AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Llanrwst: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Keep your motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain and a full flush, done just where the vehicle sits around Llanrwst, is normally what it takes if caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads round Llanrwst and Melin-y-coed carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from a separate tank.
Each tank has one filler of its own. Many of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Llanrwst: how it occurs
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Heol Ddinbych before work, or in the car park at The Red Lion heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
New-to-you vehicles come next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company cars put their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Pentre-tafarn-y-fedw or the heart of Llanrwst: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, on a forecourt around Llanrwst or a driveway out in Trefriw. A few seconds, no more.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not.
- Plenty of cars fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Open the flap and look for a label — many cars show which belongs in which inlet just there.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at North Llanrwst.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
On the day the light appears — wherever it is across Conwy — a routine to use.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and never rushed by Watling Street on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When the two share a flap, make sure it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap, and check again — making sure the diesel cap stayed shut throughout. Only then, start your car.
Find during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Leave out step five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Llanrwst?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Texaco, the Shell or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Llanrwst.
When the motor has run by now, stop somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Leave the Moreton Spur — under 50 miles out of Llanrwst — at the first exit. A short hop across Llanrwst is a smaller job than a run towards Bangor, under 25 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Llanrwst, and what takes place next
The van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, near Llanrwst Swimming Pool, or outside the local primary school. Those answers decide the work and the quote, so our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. No one sets off until you have heard the price by phone.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that counts more here than with petrol. After your filter is flushed — or replaced, if required — fresh diesel is added, and then the vehicle is tested. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it is running smoothly.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour job from arrival. The equipment is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Llanrwst and where it is
Llanrwst is a town situated on the banks of the River Conwy in north Wales, with a population of around 3128 people. Llanrwst has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and the town's elevation is approximately 15 metres above sea level. Llanrwst is located near several smaller communities, including Pentre-tafarn-y-fedw, Llanddoged, and Llanrhychwyn, and is about 15 miles from the city of Bangor. Llanrwst is also relatively distant from London, at around 191.6 miles away.
Llanrwst and Conwy: AdBlue drains across the area
Llanddoged and Llanrhychwyn are among the towns near Llanrwst, a riverside town, that the same vans cover, throughout LL postcodes. A postcode starting LL26 0 gets our van to you fastest.
The vehicle remains where it is. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Church of St Grwst, a lay-by on the way to Coed Carreg Ednyfed, a drive. Guessing doesn't help behind Seion Methodist Chapel, on a boundary, or anywhere hard to pin down; ring and ask.
The short version for Llanrwst drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it is, anywhere across Conwy: switch the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.