AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Old Colwyn, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has been run since it went in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in Old Colwyn itself or out in Llanelian-yn-Rhos. Leave your engine and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Old Colwyn. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It's a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, anywhere around Conwy you are.
On a Old Colwyn forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Be it the nearest petrol station, BP or anywhere else in Old Colwyn, the case is identical.
Put simply: there is no better place to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Do this: stay out of the car, however much the pump needs clearing. A few things: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a busy forecourt safe, so we can drain the car in place.
Old Colwyn, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. It takes place on drives just off Cadwgan Road as frequently as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue settles to the base of that tank and stays there, however long the night.
Keep your keys indoors overnight — or a person might drive it away at breakfast — then phone us. In Tan-y-Lan or here in Old Colwyn, the draining is done at your driveway. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Old Colwyn?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. It might have been heading to St Asaph, under 15 miles away, or just down Wynnstay Road.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the fuel system. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, once your filter and lines have it. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible spot, stop, and switch your engine off. Leave at the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the Moreton Spur, under 50 miles from Old Colwyn. No trial restarts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue does. Call us and say how far you drove.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a motor you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was right next to your diesel. Throughout Conwy, nobody is immune.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it's run. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. Keep the vehicle switched off while the answer comes, even if you're waiting at Colwyn Bay or near Old Colwyn Methodist Church.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Old Colwyn?
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think it did. A faint ammonia smell hangs near the filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. A hurried top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Mynydd Marian: both fit.
The upshot: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Next: act as though it went in, and leave the motor off. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than a run one drained.
The common ground in each Old Colwyn AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the vehicle stands — Red Lion's car park, a street beside Old Colwyn Community Centre, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the fluid, the amount, and whether your engine has turned over. Answers set the job; the price follows by phone while no one has set off yet.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a full flush — more important after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Finally come the filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Our technicians start it at the end. Before our technicians go, it's tested to confirm it runs correctly on new diesel. Long-term damage is very uncommon if it's caught soon, and the whole job is done where your car is. Nothing is taken upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Old Colwyn, for a moment
Old Colwyn is a suburban area in Conwy, Wales, situated on the coast at an elevation of 29 metres. Old Colwyn lies near the communities of Tan-y-Lan, Colwyn Bay, and Penmaen Rhos, and is approximately 10.5 miles from St Asaph. Old Colwyn has a population of around 5097 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Old Colwyn is part of the wider coastal area of north Wales, with London about 194 miles to the southeast.
AdBlue drains across Conwy, Old Colwyn included
Throughout LL postcodes, the teams serving Old Colwyn — a residential suburb — reach nearby places too, Colwyn Bay and Penmaen Rhos included. Your whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning LL29 9.
Centre of Old Colwyn or a layby near Wynn Gardens: either way it sits, your car never needs to move at all for us. Wherever it sits, that is where it is drained. Ring and check instead of guessing if you're by Chuz Rock, on a boundary, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Your situation, summed up
If it hasn't run, ring and leave it off. Started already? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever it is, in Old Colwyn and Conwy, on 0333 366 0103.