AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Halkyn: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Keep your engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Normally, if your engine has not turned, it's drained and fully purged where your vehicle sits in Halkyn. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the ways to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of current diesels on the roads about Halkyn and Berth-ddu carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in at every forecourt call-out, again and again. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Halkyn: how it occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
Hurry comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a driveway off Oche Y Bryn, or on the way home in the car park outside The Blue Bell Inn.
Unfamiliar motors are next, as well. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes a few seconds, be it out in Halkyn Mountain or bang in the heart of Halkyn.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Halkyn forecourt or a drive over in Moel-y-crio, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything goes in.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Plenty of cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Flint? Check with the person who drove the car last before leaving, rather than when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — wherever you are in Flintshire — a routine to follow.
- Pull in on level, motor off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of Rhes-y-cae Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, but it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Halkyn already?
Do not start the motor: that's where the short order of things begins. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the Shell or anywhere else. If you are on your own drive around Halkyn, leave it where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit means where to leave when you are on the M53, under 10 miles from Halkyn. A short hop across Halkyn is a smaller job than a run towards St Asaph, under 15 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
When we arrive in Halkyn, what occurs?
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, be it by the local primary school, near Halkyn Library or at home, the van travels to it. Both the work and our quote rest on three replies — which fluid, what quantity, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. No one heads out until you have had the price over the phone.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither clears out by itself. That is why it counts more. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before we leave, our engineers fire it up and make sure that it is running correctly.
If the engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Halkyn itself
Halkyn is a small village in Flintshire, situated on the banks of a river and surrounded by rolling hills, including the nearby Halkyn Mountain. Halkyn has a relatively low population of around 537 residents, who mostly live in detached houses. Halkyn sits at an elevation of 254 metres, providing scenic views of the surrounding countryside. Halkyn is located near other small settlements, such as Catch and Wern-y-gaer, and is approximately 10.8 miles from the city of St Asaph.
Halkyn and Flintshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a village, Halkyn shares its vans surrounding areas — Catch, Wern-y-gaer — all the way across CH postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Give a postcode that starts CH8 8, and our van arrives quickest.
Your car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Halkyn Castle, a lay-by on the way to Castle Wood, a driveway. Guessing doesn't help behind Church of St. Mary the Virgin, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Halkyn motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you pour. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Flintshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and call 0333 366 0103.