AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in High Shincliffe: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has run since it went in. Not run so far? Then keep the car like that, whether the vehicle is — High Shincliffe or Old Durham. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, done just where your vehicle sits in High Shincliffe. Pull over the moment it is safe then switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Below: the situations our technicians see, anywhere across Durham. Pick the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a High Shincliffe forecourt
Only now, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Whether JET, Tesco or anywhere else in High Shincliffe, the case is identical.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. No pump has pulled it through, so the AdBlue stays just in the tank.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle is in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then save the receipt. Emptying it right at the pump is possible when it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a High Shincliffe drive?
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Drives close to High Street see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not been driven since, it is second to the forecourt case. As it is reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low in the tank and waits. A night standing alters none of that.
Put the keys indoors tonight — or someone might take it away at breakfast — and phone us. Your drive is where it is emptied, whether in High Shincliffe or Shincliffe. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road in High Shincliffe with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Somewhere along Avenue Street or on the road towards Durham — under 3 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger trip, after your filter and lines have had it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. High Shincliffe sits under a mile from the A1(M); there, come off at the first junction rather than pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense starting it again to check. Roughly how far had it go? Say so when you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've just had this car a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just by your diesel inlet — news to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Durham.
The point: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with an added stage. Many rental and company contracts need the owner's approval for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before we get there than after. Leave the vehicle off as the answer comes, whether you are waiting outside Durham or near St Mary the Virgin, Shincliffe.
High Shincliffe: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. A faint ammonia whiff lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. A hurried top-up by the gates of Shincliffe CofE (Controlled) Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Bowburn: either fit.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to your engine. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by firing up the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn the key. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a better result than a run one drained.
Every AdBlue drain in High Shincliffe shares these steps
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Anywhere your vehicle stands — The Avenue's car park, a road beside Houghall Pit Village, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if your engine has turned over. Answers shape the job; the quote follows on the call while no one has set off yet.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Finally are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers start the engine at the end. Our check that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before our technicians leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it is caught quickly, lasting damage is very rare. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours as we head over.
About High Shincliffe, for a moment
High Shincliffe is a village situated on the banks of the River Wear in County Durham, with a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. High Shincliffe has a relatively low elevation of 95 metres and is located close to the city of Durham, which is approximately 2.3 miles away. High Shincliffe is part of a wider area that includes nearby places such as Shincliffe and Houghall. High Shincliffe has a population of around 1045 people and predominantly features detached housing.
AdBlue drains about High Shincliffe and across Durham
Houghall and Sherburn House get the identical vans as High Shincliffe, a village, along with other places over DH postcodes. A postcode starting DH1 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, be it stopped centrally in High Shincliffe or on a lay-by en route to West Grange Wood, so leave it put. The van drains it in place. Awkward to explain? Close to Houghall Colliery or a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so phone.
Your scenario, summed up
If it has not started, phone and leave it off. Run by now? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever case, in High Shincliffe and Durham, on 0333 366 0103.