Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in South Pelaw: Why It Occurs
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. Around South Pelaw, catching it before the engine turns usually means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Reading before the event? In that case what follows explains how it comes about and how to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels around Pelton Fell, as well as South Pelaw, run on two liquids; the motor gets just your diesel. The exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to clean them, from its own tank.
There's a filler for every tank. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the pump happens all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what cap to use. The mistake lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around South Pelaw?
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Pelton Lane, or outside The Plough Inn on the way home after work.
Next, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Whether it occurs in Canada or the middle of South Pelaw, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these before pouring, at a forecourt in South Pelaw or a driveway over in Pelton. Seconds, no more.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Chester-Le-Street? Check with the person who drove it last before leaving, not once the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Wherever across Durham the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Pelaw Crescent, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems daft. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and check again that your diesel cap never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five altogether.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around South Pelaw?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your engine. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Diluting it with more diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of mixing — and that is where your fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help roll your car clear of the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Esso, the BP or somewhere else. At home in South Pelaw? So the car remains put.
Already run? Pull over when it's sensible, then turn off. On the A1(M), under a mile from South Pelaw, that means the next exit. Mileage matters — a quick hop across South Pelaw is a smaller job than driving under 10 miles towards Durham — so tell us about how far it went.
What takes place when we arrive in South Pelaw
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, whether outside Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School, near Lambton Worm or at home, our van comes to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. Nobody sets off until you have heard the quote over the phone.
The system is then purged thoroughly, after the tank is emptied. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. After the filter is flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel goes in, and then your car gets tested. Before we leave, our engineers fire it up and check that it is running correctly.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About South Pelaw
South Pelaw is a suburban area located on the riverside in County Durham, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 3165 residents. South Pelaw sits at an elevation of 56 metres, close to the nearby cities of Durham and Chester-le-Street. South Pelaw is situated near other local places such as Canada and Bridge End, and is around 6 miles from the city of Durham. South Pelaw is also approximately 239.7 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains in South Pelaw and across Durham
Chester-le-Street and Bridge End are among the towns near South Pelaw, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over DH postcodes. Quickest of all: give a DH2 2 postcode to the van.
The vehicle stays where it is. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Holyoake Community Centre, a lay-by on the way to Stellagill Wood, a drive. Assuming won't help at the back of Chester-Le-Street Community Centre, on a border, or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
For South Pelaw drivers, the short version
Tip no AdBlue until you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere around Durham.