AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Cornforth, and What to Do Next
Has the motor run since the AdBlue went in? This single question settles almost everything else from here. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is in West Cornforth itself or out in Coxhoe. Leave your motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around West Cornforth. Where your engine has run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then switch the vehicle off. It is a bigger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Match what happened to one of the ones below, anywhere around Durham you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a West Cornforth forecourt
Imagine it: stood by the petrol pump, holding the bottle, you spot the cap you took off wasn't the correct one. Perhaps you're at the BP, possibly at the Shell, possibly somewhere else around West Cornforth.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Still inside that tank, and no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — and so don't get back in. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the staff assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets cleared where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a West Cornforth drive?
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle from the shop, emptied in at the driveway — and it's just at the recycling that the cap got your eye. Driveways near Linden Road see it as much as anywhere.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't moved since, it is almost as good as spotting it at the pump. At the bottom of the tank sits where AdBlue waits, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by makes nothing of the difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Cornforth or West Cornforth: wherever your drive sits, that is where it gets emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in West Cornforth?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe heading to Durham, under 10 miles away, or simply down Garmondsway Road.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. It has been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. Exit by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the A1(M), under a mile from West Cornforth. It will not have cleared, and so there is no sense restarting to find out. Tell us know the mileage driven when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You've had this vehicle barely a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap sits right beside your diesel. Anywhere you happen to be in Durham, any motorist can slip up.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, only with an added step. Many hire and company agreements require the owner's approval before work.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. If you are stranded in the car park outside Durham, or by West Cornforth War Memorial, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, West Cornforth?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. Lighter, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? A hurried top-up by the gates of West Cornforth Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Metal Bridge: both fits.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to the engine. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in your tank would be drawn in by firing up your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not fire it up. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one once it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
The common ground in each West Cornforth AdBlue drain
Each situation gets the same start to the job. Filling station, driveway, Square & Compass's car park or a road by Holy Trinity Cornforth — the van comes to the vehicle, and three answers follow: which fluid, what amount, and if it ran. Replies set the work; the quote follows on the call whilst no one has set off yet.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it is essential, because crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that washes out unaided. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been flushed or replaced, and your car is then tested. If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Our engineers start it at the end. Before our technicians go, it is tested to confirm it runs correctly on fresh diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it is caught early, lasting damage is very uncommon. Paying comes on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many policies cover misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About West Cornforth
West Cornforth is a suburban area in County Durham, situated approximately 6 miles from the city of Durham. West Cornforth sits inland at an elevation of around 140 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. West Cornforth is located near other small settlements such as Cornforth and Tursdale, and is about 227 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains around West Cornforth and across Durham
West Cornforth is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Tursdale and East Howle among them, across the DL postcode area. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning DL17 9.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Thrislington Plantation National Nature Reserve or in a car park in the middle of West Cornforth, it doesn't need to move. We drain the vehicle where it is. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to West Cornforth Community Centre or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
In one line: your situation
Not run yet: keep it off then call. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around West Cornforth and anywhere in Durham on 0333 366 0103.