Pentre-chwyth: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where the vehicle stands in Pentre-chwyth, is normally all it takes when caught before your engine runs. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that is how plenty of newer diesels around Pentre-chwyth and Bon-y-maen run, with diesel feeding your motor. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the gas to fresh it, from a separate tank.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less often, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. It's in that gap that the error happens.
Pentre-chwyth: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
On a drive off B5444 before work, or in the car park outside The Jersey Arms on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode follows.
Unfamiliar vehicles are next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and habit reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour after it has started. Tir-Nest or the heart of Pentre-chwyth: it is the same few seconds in both.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a Pentre-chwyth forecourt or a driveway over in Landore, spend a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Swansea, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Wherever in Swansea the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Pentre-Chwyth Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Pentre-chwyth?
Do not start your engine: that's where the short order of things starts. Keep the ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on alone runs your pump. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Morrisons, Texaco or any forecourt will usually help pushing the vehicle away when asked. Your own driveway around Pentre-chwyth is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M4, under 3 miles from Pentre-chwyth, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Swansea, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Pentre-chwyth.
Our arrival around Pentre-chwyth, and what occurs next
Wherever your car came to rest, be it by the local primary school, beside TK Maxx or at home, the van comes to it. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and whether it has run, because those replies determine the work and our quote. The quote is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Draining your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of your system. With AdBlue that matters 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. Once your filter is flushed — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your vehicle is tested. Before we leave, our engineers start the engine and make sure that it's running properly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly need a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Pentre-chwyth
Pentre-chwyth is a suburban area located on the coast near Swansea, with an elevation of around 48 metres above sea level. Pentre-chwyth sits close to the city centre, approximately 1.6 miles from Swansea, and is characterized by its semi-detached housing. Pentre-chwyth is part of the wider Swansea urban area, with nearby places including Tir-Nest and Hanover Square.
AdBlue drains around Pentre-chwyth, and Swansea beyond
Hanover Square and Pentrer-Gaseg are among the places near Pentre-chwyth, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout SA postcodes. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SA1 7.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Morfa Shopping, a lay-by on the way to Kilvey Community Woodland, a driveway. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Vivian Engine House? Close to a county line? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
The short version for Pentre-chwyth drivers
First, the cap; then, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Swansea.