AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Heath, and What to Do Next
One fact counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has been started since. Out in Maindy or here around Heath, an unstarted engine must stay unrun. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Heath, that is typically drained and flushed on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Step one remains the same, even though the job is bigger.
Further down: the situations we see, wherever around Cardiff. Pick yours.
At the pump in Heath: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Somewhere in Heath, then — Texaco, Morrisons, or anywhere else nearby.
The upshot: of all places to notice, this is the best. Still inside your tank, with nothing drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — and so don't get back in. A few jobs: a push into a bay with the staff assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Heath with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened at the drive. Right off St. Anthony Road is not different from anywhere.
The upshot: no driving since leaves this nearly equal to finding it at the pump. At the floor of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing changes nothing of the difference.
Next: stop any early drive by putting the keys in the house, then ring us. Birchgrove or Heath: whichever your driveway is, that's where it gets cleared. Our equipment works quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Heath?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere along Heathway or on the road to Cardiff — under 3 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Service stations further along are too far: from the M4, under 3 miles out of Heath, take the first junction. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a car you have had for a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap sits right next to the diesel. Anywhere you happen to be in Cardiff, every motorist could slip up.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts too — run or unrun — plus one further step. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. If you are stuck in the car park at Ty Glas, or by King George V Memorial Gateway, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Heath
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? A rushed top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a call to a friend in Gabalfa: both fits.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach the motor at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it got in, and don't start your engine. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in each Heath AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, a single start is used. Three questions come when we arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a road beside Llwynfedw Gardens Pavilion or the car park outside The Birchgrove: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has been started. Those replies determine this work, and you hear our price by phone, before anyone sets off.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The final step is starting the car. Before we leave, it's checked to make sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it is caught early, long-term damage is very rare. 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 offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents as you wait is worthwhile.
About Heath itself
Heath is a suburban area in Cardiff, situated near the River Rhymney and close to the city centre. Heath sits at an elevation of 36 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Heath is located near several other suburbs, including Birchgrove, Roath Park, and Llanishen, and is approximately 2.4 miles from Cardiff city centre.
AdBlue drains across Cardiff, Heath included
Throughout CF postcodes, the vans covering Heath — a residential suburb — reach surrounding towns as well, Roath Park and Llanishen included. The location is quickest from a postcode beginning CF14 4.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Llwynfedw Gardens or in a car park in the middle of Heath, it does not need to move. Draining is done right there. Awkward to pin down? Close to St Andrew's Methodist Church or a border? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
Your situation, in one line
Engine never started: ring, leaving it alone. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever case, across Heath and Cardiff, on 0333 366 0103.