere else in Dyke House.
Put simply: no better place to be to spot it. Still in your tank, and nothing pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to move away from the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the car into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Dyke House, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in on the drive — and it's just by the bin that the cap got your eye. It takes place on driveways just off Amberton Road as often as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. On the bottom of the tank sits where AdBlue stays, since it won't mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or a person may drive it off at breakfast — then phone us. Your drive is where it gets drained, be it in Dyke House or Middleton. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road in Dyke House with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere on May Street or else heading to Sunderland — under 25 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it as well on a longer run, after the filter and lines have it. It travels further with every extra mile driven and each restart.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then switch the engine off. Dyke House lies under 15 miles from the A1(M); on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to check. Let us hear the mileage covered as you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are in Durham, any motorist can be caught.
Meaning? Whichever applies above applies too — run or unrun — plus one further stage. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. Stuck near St Oswald's Church or at Hartlepool until the firm answers, your car stays switched off throughout.
Dyke House: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Brougham Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive out in West View.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no damage to your engine. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different matter. Starting the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would draw it in.
Take it that it went in, and don't start the engine. Tell us what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank checked is a happier result than an already-run one emptied.
The common ground in each Dyke House AdBlue drain
No matter the case, a single opening applies. Three questions come once we arrive — at a filling station, a driveway, a road beside Nasir Mosque or the car park at Jacksons Wharf: the fluid, the quantity, and whether it has run. Answers set the work; the price follows by phone whilst nobody has left yet.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been flushed or changed, and your car is then tested. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect about half an hour on site, for most cases.
Starting it comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while we confirm it's running smoothly, and then we head off. When it's spotted soon, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Payment is on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as we travel pays.
About Dyke House itself
Dyke House is a suburban area located on the coast of County Durham, with an elevation of approximately 7 metres above sea level. Dyke House sits near the towns of Middleton and Hartlepool, and is within commuting distance of Sunderland, which is around 15.7 miles away. Dyke House is characterised by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, which reflects the typical residential development of the region. Dyke House is situated in a part of the country with a rich industrial heritage, near the mouth of the Tees estuary.
Dyke House and Durham: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Dyke House shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Throston, Hartlepool — right across TS postcodes. Quickest of all: a TS24 8 postcode for where you stand.
No moving is required, whether parked centrally in Dyke House or in a lay-by heading to King George V Playing Fields, so keep it where it is. Our van drains it where it stands. Awkward to explain? By Hindpool Close ShureStart Children's Centre or a county line? Checking is better than assuming, and so ring.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: phone, and leave it alone. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Dyke House and anywhere around Durham on 0333 366 0103.