AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Minera: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has run since it got in. Wherever your car stands — New Brighton, Minera — never start an engine that has not been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with your key and engine still off. In Minera, that is generally drained and flushed where it stands. Where your motor has run, pull in safely straight away, then switch the vehicle off. Stage one stays unchanged, even if the job is bigger.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere across Wrexham you are.
On a Minera forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the nozzle, you realise the cap you took off was not the right one. It might be the Asda, or perhaps the Shell, or a different station around Minera.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Phone us from the forecourt after your car sits in a space — the staff will lend a hand to push it — then keep the receipt. Emptying it right at the pump is fine if it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Minera with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened on the driveway. Houses just off Wern Road get hit as often as anywhere else.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not moved since, it is second to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and remains there, however long the night.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so no one drives your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. Out in Pentre or here around Minera, the draining is done on your driveway. Late-night empties outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Minera: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two after topping up, the motor started playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Perhaps it was on Church Road, perhaps on the way out towards Wrexham, under 5 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the fuel system. The injection pump and every injector see it too on a bigger run, after the filter and pipework have had it. More miles, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Your move: stop anywhere safe, then turn your motor off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M56, under 15 miles from Minera. It won't have cleared, so there is no sense restarting to find out. Phone, saying how far the vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've just had this car a week. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Wrexham.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts here — run or unrun — plus one extra step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Keep it off as the reply arrives, even if you are waiting outside Gwersyllt or near St. Mary's Parish Church.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Minera?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Bryngwyn: either fits.
In short: spillage round the filler leaves your engine no harm. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different matter. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Your move: act as if it did, and never start your motor. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank checked counts as a happier outcome than a run one emptied.
What each AdBlue drain in Minera has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, Five Crosses Inn's car park or a street beside Coedpoeth War Memorial — our van reaches the car, and three answers come next: which fluid, which quantity, and if it ran. Those replies decide this work, and you hear the quote by phone, before anybody sets off.
Then that tank is cleared and the system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Then comes your filter — cleaned, or swapped where needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the car. Where your engine hasn't run, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases.
The last step is firing it up. Before our engineers head off, it is tested to make sure it runs smoothly on new diesel. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it is caught quickly, permanent damage is very rare. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Minera and where it is
Minera is a small village in Wrexham county, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 248 metres. Minera lies close to the city of Wrexham, approximately 4 miles away, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Pentre and Gegin. Minera has a population of around 663 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Minera is located in a rural area, with The Smelt nearby.
AdBlue drains across Wrexham, Minera included
Being a village, Minera shares its vans with the surrounding places — The Smelt, Gegin — all the way across LL postcodes. Your whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode that starts LL11 3.
No moving is needed, be it stopped centrally in Minera or in a lay-by heading to Minera Lead Mines Country Park, and so keep it put. Our engineers drain the vehicle where it sits. Ring and check rather than guess when you are close to The Salvation Army - Coedpoeth, near a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
In one line: your situation
If it hasn't run, ring then leave it off. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, in Minera and Wrexham, on 0333 366 0103.