AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hertburn: What Now?
One fact matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your motor has been started afterwards. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Hertburn itself or out in Albany. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle stands in Hertburn. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Anywhere around Tyne and Wear it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Hertburn forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Possibly you are at the JET, maybe at the Esso, possibly somewhere else around Hertburn.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Only your tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has drawn any in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Get the staff to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the bottle, then phone us right there. If it cannot be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Hertburn
For days the dash had been nagging you. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, after the fact. Just off Brindley Road is not less likely from any other place.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it's nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in the tank and stays. One night parked alters none of that.
Your move: the keys indoors, and so nobody drives the car anywhere first thing. Then, ring. Washington Village or Hertburn: wherever your drive is, that's where it is cleared. Late-night empties outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Hertburn?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere on Bridgewater Road or else heading towards Sunderland — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector get it too on a longer trip, after your filter and lines have had it. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Your move: stop anywhere sensible, then switch the engine off. Service stations farther along can wait: on the A194(M), under 3 miles out of Hertburn, take the next junction. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you drove.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had the vehicle barely a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet was right beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Tyne and Wear.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or unrun — plus one extra step. The owner frequently has to sign off any work, under plenty of rental and fleet agreements.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stranded in the car park outside Heworth, or by Holy Trinity, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Hertburn?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Washington, or on a friend's drive in Barmston.
In short: a spill near the filler leaves the motor no harm. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Firing up the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would suck it in.
Assume it got in, and never turn the key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Hertburn: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, Washington Arms's car park or a road beside Washington Old Hall — the van reaches your car, and three questions follow: which fluid, which amount, and if it has run. Those answers settle the work, and you hear our quote by phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's essential, because crystals build up and certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes out unaided. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians arrive.
Our technicians fire it up last. Before our engineers leave, it is checked to confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel. We do the whole job where your car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon when it has been noticed quickly. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while we travel is worthwhile.
About Hertburn itself
Hertburn is a suburban area located inland in Tyne and Wear, with an elevation of around 65 metres. Hertburn sits approximately 5 miles west of Sunderland and is surrounded by nearby places such as Washington Village and Glebe. Hertburn has a population of around 4110 people and predominantly features terraced housing. Hertburn is situated in the North East region of England, about 241 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains across Tyne and Wear, Hertburn included
Glebe and Sulgrave get the identical vans as Hertburn, a residential suburb, along with other towns over NE postcodes. Quickest of all: a NE37 2 postcode to show your location.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Usworth Park or in a car park in the middle of Hertburn, it doesn't need to move. Wherever it sits, that's where it is drained. Phone and check instead of guessing when you are by Our Lady's Catholic Church, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
The one-line version
Engine never started: ring, and leave it switched off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever case, in Hertburn and Tyne and Wear, on 0333 366 0103.