AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Thornhill? Don't Start It
Engine off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Urea mixed in water is what AdBlue is. The trouble begins once it's pulled through the lines — it won't ignite, and it won't blend with diesel. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Thornhill, is usually all AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it's caught before the engine has been run. Before you do anything else, phone 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank around Thornhill
Do:
- So no one can switch your ignition on, pull the keys away.
- Close to moving traffic? So put your hazards on.
- The empty bottle or the receipt shows us the product and the quantity, and so don't bin it away.
- Tell us a postcode starting NP44 5, or whatever street lies closest, and the van finds you straight — so ring from wherever you are.
Never:
- Don't start your engine, even for a moment to move the vehicle.
- Do not switch the ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- No more fuel on top. The AdBlue won't blend, and so it's wasted.
- Leave it where it is rather than driving it anywhere, even a short way up Leadon Court.
- Draining that tank yourself by the road isn't one to try.
On a forecourt in Thornhill, whether it is the Colley Motor Group or another one, ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle clear of the pump. If you're on your own drive, leave the car exactly where it sits.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. Stored in a dedicated tank, it's injected into the exhaust stream to treat the gases. A fuel pump isn't made to take it, and AdBlue was never intended to travel through one.
Poured in with your diesel, it keeps separate instead of mixing — quite unlike fuel. The pickup sucks fuel from the lowest part of that tank, and that's exactly where AdBlue ends up: being heavier than diesel, it sinks. When the pump runs, the AdBlue is top of the list to go through. Before then it sits underneath your diesel, which is how a car topped up in Five Locks last night and not started remains the simple case, provided nobody turns your key.
It does two kinds of damage from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it strands urea that hardens in filters and tiny channels; and, because it attacks certain metals, each part it touches keeps suffering for as long as it remains inside. If the AdBlue is in the lines, leaving it overnight around Thornhill makes things worse. Inside the tank alone, time costs nothing. The water in it causes damage of its own: your high-pressure pump and the injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water offers them nothing.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's frequently worse than petrol
A problem of thinned fuel is what you get from filling a diesel with petrol from the Sainsbury's. No harm comes while it stays unused, blended into the diesel — only once the engine works on it.
The trouble with AdBlue in a diesel is a completely unsuitable substance. Since it does not burn, running it through is not an option. Deposits and corrosion stay through the next tankful, and AdBlue splits back out of the diesel, and so watering it won't help. Hence the flush counts so much, and turning the key "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other slip — in Forge Hammer or the centre of Thornhill alike.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. Emptying a tank is the easiest job on any fuel system, and with no start-up, the AdBlue stays in it — wherever in Torfaen your vehicle sits.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank in Thornhill?
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many vehicles waits right next to the diesel filler, occasionally under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. It mostly takes place outside the house, from a bottle bought en route home, not at the filling station.
Mostly, it takes place in one of a couple of familiar ways. Rushing, outside the local primary school, after a warning lamp came on during the school run, a parent tops up your car. In the evening, a container goes in on a drive near Hafren Road. Or the car is topped up in the car park outside The Bush Inn, in poor light, by somebody who has never opened that flap before.
It crops up the most in a hire car, a brand-new car, a company car, or the other vehicle in a home with both fuel types — the vehicles drivers know the least. Wherever you're around Thornhill or the remainder of Torfaen, it is the same mistake and the same first answer: leave it off.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank in Thornhill?
If so, the AdBlue is no longer in that tank. It's been pulled through your filter and the lines, and if the motor ran for any time, it has reached your high-pressure pump and the injectors.
You may notice your engine running unevenly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, perhaps on the way back from Greenmeadow Wood or halfway across Thornhill. Stop as soon as it is safe, switch off, and do not restart the vehicle to check. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
Thornhill sits under 5 miles from the M4; if you were on it, exit by the next junction and pull up somewhere safe instead of driving on.
How far it went counts. A few hundred yards across Thornhill to the car park by Greenmeadow Community Farm is a very different job from a run towards Newport, under 10 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into your system with every mile. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Once the engine has been run, the flush covers more, and all of it is done where your car has come to a stop. When it is noticed quickly, lasting damage is very unusual.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Thornhill: what it takes
A road beside Fairhill Methodist Church, a drive, a lay-by or a filling station: anywhere the vehicle has stopped in Thornhill, we come to it. The job rests on three answers, and we ask for first — what went in, the quantity, and if your motor has run.
The polluted diesel and the urea leave together after your tank is emptied, on the spot. Residue from AdBlue won't wash away unaided, so the whole system gets a full flush, which counts much more here than for petrol. A test of the vehicle follows at the end, once fresh diesel goes in and the filter gets cleaned or, if needed, replaced. Most of these jobs are a half-hour job once we arrive, if the engine hasn't run. Low-noise enough to use outside a house at night, and safe on a busy forecourt, the pumps are explosion-proof.
Last, the fuel system is primed with fresh diesel. Whether it is a parking space outside Cwmbran or a drive around Thornhill, that is where our engineers fire it up and you set off. The test before our technicians head off is that it runs correctly on fresh diesel. No garage is needed at any stage, with the whole job done on the spot. Your insurer will want an engineer's report and your VAT invoice — each handed over once this job is done.
About Thornhill itself
Thornhill is a suburban area in Torfaen, Wales, situated near the River Usk and close to the city of Newport. Thornhill sits at an elevation of 191 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Thornhill is located near several other communities, including Greenmeadow, Upper Cwmbran, and West Pontnewydd, and is about 5 miles from Newport. Thornhill has a population of approximately 3599 residents.
AdBlue drains across Torfaen, Thornhill included
Throughout the NP postcode area, the vans answering AdBlue call-outs in Thornhill serve much of Torfaen too, Greenmeadow, Upper Cwmbran and West Pontnewydd among them. Ring and check rather than guess when you are close to a county line, or anywhere tricky to explain.
No moving is needed. In Thornhill, a residential suburb, a van that comes to you works: the vehicle is drained on the spot, whether in a driveway, a side street, a car park or a forecourt.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right in Thornhill
Every job is different, and so no single price is fair. Whether your engine has run, and for how long, comes first in what changes the cost. How much AdBlue was put in comes next, and then the position of the vehicle, since an open drive is easier for our van to reach safely than a tight spot behind Fairwater Leisure Centre.
For that reason, every call from Thornhill opens by asking the same trio — what went in, how much, whether the engine ran — ahead of a figure. The replies turn a range into a straight price.
Before a van heads out, you are told the price by phone. And you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
Next to your car in Thornhill, still?
Then the most helpful thing you can do is nothing to the vehicle. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, and if it ran is all our technicians need. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder across Torfaen, Thornhill included.