AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Aberfan: What Now?
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? That one question decides almost everything about what comes next. Not started yet? Then keep it like that, whether the car is — Aberfan or Newtown. Leave the motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Aberfan. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. A larger job, then, yet the same opening move.
Wherever across Merthyr Tydfil it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
On a Aberfan forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Somewhere in Aberfan, then — Esso, Texaco, or somewhere else nearby.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Just your tank has AdBlue; not one component beyond it has taken any in.
Clearing the pump is no reason to run it — so don't get back in. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Aberfan drive?
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it was just at the bin that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Bridge Street are hit as often as everywhere else.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it's almost as good as finding out at the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank is where AdBlue waits, since it will not blend with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Merthyr Vale or Aberfan: whichever your driveway sits, that is where it is emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Aberfan?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Heol Aberfan, perhaps, or the way to Cardiff — a run of under 25 miles.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, after the filter and lines have had it. It goes deeper with every extra mile driven and every restart.
Your move: pull up anywhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Aberfan lies under 15 miles from the M4; there, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call, saying what distance your vehicle was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is just by the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Anyone, anywhere in Merthyr Tydfil, might do the same.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts here — run or not — and one extra step. The owner frequently needs to approve the work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Merthyr Vale, or near Capel Aberfan? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Aberfan?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Mountain Ash: either fit.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the outside. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another matter. Starting the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't crank it. Phone with the details: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after the motor has been run.
Each AdBlue drain around Aberfan shares these steps
Every situation has the same opening to the work. Three questions are asked once our engineers reach the car — at a filling station, a drive, a road beside St Mary & The Holy Innocents or the car park outside Windsor Hotel: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has been started. Those answers determine the work, and you get the price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Never started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Starting the car comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it's running smoothly, and then we go. We do the entire job where your car is, and long-term damage is very rare when it has been spotted soon. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while you wait is worthwhile.
About Aberfan and where it is
Aberfan is a village situated in the Merthyr Tydfil county borough in Wales, located on the banks of the River Taff. Aberfan sits at an elevation of 138 metres, with the surrounding landscape dominated by the South Wales Valleys. Aberfan is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting its historical development as a residential community. Aberfan is close to nearby villages such as Merthyr Vale and Troedyrhiw, and is within commuting distance of Cardiff.
Aberfan and Merthyr Tydfil: AdBlue drains across the area
As a village, Aberfan has the same vans as the nearby towns — Caegarw, Troedyrhiw — right across CF postcodes. The whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode that starts CF48 4.
Stopped heading to Aberfan Disaster Memorial Garden, or right in the heart of Aberfan, your vehicle remains put — there is no need to shift it anywhere. The drain happens on the spot. Guessing doesn't help near Aberfan Disaster Memorial Garden, close to a border or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
In one line: your situation
Where it hasn't started, ring then leave it off. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Aberfan and anywhere across Merthyr Tydfil on 0333 366 0103.