AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thornhill, and What to Do Next
One thing counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has run afterwards. Not started so far? Then leave the car that way, whether the car sits — Thornhill or Rhiwbina. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, done right where the car stands around Thornhill. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Cardiff it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Thornhill forecourt
Only now, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Whether Sainsbury's, Morrisons or anywhere else around Thornhill, the case is the same.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it gets. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking bay, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear is drained where it is at the petrol pump.
At home around Thornhill with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Just off Mayfair Drive is no less likely from any other place.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't moved since, it is almost equal to finding out at the forecourt. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in that tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
Put the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone may take it off first thing — and call us. We drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is around Thornhill or out in Lisvane. Late-night clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Thornhill?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the fill. Heol Hir, say, or the way to Cardiff — a trip of under 5 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
Pull in safely — that is the first job — then switch everything off. Thornhill sits under a mile from the M4; there, come off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense restarting to check. Tell us hear the distance driven as you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had the vehicle barely a week. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, wherever across Cardiff, might make the same.
In short: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on if it has run. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you are stranded in the car park at Lisvane & Thornhill, or by Thornhill Church Centre, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Thornhill?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Bwlch-y-cwm.
The upshot: your motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by firing up your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it went in, then keep your engine off. Ring with what you saw: we would sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once the motor has run.
Each AdBlue drain around Thornhill shares these steps
No matter the situation, one opening is used. Forecourt, driveway, Old Cottage's car park or a road by Church of St Faith — our van reaches the car, and three answers follow: which fluid, which amount, and whether it ran. Over the phone, before anything else, you are told the quote, and those replies shape the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Lastly, our technicians start it. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we check it's running properly, and then we head off. When it is caught early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies cover misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Thornhill
Thornhill is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Cardiff, situated near the riverside and approximately 103 metres above sea level. Thornhill is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is close to nearby places such as Lisvane, Llanishen, and Wenallt. Thornhill has a population of around 5359 residents and is about 4.3 miles from Cardiff city centre. Thornhill is also relatively distant from London, at around 131.8 miles away.
Thornhill and Cardiff: AdBlue drains across the area
Thornhill is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places near it too, Llanishen and Wenallt among them, across the CF postcode area. Fastest of all: a CF14 9 postcode for your location.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Heol Hir Park or in a car park in the middle of Thornhill, it doesn't need to shift. The van empties it in place. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to Christ the King Catholic Church or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The one-line version
Still unrun? Keep it that way then phone. Run already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, in Thornhill and Cardiff, on 0333 366 0103.