--- title: High Pittington: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank, Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/high-pittington-durham/ location: High Pittington county: Durham latitude: 54.791500 longitude: -1.487650 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-09 --- # AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in High Pittington: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It Leave your motor and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Usually, when your motor hasn't run, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where the vehicle sits around High Pittington. Not happened yet? Below, the page explains the why it occurs and the how to avoid it altogether. ## AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers Diesel goes to your motor — yet many current diesels driven around High Pittington and High Moorsley hold another fluid too. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to clean it, from its own tank. There is a filler for each tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two. ## High Pittington: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up. First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and running dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Hallgarth View, perhaps outside The Blacksmiths on the way home after work. The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is a second factor: an unfamiliar motor. Nothing halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it happens in Pittington or the middle of High Pittington, it's the same few seconds. ## Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel? Check these first, on a forecourt in High Pittington or a driveway over in Sherburn Hill. A few seconds, no more. - Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't. - Many cars fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two. - Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where. - Can't find it next to your diesel inlet? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which. - The previous driver will know. Check when you collect a rental or company car — at Durham's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light comes on. ## Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up On the day the light comes on — wherever it is in Durham — a simple routine to follow. - Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor off, and not in a rush by Norman Terrace on the verge. - Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick. - If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on. - Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty. - Close the cap, then check once more — making sure the diesel filler remained shut throughout. After that, start the car. If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five. ## Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in High Pittington already? The short order of things, starting with not starting the engine. Leave the ignition off as well, because on plenty of diesels it alone runs the pump. Topping up with diesel won't weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of that tank, right where the fuel is taken from. The staff at Shell, Gulf or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car clear when asked. Your own driveway around High Pittington is the place it should stay. Where the motor has been run already, stop somewhere safe and switch the vehicle off. High Pittington sits under 3 miles from the A1(M); on it, take the first junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Durham, under 5 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across High Pittington. ## What takes place when we get there around High Pittington Outside Pittington Primary School, close to Kip The Pit Pony and Coal Tub or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — what fluid, which quantity, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. The quote comes on the call, before any van leaves. After that: draining, then a full flush of the entire 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 the flush matters more here than with petrol. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not leave until it has been started and is running properly. Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor has not run take about half an hour once we are there. No money in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling. ## About High Pittington itself High Pittington is a village situated on the riverside in County Durham, with an elevation of 97 metres and located approximately 3.9 miles from the city of Durham. High Pittington has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most predominant. High Pittington is close to nearby places such as Pittington, Low Pittington, and Littletown, and is about 233.8 miles from London. High Pittington has a population of around 1210 residents. ## AdBlue drains across Durham, High Pittington included Throughout DH postcodes, the vans that cover High Pittington — a village — work the nearby places too, Littletown and Low Pittington among them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting DH6 1. There's no need to move the car. Anywhere it sits — beside Pittington Village Hall, on a lay-by en route to Pittington Hill SSSI, at home — that's where it gets cleared. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of St John's Methodist Church. ## High Pittington people: the short version Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere around Durham, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.