Wrong fuel on the A178
Wrong fuel on the A178? 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.
A local number, not a local building
The number at the top of this page is answered by the people who send technicians to Teesside. That is what the word local is doing here. It is not standing in for a depot, because Wrong Fuel Teesside does not have one — the van comes to the TS postcode area and the work happens where you are stood. Call 01293 248666.
| Road | A178 |
|---|---|
| Section we cover | Hartlepool to Seaton Carew and Port Clarence |
| Junctions and landmarks | Hartlepool, Seaton Carew, Graythorp, Port Clarence and Transporter Bridge |
| Fuel stops on this stretch | Hartlepool and Seaton Carew |
| Cost | From just £89 misfuel callout fee, quoted in full before we travel |
| Hours | 24 hours, every day |
Why wrong fuel happens on the A178
The A178 runs along the coastal industrial strip. It is quiet, exposed and serves a lot of works traffic — vans and fleet vehicles, which is the profile most likely to produce a misfuel.
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 A178 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.
Why the engine matters more than the litres
People assume a splash is fine and a full tank is a disaster. It is the other way round. Wrong fuel sitting in a tank is inert — it is a drain. Turn the key and it travels: lift pump, filter, high-pressure pump, injectors, and every stage it reaches adds a component to the bill. Five litres burned is worse than fifty litres left alone.
Downtime on a commercial vehicle costs more per hour than the job itself, which is why draining on site rather than recovering to a workshop is usually the only answer that makes commercial sense here.
Services along this route
Areas on or near this road
What people actually said
4.8 out of 5 from 2,190 Trustpilot reviews. Two themes dominate the positive ones — how fast someone arrived, and how calm they were about it.
The recurring negative is price. Publishing that alongside the answer seems more useful than hiding it: From just £89 misfuel callout fee is the call-out, the total is quoted before a technician moves, and there is no charge for being told on the phone that this is a job for a workshop.
Questions we get asked
What if it is not safe to drain where I am?
Then we tell you that on the phone rather than after arriving. Being told honestly costs nothing; being told on arrival costs a call-out.
What about a van or a hire car?
Same job. With a hire car, ring the hire company too — some policies cover a misfuel drain and it is worth knowing before you pay.
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.
Do you cover all of the TS postcode area?
Yes, from one rota — so being at one edge of the area rather than the other changes the arrival window, not the price.
Can you come to a supermarket forecourt?
Yes, and it is where a good proportion of jobs happen. Tell the cashier a drainer is on the way; they are used to it.
Do you work at night?
Yes, around the clock, every day. A large share of misfuels happen after dark, so the rota reflects that.
Who you are dealing with
Wrong Fuel Teesside 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 Teesside is one of the brands operated by Forecourt Assist. The full directory is on the operator site.
- Wrong Fuel Darlington — Darlington and the A1(M)
- Motor Servicing — mobile car servicing
- Wrong Fuel Maryport — Maryport and the Solway coast
- Wrong Fuel Darlington — Darlington and the A1(M)
- Forecourt Assist — the complete network directory
- Fuel Fixer International — the operating group
- Stockbridge Capital Holdings — group owner
Background reading: Common rail injection — Wikipedia.