Wrong fuel on the A182
Wrong fuel on the A182? Do not restart the engine. If you are in a live lane, get clear and call 999 first. Otherwise call 01293 248666 — we drain on site. From just £89 misfuel callout fee.
No premises, no recovery truck
The alternative to what we do is a recovery truck, a garage queue and a courtesy car you did not want. Wrong Fuel Sunderland sends a technician to SR1 to SR6, DH4 and DH5 instead, and the job is normally finished where you are standing. Call 01293 248666. There is no Sunderland branch to drive to, which is rather the point.
| Road | A182 |
|---|---|
| Section we cover | Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton and Easington Lane |
| Junctions and landmarks | Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole, Easington Lane and Murton direction |
| Fuel stops on this stretch | Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton |
| Cost | From just £89 misfuel callout fee, quoted in full before we travel |
| Hours | 24 hours, every day |
Why wrong fuel happens on the A182
The A182 links the former coalfield villages and crosses country with long gaps between forecourts. Drivers here fill at whichever of a small number of stops they pass.
The nozzle-geometry point applies here as everywhere: an unleaded nozzle drops straight into a diesel filler neck, while a diesel nozzle is usually too wide for a petrol one. On a road like this, where a large share of drivers are part-way through a long leg and filling somewhere they have never filled before, that asymmetry shows up as a steady run of petrol-in-diesel jobs.
Roadside safety, in order
- Do not restart the engine On a live carriageway this matters more, not less. A restarted engine turns a drain into a possible pump and injector job.
- Hazards on, get out on the nearside If you are on a hard shoulder or a verge, leave by the passenger side and stand behind the barrier, up the bank, away from the traffic.
- Call 999 or National Highways on 0300 123 5000 first if you are in a live lane If the vehicle cannot be moved off a running lane, that call comes before ours. Then call us.
- Call 01293 248666 Tell us the junction or the nearest marker post, the vehicle, and which fuel went in. You get a price before anyone travels.
- We drain and flush on site Where it is safe to work, the job is done where the vehicle stands. Where it is not, we say so rather than turning up and charging you to find out.
If it is not safe to work where you are
There are stretches of the A182 where draining at the roadside is not a sensible thing to do — a live lane, a blind bend, no verge. We will tell you that on the phone rather than after arriving, and recovery to somewhere workable is the right answer in those cases. Being told honestly costs you nothing; being told on arrival costs you a call-out.
Where the damage actually occurs
Not in the tank. The tank is just where it starts. Damage happens at the high-pressure pump, which relies on the fuel itself for lubrication and has very tight tolerances, and then at the injectors downstream of it. Reaching either requires the engine to have run, which is why a car coasted to a halt on the forecourt is almost always a call-out and nothing more.
The A19 carries very heavy freight. A vehicle stopped on it, or in the approach to the Tyne Tunnel, needs to be got clear before anything else is considered.
Services along this route
Areas on or near this road
Reviews, including the bad ones
4.8 out of 5 across 2,190 Trustpilot reviews. Praise clusters on two things — speed of arrival, and technicians who do not make a driver feel stupid about a mistake anyone can make.
The complaint that comes up most is cost. It is a fair thing to raise: the call-out is From just £89 misfuel callout fee, the full price is confirmed before a technician sets off, and if the job turns out to be different you are told before further work, not after.
Questions we get asked
Is there an out-of-hours surcharge?
The call-out is the call-out. Whatever the total is, you hear it on the phone before anyone travels.
Can I just top it up with the right fuel?
No. Dilution does not fix contamination, and driving to a filling station to try it is the mile that turns a drain into a repair.
How long will I be waiting?
Arrival depends where you are across SR1 to SR6, DH4 and DH5 and what is already running. You get a realistic window on the call rather than an optimistic one.
Do you cover all of SR1 to SR6, DH4 and DH5?
Yes, from one rota — so being at one edge of the area rather than the other changes the arrival window, not the price.
What happens to the old fuel?
It leaves with us as controlled waste under a waste transfer note. It is not tipped, and it is not resold to you.
How much does it cost in A182?
From just £89 misfuel callout fee. The full price for your vehicle is confirmed on the phone before a technician sets off, so there is no surprise when we arrive.
Who you are dealing with
Wrong Fuel Sunderland is a service by Forecourt Assist. Forecourt Assist is a trading name of Fuel Fixer Ltd, company no 08520551, a company of Fuel Fixer International. Registered at Fairway House, Portland Road, East Grinstead, RH19 4ET. Fuel Fixer International is owned by Stockbridge Capital Holdings.
Across the Fuel Fixer network
Wrong Fuel Sunderland is one of the brands operated by Forecourt Assist. The full directory is on the operator site.
- Wrong Fuel Dumfries — Dumfries and Galloway
- Wrong Fuel Carlisle — Carlisle and the border
- Wrong Fuel Whitehaven — Whitehaven and Copeland
- Wrong Fuel Dumfries — Dumfries and Galloway
- Forecourt Assist — the complete network directory
- Fuel Fixer International — the operating group
- Stockbridge Capital Holdings — group owner
Background reading: Waste carrier registration — GOV.UK.