Lower Penarth: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Leave your engine and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before the engine runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Lower Penarth. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many modern diesels around Cogan, like those in Lower Penarth, run on two liquids; your engine takes only your diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream to clean it.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on a lot of cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. At the pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what filler to use. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Lower Penarth: how it takes place
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
On a driveway off Castle Avenue before work, or in the car park at Old Penarthians heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: a strange motor.
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 tip after it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Lower Penarth or out in Morristown.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Murch or a forecourt in Lower Penarth.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally are not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the flap and check for a label — many motors mark what belongs in which inlet just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where your 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 pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Penarth.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere across The Vale of Glamorgan, follow this routine.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Augusta Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the car, close the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap never came off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never carry on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Lower Penarth already?
Don't start your engine: that's how the short order of things starts. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Tesco, Texaco or another forecourt will normally help pushing the car clear when asked. At home around Lower Penarth? So your car stays put.
Already run? Stop when it is sensible, then turn off. Lower Penarth lies under 10 miles from the M4; there, take the next junction. A short hop across Lower Penarth is a smaller job than a run towards Cardiff, under 5 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Lower Penarth, and what takes place next
Wherever your car has stopped, be it outside the local primary school, near Penarth Windsor Lawn Tennis Club or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, because the answers settle the work and our price. No one sets off until you've had our quote by phone.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of it washes away unaided, no matter how long it is left. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of your vehicle. Before we go, we start it and confirm that it's running properly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour once our engineers get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Lower Penarth itself
Lower Penarth is a suburban area in The Vale of Glamorgan, situated on the coast of Wales, with a mix of housing types but predominantly detached homes. Lower Penarth sits near the coast, at an elevation of 26 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Morristown and Cosmeston. Lower Penarth is located near the larger town of Penarth and the city of Cardiff, which is approximately 3.7 miles away. Lower Penarth has a population of around 4314 people.
AdBlue drains across The Vale of Glamorgan, Lower Penarth included
Cosmeston and Penarth are among the places around Lower Penarth, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout CF postcodes. Quickest of all: give a CF64 3 postcode to the van.
The vehicle does not need to shift. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a driveway, a street by Penarth Windsor Bowling Club, or a layby towards Penarth Athletic Field. Tricky to explain, like the back of Lower Penarth Community Centre? By a border? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
Lower Penarth motorists: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around The Vale of Glamorgan.