Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hurworth-on-Tees: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, leave the ignition and engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where your car stands in Hurworth-on-Tees, is normally what it takes when caught before your engine runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
No single fluid but two: that's how plenty of modern diesels near Hurworth-on-Tees and Eryholme carry, with diesel feeding your motor. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on many motors. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled on every filling station call-out, week in, week out. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think which cap it needs. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hurworth-on-Tees: how it takes place
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry comes from the warning. Your car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Roundhill Road, or heading home in the car park at The Comet.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That is the second thing: a strange vehicle.
Third, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and after the pour begins, no part halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Hurworth-on-Tees or out in Hurworth Place.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Hurworth-on-Tees forecourt or a driveway out in Neasham, take a couple of seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the flap and check for a label — many cars mark which belongs in which inlet just there.
- Can't see it beside your diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Darlington? Ask the person who drove the car last before you set off, not once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Durham that is.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of The Green.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have found the filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently through the own spout.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and look again that your diesel cap never came off.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Hurworth-on-Tees: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. Keep the ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels it by itself starts the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the Morrisons, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Hurworth-on-Tees.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. Hurworth-on-Tees lies under 3 miles from the A66(M); there, take the next exit. A short hop across Hurworth-on-Tees is a smaller job than a run towards Durham, under 25 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Hurworth-on-Tees, and what happens next
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether outside Hurworth Primary School, near All Saints or at home, the van comes to it. Which liquid went in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the replies decide the work and quote. The quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, after that tank is cleared. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears away by itself. That is why it counts more. The filter flushed or, where needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of the car. Before we go, our engineers fire it up and confirm that it is running properly.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour job after arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street late at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Hurworth-on-Tees and where it is
Hurworth-on-Tees is a village situated on the north bank of the River Tees in County Durham, with a mix of rural and riverside environments. Hurworth-on-Tees has a population of around 1579 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Hurworth-on-Tees is located near other small settlements such as Hurworth Place and Croft-on-Tees, and is about 20 miles from the city of Durham. Hurworth-on-Tees sits at an elevation of 38 metres above sea level, in a scenic part of the North East region.
Hurworth-on-Tees and Durham: AdBlue drains across the area
Hurworth-on-Tees is a village, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Croft-on-Tees and Monk End among them, across the DL postcode area. A postcode starting DL2 2 gets the van to you fastest.
There's no need to move the car. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Rockliffe Hall Golf Course, a side street close to Hurworth Grange Community Centre: our technicians drain the vehicle where it is. Assuming doesn't help at the back of Crossing Points, close to a border, or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
The short version for Hurworth-on-Tees motorists
Tip no AdBlue until you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Durham.