Norham: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has your motor run since the AdBlue got in? This single question decides nearly everything about what comes next. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in Norham itself or out in Norham West Mains. Leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Norham. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Northumberland it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Norham forecourt
Only now, nozzle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the pump. Perhaps you are at the the nearest petrol station, perhaps at the another forecourt nearby, possibly somewhere else in Norham.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it gets. Nothing has drawn it through, so the AdBlue sits only in that tank.
Do this: keep out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants freeing. Have the attendants to help rolling it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets emptied right at the pump.
Norham, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. It takes place on drives just off B6470 as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
Keep the keys in the house tonight — otherwise someone may drive it off at breakfast — then call us. Our technicians drain the car on your drive, whether that is in Norham or out in Ladykirk. Our pumping kit runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
On the road around Norham with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, drove away, and soon the motor was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Ubbanford, perhaps, or the way towards Edinburgh — a run of under 50 miles.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Past your filter, through the lines, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Pull in safely — that is the first job — then turn everything off. Norham lies under 50 miles from the M8; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on for the services. No trial starts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It is a car you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or keeps it in another spot. Across Northumberland, no one is safe from it.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with one added step. Many hire and company contracts require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Leave it switched off as the reply arrives, whether you're parked at Berwick-Upon-Tweed or close to Norham Village Hall.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Norham?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Norham St Ceolwulfs CofE Controlled Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Horndean.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the engine. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not fire it up. Ring and give what you saw: we would sooner find a clean tank than empty one after the engine has run.
The common ground in each Norham AdBlue drain
The job begins the same way, whichever your case. Three things come when our engineers reach your car — on a forecourt, a drive, a street beside Norham Cross or the car park outside The Victoria Hotel: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has run. Those replies settle this work, and you get the price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals build up and some metals corrode, and neither rinses out unaided. Next is the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped where needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the car. Where the engine has not been started, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Firing it up comes at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running correctly, and then we go. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it's caught early, permanent damage is very rare. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About Norham, for a moment
Norham is a small village situated on the north bank of the River Tweed in Northumberland, with a population of around 610 people. Norham has a mix of housing types, but terraced houses are the most predominant, reflecting its historic development as a riverside community. Norham sits at a low elevation of 16 metres above sea level, close to the Scottish border and near the villages of Ladykirk and Upsettlington. Norham is located approximately 43 miles from Edinburgh, making it a commuter option for those working in the city.
Norham and Northumberland: AdBlue drains across the area
As a village, Norham shares its vans with the nearby places — Upsettlington, New Ladykirk — all the way across TD postcodes. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning TD15 2.
No moving is required, be it parked centrally in Norham or in a lay-by en route to Frockham Brae, and so keep it where it is. Wherever it stands, that's where it gets cleared. Guessing doesn't help beside Bow Well, on a county line or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
The one-line version
Where it has not run, phone then leave it that way. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Norham and anywhere around Northumberland on 0333 366 0103.