AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kirk Merrington: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Pause here a minute if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Normally, when the motor hasn't run, it's drained and fully purged where your car sits around Kirk Merrington. Here before the event? In that case the rest covers how it happens and what to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to the motor — but plenty of current diesels driven around Kirk Merrington and Merrington Lane carry a second fluid too. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Other cars keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place both side by side under one flap. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what cap it needs. The slip lives in that gap.
Kirk Merrington: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness rarely causes it. What does is three things lining up at once.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Front Street, perhaps outside Half Moon on the way home after work.
New-to-you motors come second, too. Hire cars, new motors and company motors put their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Nothing stops the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Kirk Merrington or out in Middlestone.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Kirk Merrington forecourt or a driveway over in Leeholme, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — at Bishop Auckland's car park, perhaps — not when the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — anywhere you are around Durham — a routine to follow.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of Crowther Place.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Kirk Merrington?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting your motor. Leave your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself starts the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from.
At a forecourt — JET, Asda or any other — the staff will usually help push the car clear, if you ask. Your own driveway in Kirk Merrington is the place it stays.
When your engine has run by now, pull over safely and switch the vehicle off. Kirk Merrington lies under 5 miles from the A1(M); there, take the next junction. A short hop across Kirk Merrington is a smaller job than a run towards Durham, under 10 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
What happens when our technicians turn up around Kirk Merrington
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Kirk Merrington Primary School, near Kirk Merrington Community Centre or on your own drive. The replies settle the work and our quote, and so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it's run. That quote comes on the call, before any van leaves.
Your system is then purged thoroughly, after your tank is cleared. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither clears out by itself. That is why it matters more. The filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; then a check of the car. Before leaving, our technicians start the engine and confirm that it's running smoothly.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor hasn't run take about half an hour after our technicians arrive. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Kirk Merrington and where it is
Kirk Merrington is a village in County Durham, situated inland at an elevation of 193 metres, approximately 7 miles from the city of Durham. Kirk Merrington is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its relatively affluent demographic. Kirk Merrington sits near several smaller settlements, including Middlestone and North Close, and is part of the wider commuter belt around Durham. Kirk Merrington is located 227 miles north of London, in the North East region of England.
AdBlue drains across Durham, Kirk Merrington included
Being a rural village, Kirk Merrington shares its vans nearby areas — North Close, Leasingthorne — all the way through DL postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Quote a postcode beginning DL16 7, and our van arrives quickest.
No need to move the vehicle. We drain it where it is — a side street close to St John the Evangelist, Kirk Merrington, a lay-by on the way to Paddock Plantation, a driveway. Guessing won't help at the back of Leasingthorne Colliery, close to a border, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
For Kirk Merrington people, the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the car off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere in Durham.