South Church: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue got in? That one question decides nearly everything about what comes next. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Oak Street, South Church — don't start an engine that hasn't been started yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor still off. In South Church, that is generally emptied and flushed where it stands. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It's a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Further down: the situations our technicians see, anywhere across Durham. Pick yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a South Church forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It might be the JET, or perhaps the Asda, or a different station around South Church.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. Nothing has pulled it through, and so the AdBlue stays only in your tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. A few things: a shove into a bay with the staff assisting, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a South Church drive?
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. It happens on drives just off Main Street as regularly as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle has not been driven since, it's second to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. Your driveway is where it is emptied, be it in South Church or Coronation. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
South Church: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Crown Street, perhaps, or the way towards Durham — a trip of under 10 miles.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Through the filter, along the lines, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a safe place, stop, then turn your engine off. Service stations farther on can wait: on the A1(M), under 10 miles out of South Church, take the first junction. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days back, it was new to you. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits just next to your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Durham.
The upshot: just as above, divided by if it ran, only with an added stage. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under many rental and fleet agreements.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. Stranded near Parish Church of Saint Andrew Auckland or outside Bishop Auckland till someone replies, your car stays switched off the whole time.
South Church: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think so. Which cap came off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than expected, and ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of St Andrew's Academy in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive out in Regent Street.
Put simply: a spill near the filler does your motor no harm. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not fire it up. Ring with the details: we would sooner confirm a clean tank than empty one once the motor has been run.
South Church: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, a single opening is used. Three things come when our technicians reach your car — at a forecourt, a drive, a road beside Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witnesses or the car park outside The Red Alligator: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has run. On the phone, before anything else, you hear the quote, and those answers decide the job too.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's essential, because deposits build up and some metals corrode, and neither rinses out unaided. Next is your filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the car. The majority of unstarted vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment we turn up.
Our technicians fire it up last. Our check that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our technicians go. Lasting damage is very uncommon if it's spotted quickly, and the entire job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About South Church
South Church is a suburban area situated on the riverside in County Durham, with a mix of housing types but predominantly detached homes. South Church sits at an elevation of 88 metres, approximately 9 miles from the city of Durham. South Church is part of a larger residential area that includes nearby Coronation, Elm Terrace, and Beech Terrace. South Church has a population of around 1860 residents.
AdBlue drains around South Church, and across Durham too
Elm Terrace and Beech Terrace get the same teams as South Church, a residential suburb, along with further places throughout DL postcodes. A postcode starting DL14 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether stopped centrally in South Church or in a lay-by en route to Cockton Hill Recreation Ground, so leave it where it is. The van empties it in place. Phone and check rather than guess if you are by Auckland Park Methodist Church, near a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your situation, summed up
Where it has not run, ring and leave it that way. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in South Church or wherever across Durham.