AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in The Grove: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Keep the motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where the car stands around The Grove, is usually all it takes when found before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the page explains the why it takes place and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many newer diesels on the roads about The Grove and Bridgehill carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the pump all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. Mistakes happen in the gap between them.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around The Grove?
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from your car, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Pemberton Avenue, perhaps at The Scotch Arms on the way home that evening.
Unfamiliar cars are next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company cars put their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Moorside or the middle of The Grove: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt around The Grove or a driveway out in Consett. Seconds, that's all.
- Read the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives if your filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Stocksfield.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
The day the light comes on, anywhere in Durham, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Thornfield Road, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around The Grove already?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting the motor. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the vehicle on. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Tesco or the Morrisons, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. Your own drive in The Grove is where it stays.
When your engine has been run by now, stop somewhere safe and switch it off. On the A1(M), under 15 miles from The Grove, that means the next junction. Mileage counts — a quick hop across The Grove makes a smaller job than heading under 15 miles towards Durham — so tell us about how far it went.
The Grove: what takes place when our engineers get there
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside The Grove Primary School, close to The Grove Methodist Church or on your own driveway. Which fluid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: we ask because the replies set the work and price. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then that tank is emptied and your system flushed thoroughly. 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 the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before our technicians leave.
With pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor has not run take roughly half an hour once we arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About The Grove, for a moment
The Grove is a suburban area situated on the riverside in County Durham, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 1522 residents. The Grove sits at an elevation of 201 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and located near other communities such as Moorside and Allensford. The Grove is close to the city of Durham, which is approximately 11.9 miles away, and is part of the wider North East region. The Grove has a relatively quiet setting, despite being within commuting distance of larger urban areas.
AdBlue drains round The Grove, and Durham beyond
Allensford and Templetown are among the towns near The Grove, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout DH postcodes. Quickest of all: give a DH8 8 postcode for the van.
The car does not need to shift. Draining happens right there, be it a drive, a street near Old Hot Metal Carriage, or a lay-by on the way to The Heaps Country Park. Awkward to explain, like the back of Steel Circle? Close to a border? Asking beats guessing, and so phone.
For The Grove drivers, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Durham.