AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Heol Las: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Stop reading a minute when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Around Heol Las, catching it before the engine turns usually means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Many current diesels on the roads around Heol Las and Tair-ysgol carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on many vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Heol Las: how it happens
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Heol Las Close before work, or in the car park at Plough and Harrow on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it is gone, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour once it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Heol Las or out in Tregof Village.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all these take — so check them before you pour anything, on a drive in Lon-las or a forecourt around Heol Las.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler is not next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Llansamlet, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
For the day the light appears — anywhere you are in Swansea — a simple routine to use.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine stopped, and never rushed by Gwernllwynchwyth Road on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It seems daft. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check once more — confirm the diesel cap remained shut throughout. Only then, start your car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Leave out step five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Heol Las?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the base rather than blending — and that is where the fuel is drawn from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Heol Las.
When the motor has run by now, stop safely then turn the vehicle off. Leave the M4 — under a mile out of Heol Las — at the first exit. Distance matters — a short hop across Heol Las is a smaller job than driving under 5 miles to Swansea — so say about how far it went.
When our engineers arrive around Heol Las, what takes place?
Our van comes to the car anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, near Ainon Chapel, or by the local primary school. Those answers determine the work and the quote, and so we ask what went in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. During the call itself, you are told the price — ahead of anything else.
Your system is then flushed thoroughly, once the tank is cleared. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. Once your filter has been flushed — or renewed, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and then the vehicle gets tested. The engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers head off.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. No money upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Heol Las itself
Heol Las is a suburban area located on the riverside in Swansea, with an elevation of 28 metres above sea level. Heol Las sits approximately 4.2 miles from Swansea city centre and is near other local places such as Tregof Village, Birchgrove, and Peniel Green. Heol Las has a population of around 2623 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Swansea, Heol Las included
Birchgrove and Peniel Green are among the towns around Heol Las, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout SA postcodes. A postcode starting SA7 9 gets the van to you fastest.
The vehicle stays where it is. Anywhere it stands — beside Scott's Pit, on a lay-by heading to Heol Las Park, on a drive — that's where it gets cleared. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Guru Nanak Sikh Community Centre.
For Heol Las drivers, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it stands, anywhere around Swansea: keep the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.