What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Sands
Everything hinges on a single detail: whether the engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then keep it that way, whether the car is — The Sands or Gilesgate. Leave your motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in The Sands. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then turn everything off. Stage one remains unchanged, even though the work grows.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Durham it happened.
At the petrol pump around The Sands: AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Possibly you are at the Esso, possibly at the Tesco, possibly somewhere else in The Sands.
In short: there is no better spot exists to spot it. Just the tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Have the staff to help pushing it to a space, hold on to the receipt, then ring us right there. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in The Sands
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened on the drive. Homes just off The Sands get hit as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? As long as your car hasn't been driven since, it is second to the pump case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and remains put, however long the night.
Next: keys indoors, so no one takes your car anywhere first thing. Then, phone. Durham or The Sands: whichever your driveway is, that's where it is drained. Night-time clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around The Sands?
A mile or two after filling up, the motor began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Somewhere on Wanless Terrace or heading to Durham — under a mile away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. The injection pump and each injector see it as well on a bigger trip, once your filter and pipework have it. It goes further with every extra mile covered and every restart.
Stop safely — that's the first step — then turn it off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the A1(M), under 3 miles from The Sands. It will not have cleared, and so there's no sense starting it again to check. Phone, saying how far the vehicle went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a car you have had for a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was just beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Durham.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Many hire and fleet contracts need the owner's approval before repairs.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it beforehand saves time. Leave the vehicle switched off while the answer arrives, even if you're parked outside Durham or close to The Orthodox Church of St Cuthbert and St Bede.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around The Sands
At times, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Look familiar? The gates of St Oswald's Church of England Aided Primary and Nursery School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Aykley Heads.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet don't reach the engine at all. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Starting the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would suck it in.
Next: assume it got in, and leave the engine off. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank checked is a better result than an already-run one drained.
Every AdBlue drain in The Sands shares these stages
The job begins identically, whichever your case. Three things are asked once our engineers arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a street beside Freeman's Quay Leisure Centre or the car park outside Drunken Duck: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has run. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the work.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Never started? Then about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Starting it comes at the end. Our technicians check it runs correctly on fresh diesel before we leave. Long-term damage is very uncommon if it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where the car is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Check your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About The Sands
The Sands is a suburban area located on the riverside in County Durham, England, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 3816 residents. The Sands sits near the city of Durham, being only 0.4 miles away, and is part of the wider North East region. The Sands has an elevation of 35 metres and is situated near other local places such as Western Hill and North End. The Sands is connected to the rest of the country, with London being approximately 233.9 miles away.
AdBlue drains in The Sands, and across Durham too
The Sands is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places near it too, Western Hill and North End among them, across the DH postcode area. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts DH1 1.
No towing is required, whether stopped centrally in The Sands or in a layby en route to the green space at the edge of the village, and so leave it where it is. Draining happens on the spot. Assuming doesn't help beside Longfellow, on a border or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
Your situation, in one line
If it hasn't run, phone and leave it off. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Durham and in The Sands — once you pull over, switch off then ring, if it has run.