AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Llangernyw: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, leave the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your engine hasn't run, it's emptied and fully flushed where the vehicle sits around Llangernyw. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that's how plenty of modern diesels around Llangernyw and Gell carry, with diesel feeding the engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler on every tank. Many of motors share a single flap for both, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which cap to use. It's in the gap that the slip happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Llangernyw: how it takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running out means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Y Fedwen Arian, or at Old Stag on the way home after work.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar motor.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, keeps on. It's a few seconds, be it out in Hendre-ddu or right in the heart of Llangernyw.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Pandy Tudur or a forecourt around Llangernyw, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and check for a label — many motors show what goes in which inlet right there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- 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 at North Llanrwst.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere around Conwy, follow this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of B5382.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It seems daft. It works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both sit under a flap, make sure it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Skip stage five entirely.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Llangernyw?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting the motor. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the pump if you're at a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the another forecourt nearby or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in Llangernyw.
When your engine has run already, pull over somewhere safe and turn the vehicle off. On the Moreton Spur, under 50 miles from Llangernyw, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Llangernyw is smaller work than a run of under 15 miles to St Asaph, and so tell us.
What takes place when our engineers arrive around Llangernyw
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by the local primary school, beside St. Digain's Church or on your own drive, the van comes to it. What liquid went in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask since the replies decide the work and quote. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining the tank comes next, then a full flush of your system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more here than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Your engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our engineers head off.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Llangernyw
Llangernyw is a village in Conwy, Wales, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 160 metres. Llangernyw has a population of approximately 697 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Llangernyw is located near several smaller settlements, including Hendre-ddu, Pentre Isaf, and Tan-y-Graig, and is about 11 miles from the city of St Asaph.
AdBlue drains round Llangernyw, and Conwy beyond
Over LL postcodes, the vans that cover Llangernyw — a village — work the nearby spots too, Tan-y-Graig and Pentre Isaf among them. Fastest of all: quote a LL22 8 postcode for our van.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Capel y Cwm, a lay-by on the way to Coed Pentre-wern, a driveway. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Amgueddfa Syr Henry Jones Museum? Close to a border? Asking is better than assuming, and so ring.
The short version for Llangernyw people
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere across Conwy.