Ebbw Vale: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Ebbw Vale itself or out in Willowtown. Leave the motor and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Ebbw Vale. Stop the moment you safely can then switch off, if it has been run. Step one stays the same, even if the work is bigger.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Blaenau Gwent it happened.
Ebbw Vale forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Be it Tesco, Gulf or somewhere else around Ebbw Vale, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. No pump has pulled it through, so the AdBlue stays just inside the tank.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it to a bay, save the bottle, then ring us from there. If it cannot be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Ebbw Vale drive?
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It happens on drives just off Cemetery Road as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of the tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Next: prevent an early-morning drive by keeping your keys in the house, then phone us. Our technicians drain it on your driveway, whether that is in Ebbw Vale or out in Pont-y-Gof. Our pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Ebbw Vale: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Steel Works Road, perhaps, or the route to Newport — a trip of under 25 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and lines to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. It goes further with every mile covered and every restart.
Stop safely — that's the next step — then switch everything off. Services farther on are too far: on the M4, under 25 miles out of Ebbw Vale, use the first junction. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit side by side here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Anyone, wherever around Blaenau Gwent, could do the same.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts here — run or unrun — and one extra step. Many rental and company contracts require the owner's approval before work.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep it off as the reply comes, whether you're waiting outside Ebbw Vale Town or close to Eugene Cross Park.
Ebbw Vale: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think so. A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of the local primary school in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's drive over in Glyncoed.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no damage to your engine. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Starting the car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will pull it in.
Take it that it went in, and never start the key. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than an already-run one emptied.
Ebbw Vale: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation has the same start to the job. Three things are asked once we arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a street beside Cricket & Bowls Club or the car park outside The Welfare: the fluid, the quantity, and whether it has run. Answers shape the work; the quote follows by phone while nobody has set off yet.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's essential, because crystals build up and some metals corrode, and none of it rinses out unaided. Then comes the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced where needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians get there.
Our technicians fire it up last. Our test that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our engineers head off. If it's spotted soon, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as we travel pays.
About Ebbw Vale and where it is
Ebbw Vale is a town situated in the valley of the Ebbw River in Blaenau Gwent, with a mix of terraced housing and more modern developments. Ebbw Vale sits at an elevation of 296 metres, surrounded by hills and mountains, and is located near the towns of Pont-y-Gof and Newchurch. Ebbw Vale is close to the city of Newport, which is 16 miles away, and is about 133 miles from London. Ebbw Vale has a population of around 12,837 people and is a significant urban centre in the area.
AdBlue drains about Ebbw Vale and across Blaenau Gwent
As a riverside town, Ebbw Vale has the same vans as the nearby towns — Newtown, Newchurch — all the way across NP postcodes. Quickest of all: a NP23 6 postcode to show where you stand.
Stopped heading to Eugene Cross Park, or bang in the heart of Ebbw Vale, the vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to move it at all. We drain it where it sits. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near Ebbw Vale Shopping Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine not started: phone, leaving it alone. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in Ebbw Vale or wherever across Blaenau Gwent.