What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Pen-lan
One fact counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your engine has been started since. Not run so far? Then leave the vehicle that way, whether the car sits — Pen-lan or Manselton. Switch nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits in Pen-lan. Stop the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. Step one stays unchanged, even though the work grows.
Match your case to one of the ones below, anywhere around Swansea you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Pen-lan forecourt
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It could be the Murco, or perhaps the Texaco, or a different station in Pen-lan.
In short: no better spot to be to spot it. Only that tank has AdBlue; no part past it has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
Pen-lan, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, too late. It happens on drives just off Heol Gwyrosydd as often as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of your tank and remains put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it is emptied, be it around Pen-lan or Caer-eithin. Night-time empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Pen-lan: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon the motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Maybe it was on Graham Berry Court, perhaps on the way out towards Swansea, under 3 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Past your filter, through the lines, and — the further the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then turn your motor off. Services further on can wait: on the M4, under 3 miles out of Pen-lan, use the next junction. Starting it again to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call, and say how far your vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Swansea.
In short: one extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it's run. Many rental and company agreements require the owner's approval for repairs.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Leave it off as the answer arrives, even if you're parked outside Swansea or near Penlan Community Centre and Library.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Pen-lan?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like whiff hangs near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. It might have been at a friend's driveway in Waun-Gron, or in a rush outside the local primary school at the school run.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet don't touch your engine at all. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by starting the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it got in, then keep the motor off. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Pen-lan has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the vehicle is — Penlan Social Club's car park, a street beside Penlan Leisure Centre, a driveway, a forecourt — our van arrives and asks about the liquid, the amount, and whether your engine has been run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told the price, and those replies shape the work too.
Then your tank is emptied and your system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians head off, it's tested to confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel. We do the entire job where your car is, and lasting damage is very uncommon when it has been caught early. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as we travel pays.
About Pen-lan
Pen-lan is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Swansea, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a relatively high elevation of 153 metres. Pen-lan overlooks the coastal city of Swansea, which is approximately 2 miles away. Pen-lan is part of the wider Swansea urban area, with nearby neighbourhoods including Caer-eithin and Penfilia. Pen-lan has a population of around 4437 residents.
AdBlue drains across Swansea, Pen-lan included
Being a residential suburb, Pen-lan shares its vans with the nearby towns — Lisbon, Penfilia — right across SA postcodes. Fastest of all: a SA5 7 postcode to show your location.
Centre of Pen-lan or a layby towards Mynydd Newydd Playing Fields: either way it sits, the car never needs to shift an inch for the drain. The drain is done right there. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Gendros Community Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Where it has not started, phone and keep it that way. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Pen-lan or wherever across Swansea.