AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in New Shildon? Keep It Switched Off
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Then keep the engine off — and the ignition as well. Water with urea mixed in it: that's AdBlue. As it is water-based, it won't burn and never combines with diesel; damage just comes when your pump begins pulling it. If your engine hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is generally emptied and thoroughly rinsed where the vehicle sits in New Shildon. First, phone us on 0333 366 0103.
What to do right now, New Shildon: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Things to do:
- So nobody can turn your ignition on, pull the keys away.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is anywhere near.
- The empty bottle or the till receipt tells us the fluid and the amount, so don't throw it away.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting DL4 2, or the name of the nearest street, gets the van to you without a search.
Do not do these:
- Don't start the engine, even for a moment to move the car.
- Your ignition remains off: on lots of diesels, turning it on is enough to run the fuel pump.
- No more fuel added. The AdBlue won't mix, and so it is wasted.
- Even a short way up Redworth Road is too far to drive it.
- By the road, do not attempt emptying it yourself.
The attendants working at any New Shildon filling station — the JET among them — will usually help rolling it aside if you ask. At your own drive, don't touch it at all.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The motor isn't what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. From a dedicated reservoir it is fed straight to your exhaust, treating what the engine lets out. Nothing in it is supposed to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is built to handle it.
It doesn't combine. Once it's tipped into a tank of diesel, AdBlue behaves nothing like diesel. It's heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and collects at the bottom of that tank, which is where the pickup sucks fuel from. The first thing your fuel system pulls through, after it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Eldon last night, and has not been started since, is still the simple case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has sucked it in.
Two kinds of damage follow from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it is corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, so it keeps working on the components it gets to for as long as it stays there. By daybreak, a car sitting in New Shildon with AdBlue in its lines gets worse; if it is only in your tank, nothing changes. The water in it causes harm of its own: your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors depend on diesel to lubricate them, and water offers them nothing.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel frequently the bigger problem?
A problem of thinned fuel is what you end up with after filling a diesel with petrol from the Sainsbury's. No damage comes while it stays put, mixed into the diesel — only once your motor runs on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is an issue of the wrong substance altogether. Not burning, it cannot just be run through. Deposits and corrosion remain after the next tankful, and AdBlue splits again from your diesel, so thinning it won't work. Hence the flush matters so much, and turning the key "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other slip — in Gray Street or the centre of New Shildon alike.
The same good news applies as with petrol. If the motor hasn't run, the AdBlue is still in that tank, and the tank is the simplest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever across Durham the vehicle is standing.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around New Shildon?
Many cars put the AdBlue filler beside the diesel cap, occasionally under one flap, and in dim light the two may look the same. No one means it. It mostly takes place at home, from a container bought on the journey home, rather than at the forecourt.
A few familiar ways cover most cases. Rushing, outside Timothy Hackworth Primary School, after a warning light came on during the school run, a parent refills your car. After work, a container goes in on a drive near Byerley Road. Another version: dim light, a pub car park by The Locomotive, and someone opening that flap the first time.
Rented cars, brand-new motors, company motors, or the spare vehicle in a family with one of each: the least familiar cars get it most. Wherever across Durham, New Shildon as well, the mistake does not change, and nor does the first step: keep it switched off.
Started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank in New Shildon?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside that tank. It has been drawn through your filter and the lines, and if your engine ran for any time, it has reached the high-pressure pump and your injectors.
You may notice your engine running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, maybe on the way back from The Recreation Ground or halfway across New Shildon. Once you safely can, pull over and turn it off — without turning it on again to see. Each start pulls more of it through.
On the A1(M), under 5 miles from New Shildon, the next junction is where to exit, and anywhere safe is where to stop — not driving on.
Each mile carries the AdBlue further into your system. That is why crossing New Shildon to park near The Salvation Army Shildon and a drive of under 15 miles towards Durham are such distinct jobs. Tell us roughly how far it had come.
There is more to flush once the motor has been run, and our engineers do all of it where your car has stopped. Very seldom does it leave long-term damage if it's caught early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel in New Shildon: what it takes
A street beside Sildon Spiritualist Church, a drive, a layby or a forecourt: anywhere your car has stopped around New Shildon, our engineers come to it. Which fluid got in, roughly the quantity, and whether your engine has been run: our engineers ask first, since those shape the job.
Right there, your tank is then emptied, and both the contaminated diesel and the urea come out as one. A full flush counts much more after AdBlue than with petrol, because residue won't wash away on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Not run? In that case expect roughly half an hour once we are there for most jobs. Our equipment is explosion-proof, and so a busy forecourt is no issue, and it's quiet enough for a residential street late at night.
New diesel goes in to prime your system, and that's the last step. You drive off as soon as we have fired it up, and it makes no difference whether the car is on a driveway in New Shildon or in a space by Shildon. Before we go, our engineers check it's running properly with clean diesel in. No garage is needed at any stage, with the whole job done on the spot. Your insurer is likely to want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — each handed over once the job is done.
About New Shildon and where it is
New Shildon is a suburban area in County Durham, situated approximately 10.9 miles from the city of Durham. New Shildon lies inland, with an elevation of around 126 metres, and is located near the communities of Shildon, Sunnydale, and Eldon Lane. New Shildon has a population of around 2755 people, predominantly residing in terraced housing.
AdBlue drains across New Shildon and Durham
Shildon, Sunnydale and Eldon Lane are among the towns near New Shildon that the same teams serve, together with most of Durham beyond, over the DL postcode area. Phone and ask rather than guess when you are by a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
New Shildon is a residential suburb, and an on-site drain suits it: whether the car is on a home drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt, our technicians drain it where it is, so it never needs to be shifted to us.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in New Shildon: the cost of fixing it
Because the callouts differ, a flat price wouldn't be honest. What moves the cost is, first, whether the motor has been running and for how long; then how much AdBlue got in; and finally where the car is and whether our van can get to it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind New Shildon War Memorial.
With that in mind, each call from New Shildon begins by asking the identical trio — what went in, how much, whether it ran — ahead of a quote. Once those are known, a range becomes one fixed number.
Priced by phone before the engineer heads out, it is settled that day — card or phone, no deposit. As our engineer is travelling, dig out your policy: many cover misfuelling.
Still beside the vehicle around New Shildon?
Then, touch nothing — that is the most helpful step there is. Keys out, engine off, ignition off. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether it ran are all our technicians ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder throughout Durham, New Shildon too.