Gwernaffield-y-Waun: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Keep your engine and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Normally, when your motor hasn't turned, it's emptied and fully rinsed where the car is in Gwernaffield-y-Waun. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Many current diesels on the roads round Gwernaffield-y-Waun and Cadole carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where a spray cleans the gas.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, tipped by a driver who must stop and think what filler to use. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Gwernaffield-y-Waun: how it happens
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Church Lane before work, or in the car park outside The Hand on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Unfamiliar cars are next, too. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as easily, and once the pour starts, no part halts it. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Pant-y-buarth or bang in the heart of Gwernaffield-y-Waun.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Pont-newydd or a forecourt in Gwernaffield-y-Waun.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Trust the cap, not its position.
- On many vehicles, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it lives when the filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Buckley.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the day the light appears — anywhere you are across Flintshire — a simple routine to use.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Cadole Road.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have found your filler and read it.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two sit under a flap, make sure it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Step five stays out.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Gwernaffield-y-Waun?
Do not start the motor: that's how the short order of things starts. Keep the ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels it by itself runs the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
At a forecourt — Texaco, Applegreen or any other — the staff will usually help push the vehicle away, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Gwernaffield-y-Waun.
Where your engine has run already, stop safely and switch it off. On the M56, under 15 miles from Gwernaffield-y-Waun, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Gwernaffield-y-Waun is smaller work than a run of under 15 miles towards Wrexham, so tell us.
Our arrival around Gwernaffield-y-Waun, and what occurs next
Outside the local primary school, close to Bethesda or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. The answers determine the work and our quote, and so we ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run. The quote is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Next: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither clears away by itself. Hence it matters more. A test comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. We do not leave until it has been started and is running properly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour once our technicians get there, as long as the engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Gwernaffield-y-Waun and where it is
Gwernaffield-y-Waun is a small village in Flintshire, situated inland at an elevation of 213 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Gwernaffield-y-Waun lies near the villages of Pant-y-buarth, Pant-glas, and Pantymwyn, and is approximately 11.7 miles from Wrexham. Gwernaffield-y-Waun has a population of around 579 people and is located in a rural area of north-east Wales.
AdBlue drains round Gwernaffield-y-Waun, and Flintshire beyond
Gwernaffield-y-Waun is a rural village, and our vans that cover it also work the places near it, Pant-glas and Pantymwyn among them, across the CH postcode area. A postcode starting CH7 5 gets the van to you fastest.
Moving your car isn't necessary. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Gwernymynydd Village Hall, a lay-by on the way to Mold Golf Club, a drive. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of St John's Church, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Gwernaffield-y-Waun people: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Flintshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and call 0333 366 0103.