Cathays: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, leave your ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out right where the vehicle sits in Cathays, is usually all it takes when caught before the motor runs. Reading in advance? In that case the rest explains how it happens and what to prevent it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds your engine — yet many modern diesels driven about Cathays and Pontcanna carry another liquid as well. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on many cars. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is filled far less often, usually from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around Cathays?
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Llantrisant Street, or at Cathays Beer House on the way home after work.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as readily, and after the tip starts, nothing stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Cathays or out in Blackweir.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Pen-y-lan or a forecourt in Cathays, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you pick up a rental or company car — at the nearest station's car park, perhaps — not once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Anywhere across Cardiff the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Brithdir Street.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — once you've found your filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop when the tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Shut the cap, then check again — making sure your diesel cap remained shut the whole time. After that, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Cathays already?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the motor. Keep your ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on alone runs the pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the Tesco, ask the staff to help push your car clear of the petrol pump. If you're on your own driveway around Cathays, leave the car where it stands.
When the motor has run already, stop somewhere safe and switch the vehicle off. On the M4, under 5 miles from Cathays, that means the next exit. A short hop across Cathays is a smaller job than a run towards Cardiff, under 3 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Cathays: what occurs when our technicians arrive
By the local primary school, near Pentyrch Street Baptist Church or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our technicians come to it. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — which fluid, what amount, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. No one sets off until you've had the price over the phone.
Your system is then flushed thoroughly, once your tank is cleared. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing clears out unaided, no matter how long it is left. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is flushed or changed if necessary. Then our engineers start the car and make sure it runs smoothly before we leave.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is fine on a live forecourt, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Cathays
Cathays is a suburban area in Cardiff, situated near the coast and approximately 1.1 miles from the city centre. Cathays is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing and is close to nearby places such as Blackweir, Maindy, and Cathays Park. Cathays has a relatively low elevation of 26 metres and is home to a population of around 19,208 people. Cathays is also within a short distance of Cardiff's main amenities and attractions.
AdBlue drains in Cathays and across Cardiff
Over CF postcodes, our vans covering Cathays — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Cathays Park and Maindy included. Quote a postcode beginning CF24 4, and the van arrives quickest.
Moving the car isn't necessary. Anywhere it sits — beside Cathays Branch and Heritage Library, in a lay-by heading to Maindy Park, on a drive — that's where it is drained. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Church of St Michael and All Angels.
For Cathays people, the short version
Tip nothing till you have read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Cardiff.