Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hope Town: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page down a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Around Hope Town, catching it before the motor turns usually leaves draining and a thorough flush where it stands. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many newer diesels on the roads round Hope Town and Darlington carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place both side by side behind one flap. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
Hope Town: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the car drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Farrer Street before work, or in the car park outside Builders Arms on the way home.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Hope Town or out in Rise Carr.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt around Hope Town or a drive over in Cockerton. A few seconds, no more.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- On plenty of vehicles, the size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside your diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside North Road.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Durham that is.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, motor stopped, and not in a rush by Anns Terrace at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Hope Town?
Brief list, then. Top of it: the engine stays off. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. 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 pulled from.
At a forecourt — Morrisons, BP or any other — the attendants will usually help roll the vehicle away, when you ask. On your own drive around Hope Town? Then your car stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit is where to come off when you're on the A1(M), under 3 miles from Hope Town. A short hop across Hope Town is a smaller job than a run towards Durham, under 25 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
When our technicians arrive in Hope Town, what occurs?
By Corporation Road Community Primary School, close to Hopetown Darlington or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, what amount, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. Nobody sets off until you have heard the quote by phone.
Then your tank is emptied and the system cleaned thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and neither clears away unaided. That is why it counts more. Filter flushed or, where needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of your vehicle. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it is running properly.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Payment happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Hope Town
Hope Town is a suburban area in County Durham, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 53 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Hope Town lies near several other residential areas, including Rise Carr, Pierremont, and Albert Hill, and is approximately 16.8 miles from the city of Durham. Hope Town is part of the larger urban landscape of the North East region, with London being around 217.5 miles to the south. Hope Town has a population of around 8678 residents.
AdBlue drains across Durham, Hope Town included
Over DL postcodes, our vans that cover Hope Town — a residential suburb — work the surrounding places too, Albert Hill and Pierremont included. Give a postcode beginning DL3 6, and our van arrives fastest.
Your car stays where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Denes, a side street close to McNay Street Family Hub: our engineers drain the car where it sits. Guessing doesn't help behind Skerne Bridge, on a border, or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
The short version for Hope Town drivers
Always, the cap; then, the pour. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it wherever it stands, anywhere in Durham: switch the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.