AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Rifle Green: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single fact: if your motor has started since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around Rifle Green itself or out in Blaenavon Junction. Usually that is draining and properly rinsing it on the spot in Rifle Green — and so keep your key and motor off and phone 0333 366 0103. Where the engine has been run, pull in safely straight away, then switch it off. It is a larger job, though step one does not change.
Below: the situations our engineers see, anywhere around Torfaen. Choose the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Rifle Green forecourt
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. It might be the Gulf, or the Shell, or another forecourt in Rifle Green.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. No pump has pulled it through, and so the AdBlue stays just in that tank.
Your move: keep out of the car, however much the pump needs clearing. Get the attendants to help rolling it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. Stuck beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment keeps a live forecourt safe, and so it can be drained where it is.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Rifle Green
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it's just at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Elgam Avenue get caught out as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? Provided your car has not been driven since, it is second to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: the keys indoors, and so nobody takes your vehicle off first thing. Then, phone. Out in Blaenavon or here around Rifle Green, the draining happens on your driveway. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road in Rifle Green with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere along Llanfoist Crescent or else on the road towards Newport — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Past the filter, along the pipework, and — the more the distance — on into the injection pump and each injector. It travels deeper with each mile covered and each restart.
Next: find a sensible place, stop, then switch the engine off. On the M4, under 15 miles from Rifle Green, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. About what distance did it gone? Say so when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a motor you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Torfaen.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts here — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stranded in the car park outside Abergavenny, or by The Hwb, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Rifle Green?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. What cap came off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than expected, and ammonia hangs by your filler. A hurried stop by the gates of the local primary school, or a call to a friend in Forge Side: either fits.
The point: your motor is not hurt by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't fire it up. Tell us what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank looked at is a better outcome than an already-run one emptied.
Rifle Green: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, a single start is used. Three things are asked once we arrive — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by Blast Furnace No. 1 or the car park at The Fountain: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has run. Those answers decide the work, and you hear the price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more important with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of the vehicle. Where your engine has not been started, allow roughly half an hour on site, for most jobs.
The final step is starting the car. Our check that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we leave. When it's spotted early, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Rifle Green, briefly
Rifle Green is a locality situated in a riverside setting in Torfaen, with nearby towns including Blaenavon and Newport. Rifle Green has a population of around 1570 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing. Rifle Green is located at an elevation of 395 metres, providing a distinctive landscape feature in the area. Rifle Green is close to several nearby places, including Upper Coedcae and Middle Coedcae, and is around 13.7 miles from Newport.
AdBlue drains around Rifle Green, and across Torfaen too
Rifle Green is a small village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Upper Coedcae and Middle Coedcae among them, across the NP postcode area. Your whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts NP4 9.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Blaenafon Town Centre Conservation Area or in a car park in the middle of Rifle Green, it doesn't need to move. The van drains it in place. Awkward to pin down? By Blaenavon Iron Works or a county line? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
Your situation, summed up
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle off and phone. Run already? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever it is, in Rifle Green and Torfaen, on 0333 366 0103.