What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Sarn
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it was put in. Anywhere the vehicle is — Pen-y-cae, Sarn — never run a motor that hasn't run yet. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out just where your vehicle stands around Sarn. Already started? Pull over when safe, then switch it off. It is a bigger job, though step one doesn't change.
Anywhere in Bridgend it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Sarn forecourt
You are at the petrol 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 Welcome Break, or the Texaco, or a different station around Sarn.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. Still inside that tank, and no fuel drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to free up the pump. Ring us from the forecourt after your vehicle sits in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to push it — and save the bottle. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed away is cleared where it is at the pump.
Sarn, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap again, after the fact. Homes just off Heol Cwrdy are caught out as often as everywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the floor of your tank is exactly where AdBlue waits, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Next: prevent an early drive by putting your keys in the house, then ring us. In Cymdda or right here around Sarn, the draining happens at your driveway. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Sarn?
Topped up, drove away, and soon the engine was running roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Somewhere on Bryncoch Road or else heading towards Swansea — under 25 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Past the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the more the mileage — on into the injection pump and each injector. It goes further with every mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Services further along can wait: from the M4, under a mile out of Sarn, take the next junction. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Across Bridgend, no one is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Plenty of rental and company agreements require the owner's approval before repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we get there than after. Stranded near Ynysawdre Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre or outside the nearest station till someone answers, your vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Sarn?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Tondu.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet don't touch your motor at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank will be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it went in, and don't turn your engine. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather confirm a clean tank than empty one once the engine has run.
Sarn: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Three things are asked once our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a road beside Aberkenfig Library or the car park outside Ty Risha: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has been started. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Clean diesel goes in after the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is finally checked. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians get there.
Starting the engine comes at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it is running properly, and then we leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very rare if 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. Many policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours as we head over.
About Sarn, for a moment
Sarn is a village in Bridgend, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 56 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Sarn lies approximately 16 miles north of Swansea and is surrounded by nearby places such as Cymdda, Bryncoch, and Aberkenfig. Sarn has a population of around 3262 residents, making it a small but established community in the area. Sarn is located near the Welsh coast, with London being around 149 miles to the east.
AdBlue drains across Bridgend, Sarn included
Bryncoch and Aberkenfig have the identical teams as Sarn, a village, along with other places over CF postcodes. Fastest of all: a CF32 9 postcode to show your location.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Coed Caehelyg or in a car park in the middle of Sarn, it does not need to shift. Where it stands, that's where it gets emptied. Guessing won't help beside Ynysawdre Community Centre, on a county line or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
The one-line version
Engine never started: phone, leaving it alone. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Sarn and anywhere across Bridgend on 0333 366 0103.