AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ruthin, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has been run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Ruthin itself or out in Rhewl. Leave the motor and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Ruthin. Stop the moment you safely can then switch off, if it has been run. It's a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Denbighshire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Ruthin forecourt
Picture it: standing by the petrol pump, holding the bottle, you spot the filler you took off wasn't the right one. Anywhere in Ruthin, then — Texaco, Esso, or anywhere else close by.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Just that tank has AdBlue; no part past it has drawn any in.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up only to free up the petrol pump. Three things: a push into a space with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain it where it is.
Ruthin, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. Right off Stryd y Farchnad / Market Street is no different from any other place.
In short: if the vehicle has not moved since, it's almost equal to finding out at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: keys in the house, and so no one drives the car anywhere first thing. After that, ring. We drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is in Ruthin or out in Llanfwrog. Night-time drains outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
On the road in Ruthin with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and before long your engine was running roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Possibly it was on Castle Street, possibly on the way out towards St Asaph, under 15 miles away.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. Distance decides how far it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then turn the engine off. Services farther along can wait: from the M56, under 25 miles out of Ruthin, use the first junction. No trial starts: clearing isn't something AdBlue does. Ring us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
A week back, the car was new to you. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are across Denbighshire, every driver can be caught.
The upshot: just as above, divided by if it ran, but with one added stage. Work on your vehicle often requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Keep the vehicle off while the reply arrives, whether you're waiting at Penyffordd or near Maen Huail.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Ruthin
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A hurried stop by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd: either fits.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler never reach the motor at all. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not crank it. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one after it has been run — so phone then tell us what you noticed.
Ruthin: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins identically, whichever your case. Wherever the car is — Castle Hotel's car park, a street beside Peers Memorial, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask about the fluid, the quantity, and if your engine has turned over. Replies set the job; the price follows by phone while no one has set off yet.
Then the tank is drained and the system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel goes in after the fuel filter is flushed or replaced, and your car is then checked. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers get there.
Firing it up comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running smoothly, and then we head off. The whole job is done where your car is, and when it's noticed early, lasting damage is very uncommon. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Ruthin
Ruthin is a town situated on the River Clwyd in Denbighshire, with a population of around 5700 people. Ruthin sits at an elevation of 77 metres, surrounded by rolling countryside and nearby villages such as Llanfwrog and Pentre. Ruthin has a mix of housing types, but detached homes are particularly prevalent. Ruthin is located near the city of St Asaph, approximately 11 miles away, and is about 174 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Ruthin, and across Denbighshire too
Ruthin is a riverside town, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Pentre and Galltegfa among them, across the LL postcode area. Telling us a LL15 1 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Italian Gardens or in a car park in the middle of Ruthin, it does not need to move. The van drains it where it stands. Awkward to pin down? Close to Capel Pendref or a county line? Asking beats guessing, and so phone.
The one-line version
Motor never started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run by now: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Ruthin or wherever across Denbighshire.