Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Middlesbrough: Why It Occurs
Pause reading a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out right where the vehicle sits in Middlesbrough, is normally what it needs when caught before the motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Not one fluid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels near Middlesbrough and North Ormesby run, with diesel feeding your motor. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream to clean it.
There is a filler on every tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at every filling station visit, again and again. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what cap to use. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Middlesbrough: how it happens
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
Haste comes from the warning. The car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Corporation Road, or on the way home in the car park at The Discovery.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the tip begins, nothing halts it. Whether it takes place in Port Clarence or the middle of Middlesbrough, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Middlesbrough forecourt or a drive out in High Clarence, take a few seconds over these before anything goes in.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- On plenty of vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you collect a hire car or company car — from the nearest station's car park, say — not once the warning appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Wherever across North Yorkshire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Linthorpe Road, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong filler? That is where you stop. Leave out stage five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Middlesbrough?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting your motor. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Topping up with diesel will not dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Sainsbury's or the Esso, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. Your own driveway around Middlesbrough is where it stays.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is the place to come off when you're on the A1(M), under 15 miles from Middlesbrough. Mileage counts — a short hop across Middlesbrough makes a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Durham — so say roughly how far it went.
What takes place when our engineers turn up in Middlesbrough
By Abingdon Primary School, close to 2B Arts and Health Community Space or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run, because those replies settle this work and the quote. The quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a full flush of your system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. After the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if needed — clean diesel is added, and finally the car gets tested. We don't go until it has been started and is running properly.
If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. It's worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Middlesbrough, briefly
Middlesbrough is a town in North Yorkshire, situated inland near the River Tees, with nearby places including Port Clarence, Newport, and Grove Hill. Middlesbrough has a relatively low elevation of 14 metres and is located approximately 19 miles from Durham. Middlesbrough is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting its historical development as a residential area. Middlesbrough remains a significant urban centre in the North East region, with a population of around 22,000 people.
AdBlue drains in Middlesbrough and across North Yorkshire
As a town, Middlesbrough has the same vans as nearby places — Newport, Grove Hill — all the way through TS postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting TS1 2.
The vehicle remains put. Wherever it sits — beside The Cleveland Centre, on a layby en route to Central Square Gardens, on a drive — that is where it is emptied. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Dundas Shopping Centre, ring and ask rather than guessing.
The short version for Middlesbrough people
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across North Yorkshire.