Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Glyncoch
Motor off, ignition off: that's where you start if AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank. AdBlue is urea mixed in water. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the harm it does starts when the system pulls it in. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Glyncoch, is normally all AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it's caught before the engine has run. No step comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
Glyncoch, AdBlue in your diesel tank: what to do right away
To do:
- Pocket your keys, which prevents someone turning the power on.
- Close to moving traffic? Then put the hazards on.
- Hold on to your receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what went in and roughly how much.
- Ring just where you are. Quote a CF37 3 postcode or the closest street sign, and no one has to search for you.
Never do these:
- Do not start your engine, even for a moment to shift the car.
- Your ignition stays off: on lots of diesels, switching it on is enough to start the pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to dilute it. AdBlue doesn't mix in diesel; it separates out.
- Any driving at all is to be avoided, even a short distance along Pearson Crescent.
- No emptying it yourself, either, at the verge.
Rolling your car away from the pumps is a job for staff to help with, whichever Glyncoch forecourt you're on, the Asda included. If you're on your own drive, leave the vehicle exactly where it stands.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Not your engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to fresh it. A fuel pump isn't designed to take it, and AdBlue was never intended to go through one.
It does not combine. After it is poured into a tank of diesel, AdBlue behaves not at all like diesel. It sinks, because it is denser than diesel, and pools down where the intake draws its fuel from. Simplest of all: a vehicle that had AdBlue in Coed-Pen-Maen last night and has not turned since. The liquid sits at the foot of that tank, untouched — though it will be the first thing through if your motor starts, ahead of any diesel at all.
Two kinds of harm come from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it strands urea that crystallises in filter elements and narrow passages; and, since it attacks certain metals, each part it reaches suffers for as long as it stays inside. Lines holding AdBlue spell damage by morning for a car parked in Glyncoch. Just in your tank, it stays the same. Then there's the water: it brings no lubrication to the parts that rely on it the most — the high-pressure pump and each injector.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is commonly worse
Fill a diesel with petrol in error over at the Sainsbury's, and the problem is thinned fuel. Blended into the diesel and left unused, it's harmless for now; using the engine is the damage.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different matter: not thin fuel, but no fuel at all. Because it doesn't burn, running it through isn't an option. Whether the car is in Trallwn or the heart of Glyncoch, turning it over "to see" does more harm in this case than nearly any other error, and the flush counts for more. The reasons: it will not stay blended, so diluting it is impossible; and crystals and corrosion outlast the following fill.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. Never started? Then the AdBlue waits just in your tank, the easiest bit of the entire system to clear, wherever your car has come to rest in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Glyncoch: how it ends up there
It is not deliberate. Many vehicles have the AdBlue cap beside the diesel one, occasionally behind one flap, and mixing them up is easy in poor light. It mostly takes place at home, from a bottle bought on the journey home, rather than at the filling station.
It tends to take place in a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside the local primary school. Near Conway Close, a driver tips a bottle in at home after work. Or a driver new to that flap refills your vehicle in dim light, stopped in the car park outside Central Hotel.
It happens most in the motors motorists know least: a hire car, a new motor, a company car, or the second motor of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Wherever you're in Glyncoch or the remainder of Rhondda Cynon Taf, it is the same slip and the same first answer: leave the car off.
Already started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank in Glyncoch?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside your tank. The filter and pipework have had it sucked along, and some running takes it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Maybe returning from Coedcae Berwerdy, or midway across Glyncoch, your engine may run lumpy, smoke, lose power, flash your dash or stall. Stop when it is safe. Turn off. Leave it off instead of restarting it to check. Each start pulls more of that through.
On the M4, under 10 miles from Glyncoch, the first junction is where to leave, and somewhere sensible is where to park — not driving on.
A quick hop across Glyncoch to the car park by Trallwn Community Centre is one matter; heading towards Cardiff, under 15 miles away, is another, since every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. So mileage counts. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
Our engineers do all of the rinsing where the car has come to a stop, and once the engine has run there is more of it. When it is caught quickly, long-term damage is very rare.
Glyncoch: how AdBlue is emptied from a diesel
The vehicle stays put, whether that's a street near Coedpenmain English Baptist Church, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt around Glyncoch, and our van travels to it. Which fluid was put in, about the quantity, plus whether the motor has turned over: our engineers ask first, because those decide the job.
Next, draining the tank right there removes the polluted diesel and the AdBlue in one go. A full flush matters far more after AdBlue than with petrol, since residue won't wash away by itself. Clean diesel goes in once your filter is cleaned — or replaced, when it needs to be — and then your car is tested. About half an hour once we arrive is usual for most jobs where the motor hasn't run. The pumping gear is explosion-proof, so a busy filling station is no issue, and it's hushed enough for a residential street after dark.
Last, your system is bled with fresh diesel. Whether it is a parking bay by Abercynon or a driveway around Glyncoch, that is where our technicians fire it up and you set off. It is tested on fresh diesel to be sure it runs smoothly before our engineers leave. Since the job is done in its entirety where your car is, a garage never comes into it. Afterwards, you are given paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer.
About Glyncoch and where it is
Glyncoch is a suburban area situated on the banks of the River Taff in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. Glyncoch sits at an elevation of 139 metres, approximately 12 miles north of Cardiff, and is surrounded by nearby communities such as Coed y Cwm and Cilfynydd. Glyncoch has a population of around 3549 residents, living in a relatively quiet riverside setting. Glyncoch is also located near the village of Pont Sion Norton, adding to its local character.
AdBlue drains across Glyncoch and Rhondda Cynon Taf
Coed y Cwm, Cilfynydd and Pont Sion Norton are among the places near Glyncoch that the same vans serve, together with most of Rhondda Cynon Taf beyond, over the CF postcode area. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're close to a county line, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Glyncoch is a residential suburb, and an on-site drain suits it: whether the vehicle is on a home drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt, we drain it where it stands, and so it never needs to be shifted to us.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around Glyncoch?
Each job is different, so not one single price would be honest. The cost shifts first with how long, if at all, the motor has been running, and next with the quantity of AdBlue that was put in. After that it turns on where the vehicle is and whether a technician can reach it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind Pontypridd Museum.
Which fluid got in, how much, and if the engine ran: every Glyncoch enquiry begins with precisely those, ahead of any figure, not afterwards. Their answers narrow a range right down to a single number.
You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
Still alongside the car around Glyncoch?
Then, the most helpful thing to do with the car is to leave it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, plus if the engine ran are all our technicians need. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf, Glyncoch too.