AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Pencader: What Now?
All of it turns on a single detail: if the motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave the car that way, whether your vehicle sits — Pencader or Hebron. Leave your engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Pencader. Pull over the minute you safely can and turn off, if it has already run. It is a larger job, though step one does not change.
Further down: the cases our technicians meet, wherever across Carmarthenshire. Pick yours.
At the pump around Pencader: AdBlue in a diesel
You are 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. Possibly you are at the Oil4Wales, possibly at the Shell, maybe somewhere else around Pencader.
In short: there is no better spot to be to spot it. Only your tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken it in.
Your move: keep out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Have the attendants to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets cleared right at the petrol pump.
Pencader, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been warning you. Bought a bottle, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. It occurs on driveways just off Station Road as regularly as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is close to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: prevent an early drive by keeping your keys indoors, then phone us. Our technicians drain the car on your drive, whether that's around Pencader or out in Gwyddgrug. Late-night clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Pencader: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, drove away, and before long the engine was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up the dash. B4459, perhaps, or the route to Swansea — a trip of under 50 miles.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it too on a bigger trip, after your filter and pipework have it. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M4, under 25 miles from Pencader. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly what distance did it gone? Tell us as you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week back, it was unknown to you. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers are side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Carmarthenshire.
In short: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which depend on if it's run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stranded in the car park at Carmarthen, or by Crûg, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Pencader
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think it did. Which cap was taken off, you cannot recall; but the bottle feels less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Llanfihangel-ar-arth.
In short: a spill near your filler leaves your engine unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by starting the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it got in, then leave your motor off. Ring and give what you saw: we'd sooner confirm a clean tank than empty one once your motor has run.
The common ground in each Pencader AdBlue drain
No matter the case, one opening applies. Three things come when our technicians reach the car — at a forecourt, a driveway, a street by Capel Gwyddgrug or the car park outside the pub in the village: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear our quote, and those replies shape the job too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Then is your filter — cleaned, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the car. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians arrive.
The final step is firing it up. Our check that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our technicians go. If it is spotted quickly, the car very rarely has lasting damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Payment comes on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Check your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Pencader and where it is
Pencader is a small village in Carmarthenshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 118 metres. Pencader lies near the villages of Gwyddgrug and Dolgran, and is approximately 29 miles from Swansea. Pencader has a population of around 623 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Pencader is located in a rural area, with the nearest major city being Swansea.
AdBlue drains across Carmarthenshire, Pencader included
Dolgran and New Inn get the identical teams as Pencader, a village, along with other places throughout SA postcodes. A postcode starting SA39 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Central Pencader or a lay-by near Allt Cwm-hwpln: wherever it is, the car doesn't need to shift an inch for us. The van drains it in place. Assuming won't help near School Hall / Neuadd yr Ysgol, close to a border or somewhere hard to describe; phone and check.
Your situation, in one line
If it has not started, ring and keep it that way. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Carmarthenshire and in Pencader — after you pull over, switch off then ring, if it's run.