Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Llanon: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, leave your ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your motor hasn't turned, it's emptied and fully rinsed where your car is in Llanon. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to your engine — but many newer diesels seen round Llanon and Pennant carry another liquid too. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
There is a filler for every tank. Many of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side gets filled all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. It is in the gap that the slip happens.
Llanon: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Stryd-y-Neuadd before work, or in the car park outside the pub in the village on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it is empty, limp mode follows.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Llanon or out in Llansantffraed.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt around Llanon or a drive over in Cross Inn. Seconds, no more.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- The handbook shows which it lives if the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Aberystwyth, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
For the day the light comes on — anywhere you are in Ceredigion — a simple routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of Stryd Fawr, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both share a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then look again — confirm the diesel filler remained shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Do not go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Llanon?
Brief list, then. Top of it: the motor stays unstarted. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Texaco, Murco or another forecourt will normally help to push the vehicle away when asked. Your own drive around Llanon is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the engine has already run. Llanon sits under 50 miles from the M4; there, take the next junction. Mileage matters — a quick hop across Llanon makes a smaller job than driving under 50 miles to Swansea — so say roughly how far it went.
What happens when we get there around Llanon
The van comes to the car anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, beside Llanon Cottage Museum, or outside the local primary school. The replies settle this work and the price, so we ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run. Nobody sets off until you have had the price by phone.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. With AdBlue that counts 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. After your filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and finally the car is tested. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after we get there, as long as your engine hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. The insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Misfuelling cover is included in many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Llanon itself
Llanon is a small coastal village in Ceredigion, situated near the Cardigan Bay coastline at an elevation of around 24 metres. Llanon lies within a short distance of nearby villages such as Llansantffraed and Llanrhystud, and is approximately 46 miles from Swansea. Llanon is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its role as a residential community. Llanon remains a quiet village with a population of around 917 people.
Llanon and Ceredigion: AdBlue drains across the area
Over SY postcodes, our vans covering Llanon — a coastal village — work the nearby locations too, Nebo and Llanrhystud included. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SY23 5.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Coed Gwynfryn, a side street close to St. Ffraid's Church: our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Pen-gyrdd? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
For Llanon motorists, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it wherever it is, anywhere across Ceredigion: keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103.