Machen: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Keep your engine and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out right where the vehicle sits around Machen, is usually what it takes when found before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel goes to your motor — yet many current diesels driven round Machen and Draethen carry another liquid as well. 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. Other motors keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have both side by side behind one flap. Diesel goes in at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think what cap it needs. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Machen: how it occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Siloam Hill, or heading home in the car park outside Royal British Legion.
The old car's filler is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is the second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
Third, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour starts, no part stops it. Nant-y-ceisiad or the middle of Machen: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Lower Machen or a forecourt around Machen.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- Many vehicles fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it lives when your filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Crosskeys? Check with the person who drove it last before leaving, not once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — anywhere it is around Caerphilly — a simple routine to follow.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Alma Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, but it does the trick.
- Both under one flap? So confirm the lid on your diesel side is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Shut the cap, and check once more — confirm the diesel cap stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Don't go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Machen?
Brief list, then. First: your engine stays off. Leave the ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels it by itself starts your fuel pump. Topping up with diesel won't thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of that tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Esso, Tesco or another forecourt will usually help to push your car clear when asked. On your own drive in Machen? Then the car stays where it is.
Already run? Pull over when it is safe, then turn off. The next junction is the place to leave if you are on the M4, under 5 miles from Machen. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Machen is smaller a job than a trip of under 10 miles to Newport, so say.
Machen: what happens when our technicians get there
By the local primary school, close to Machen Emmanuel Chapel or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what fluid, which amount, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. On the call itself, you hear our price — ahead of anything else.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. The motor is started next and checked to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our engineers head off.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine hasn't run take roughly half an hour after our technicians arrive. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Machen and where it is
Machen is a village situated on the banks of the Rhymney River in south Wales, with a mix of rural and suburban landscapes. Machen has a relatively low elevation of 59 metres above sea level and is located near the cities of Newport and Cardiff. Machen is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its status as a desirable residential area. Machen is also close to several nearby places, including Nant-y-ceisiad, Craig-y-Rhacca, and Waterloo.
Machen and Caerphilly: AdBlue drains across the area
Machen is a village, and the teams that cover it also work the towns around it, Craig-y-Rhacca and Waterloo among them, across the CF postcode area. A postcode starting CF83 8 gets the van to you fastest.
Moving your car is not necessary. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Machen Church Hall, a lay-by on the way to Coed y Fedw, a drive. Assuming doesn't help behind Machen Library, close to a border, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
Machen drivers: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Caerphilly.