AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Washington, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it got in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is in Washington itself or out in Glebe. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your key and engine still off. In Washington, that is generally drained and cleaned on the spot. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Match what happened to one of the list below, wherever across Tyne and Wear you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Washington forecourt
Only now, nozzle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Somewhere in Washington, then — Sainsbury's, another forecourt nearby, or anywhere else close by.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. A few jobs: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed away gets emptied where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Washington drive?
Days had passed with the dash light on. Bought a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, after the fact. It happens on drives just off Washington Highway as often as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as the car has not been driven since, it is close to the forecourt case. At the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue waits, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Keep the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone may take it off first thing — then phone us. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it in Washington or Town Centre. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Washington?
A short way beyond filling up, the engine started misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Anywhere on Lumley Close or heading to Sunderland — under 10 miles away.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Mileage sets how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. It goes further with each extra mile covered and each restart.
Next: pick a safe place, stop, and turn your engine off. Washington lies under a mile from the Western Highway; on it, pull off at the first junction rather than pressing on for the services. No trial restarts: clearing isn't something AdBlue does. About what distance had it go? Tell us when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have only had the vehicle a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet was just next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Tyne and Wear.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on if it has run. Many hire and company contracts need the owner's approval for repairs.
Do this: hire firm or fleet manager first, us second, because sorting it beforehand cuts time. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at Chester-Le-Street, or beside The Galleries? Leave the car off meanwhile.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Washington
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. What cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by your filler. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St John Boste Catholic Primary School, Washington, or on a friend's drive in Albany.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler don't touch your motor at all. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clear tank checked is a better outcome than a run one emptied.
Each AdBlue drain around Washington shares these stages
The work opens identically, whatever the situation. Wherever your vehicle is — The Oasis's car park, a road beside Washington Library, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and asks for the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has turned over. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told the quote, and those replies decide the job too.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
We start the engine last. Our engineers check it runs correctly on clean diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it is caught early, lasting damage is very rare. Paying is on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Washington, for a moment
Washington is a town situated in a riverside location within Tyne and Wear, England. It has strong historical ties to the surrounding area, having originally been part of County Durham. The town is notable for its connection to a prominent local family, whose descendants include a famous US president. Washington's setting near the river adds to its charm as a distinct town in the north east of England.
AdBlue drains about Washington and across Tyne and Wear
Oxclose and Washington Village have the identical vans as Washington, a new town, plus further places over NE postcodes. A postcode starting NE38 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Washington or a layby near Holley Park: either way it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift at all for us. Our van empties it where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Washington Leisure Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your scenario, summed up
Where it has not started, phone then leave it off. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Washington or wherever across Tyne and Wear.