AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Craig Berthlwyd, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it got in. Anywhere the vehicle is — Treharris, Craig Berthlwyd — don't start a motor that has not been started yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor still off. In Craig Berthlwyd, such a case is typically emptied and cleaned where it stands. Pull over the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. A larger job, then, but the identical opening step.
Below: the situations our engineers meet, wherever around Merthyr Tydfil. Choose yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Craig Berthlwyd forecourt
Just at this point, bottle still in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Be it Gulf Treharris Service Station, Texaco or anywhere else in Craig Berthlwyd, the situation is identical.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one part past it has taken it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to move away from the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Craig Berthlwyd drive?
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Homes just off Fairview Terrace get hit as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of that tank is where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Goitre Coed or Craig Berthlwyd: whichever your driveway sits, that is where it is drained. The pumping kit runs quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Craig Berthlwyd?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been heading to Cardiff, under 15 miles away, or simply down Goitre Coed Road.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue in already. It's been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop somewhere sensible, then switch the motor off. Leave at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M4, under 10 miles from Craig Berthlwyd. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Phone, and say what distance the vehicle was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
Seven days back, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, wherever across Merthyr Tydfil, might do the same.
The point: just as above, split by if it ran, only with one added step. Plenty of hire and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. Keep the vehicle off while the reply comes, even if you are parked at Quakers Yard or close to The Church of Christ Evangelical Baptist Church.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Craig Berthlwyd?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". What cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Edwardsville, or in a rush by the local primary school on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to the engine. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Starting the car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would draw it in.
Next: act as though it got in, and keep your motor off. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one after it's been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
What every AdBlue drain in Craig Berthlwyd has in common
Each case gets the same start to the job. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Glantaff Inn or a side street close to Saint Matthias Church Treharris, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and if the motor has been run. Your price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the job.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, since deposits build up and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses out unaided. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is then checked. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment we get there.
We fire it up at the end. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been caught quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your policy as you wait is worthwhile.
About Craig Berthlwyd itself
Craig Berthlwyd is a locality situated on the riverside in Merthyr Tydfil, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 1968 residents. Craig Berthlwyd lies near the communities of Goitre Coed, Quakers Yard, and Pentwyn Berthlwyd, and is approximately 13.7 miles from Cardiff. Craig Berthlwyd's elevation is around 117 metres above sea level, placing it in a relatively low-lying area of the region.
AdBlue drains around Craig Berthlwyd and across Merthyr Tydfil
Craig Berthlwyd is a small village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Quakers Yard and Pentwyn Berthlwyd among them, across the CF postcode area. A postcode starting CF46 5 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to Royal Park, or right in the centre of Craig Berthlwyd, your vehicle stays where it is — there's no need to shift it anywhere. Our technicians drain it where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near Treharris Library, close to a border or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
In one line: your scenario
Where it has not run, phone and leave it off. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Craig Berthlwyd or wherever in Merthyr Tydfil.