AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stanley, and What to Do Next
All of it hinges on one fact: whether the engine has started after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Wherever your car is — Oxhill, Stanley — never start an engine that hasn't been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine still off. Across Stanley, that is generally emptied and cleaned where it stands. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Step one stays the same, even though the work is bigger.
Further down: the situations our engineers meet, anywhere around Durham. Pick yours.
On a Stanley forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Possibly you're at the Texaco, possibly at the Esso, perhaps somewhere else around Stanley.
In short: there is no better place to be to discover it. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Three things: a push into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Stanley drive?
On the dash, a warning had been lit for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used on the driveway. Drives near A693 see it as much as anywhere.
In short: if the vehicle has not moved since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the pump. On the bottom of that tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Next: stop any early-morning move by putting the keys in the house, then phone us. In Shield Row or here in Stanley, the drain is done on your driveway. The equipment runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
On the road in Stanley with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Perhaps it was on Cemetery Road, maybe on the way out towards Durham, under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. It's been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. It travels deeper with each mile driven and each restart.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, and turn your engine off. On the A1(M), under 10 miles from Stanley, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You've just had this vehicle for days. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across Durham, no one is immune.
In short: one extra step on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. The owner frequently needs to approve any work, under many hire and company contracts.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Waiting for a reply in the car park outside Chester-Le-Street, or near The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Leave your car off throughout.
Stanley: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway out in South Stanley.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler don't reach your engine at all. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in that tank will be pulled in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Do this: act as though it got in, and never start your engine. Checking a tank that proves clean beats draining one after it has been run — so phone and describe to us what you saw.
What each AdBlue drain around Stanley has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, East Stanley Club's car park or a street beside St Andrew — the van reaches your vehicle, and three answers come next: what fluid, what quantity, and whether it ran. Replies set the work; the quote comes on the call while no one has left yet.
Draining your tank comes next, then a full flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, however long it sits. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect about half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Starting the car comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while we make sure it is running properly, and then we head off. Lasting damage is very uncommon when it's spotted soon, and the entire job is done where the car is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Stanley, for a moment
Stanley is a town in County Durham, situated inland at an elevation of 218 metres, approximately 7.9 miles from the city of Durham. Stanley has a population of around 16502 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing. Stanley is part of a larger urban area that includes nearby places such as Shield Row, Kip Hill, and East Stanley. Stanley is located in the North East region of England, about 241.3 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Durham, Stanley included
Over DH postcodes, the teams serving Stanley — a town — reach nearby places too, Kip Hill and East Stanley among them. Giving us your DH9 0 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Oakey's Park or in a car park in the middle of Stanley, it doesn't need to move. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Ring and ask instead of guessing when you are close to Stanley War Memorial, on a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Keep the car off and phone. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Stanley and anywhere in Durham on 0333 366 0103.