AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Lower Harlech: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
Stop here for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the motor hasn't turned, it's drained and fully flushed where your vehicle is around Lower Harlech. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of newer diesels in Pen-sarn, like those in Lower Harlech, carry on two fluids; your motor gets just your diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
Each tank comes with one filler of its own. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place the two together behind one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the petrol pump goes on all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
Lower Harlech: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
On a drive off Ffordd Morfa before work, or in the car park outside The Queens Hotel heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Unfamiliar motors come next, as well. Rentals, new cars and company motors place their fillers differently, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the pour begins, nothing halts it. Whether it takes place in Harlech or the middle of Lower Harlech, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these first, at a forecourt in Lower Harlech or a driveway over in Glan-y-wern. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it beside your diesel filler? In that case check below the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Harlech? Ask whoever drove the car last before you set off, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere in Gwynedd, use this routine.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush beside Ffordd Glan Môr at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and look again — confirm your diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Do not go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Lower Harlech already?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your motor. Leave the ignition off too, since on many diesels it alone runs your pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
On a forecourt — Essar, BFL or another — the staff will normally help push the vehicle away, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway in Lower Harlech.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M53, over 50 miles from Lower Harlech, that means the next junction. Distance counts — a short hop across Lower Harlech makes a smaller job than heading under 50 miles towards Bangor — so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our engineers arrive in Lower Harlech, what takes place?
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, close to "The Two Kings" or on your own drive. Both the work and the price depend on three replies — which fluid, what quantity, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. The price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, where needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of your car. Before leaving, our engineers fire it up and check that it is running smoothly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine hasn't run take about half an hour once our engineers are there. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies — so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Lower Harlech itself
Lower Harlech is a small suburban area situated on the coast of Gwynedd in Wales, with a population of around 1261 people. Lower Harlech has a mix of housing types, but detached homes are the most common, and the area is located near the towns of Harlech and Llanfair. Lower Harlech benefits from its proximity to the sea, with the Irish Sea coastline shaping the local landscape and economy. Lower Harlech is also close to other nearby places, including Llandanwg, and is around 25 miles from the city of Bangor.
AdBlue drains in Lower Harlech and across Gwynedd
Lower Harlech is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the places near it, Llanfair and Llandanwg among them, across the LL postcode area. A postcode starting LL46 2 gets our van to you fastest.
No need to shift the car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to King Georges Field, a side street close to The Old Cheese Market: we drain the car where it is. Tricky to explain, like the back of St David in Seion? By a border? Asking is better than assuming, so phone.
In short, for Lower Harlech motorists
First, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in Gwynedd, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — and so leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103.