AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Tir-y-berth, and What to Do Next
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has run since. Not run yet? Then leave it like that, whether your car is — Tir-y-berth or Cefn Hengoed. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits around Tir-y-berth. Pull over the minute it is safe and switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever across Caerphilly it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
Tir-y-berth forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: standing by the pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the cap you took off wasn't the right one. Whether the nearest petrol station, Petrol or somewhere else around Tir-y-berth, the situation is identical.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Only that tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has drawn any in.
What to do: don't get back in and start the vehicle to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home in Tir-y-berth with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Drives near Horner Street get it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in your tank and waits. One night parked changes nothing.
Next: keys indoors, and so no one takes your car off at breakfast. Then, phone. Out in Pengam or here in Tir-y-berth, the drain happens on your driveway. Late-night drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Tir-y-berth: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe heading for Newport, under 15 miles away, or simply down Woodfield Terrace.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first step — then turn it off. Exit at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M4, under 10 miles from Tir-y-berth. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Phone, and say how far the car went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have only driven the car a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Caerphilly.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Leave the vehicle off while the reply comes, even if you're parked outside Pengam or close to Pengam Cenotaph.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Tir-y-berth
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can honestly say. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Pen-pedair-heol.
The upshot: the motor is not harmed by a little AdBlue spilled around the filler. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not fire it up. Ring and give the details: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your engine has been run.
The common ground in every Tir-y-berth AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. We come to the vehicle, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside Smiths Arms or a side street near Nazereth Chapel, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has been run. Those replies determine the work, and you get the price by phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is crucial, since deposits build up and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses out unaided. Finally are the fuel filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of the car. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians arrive.
We start it at the end. Our test that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before our technicians go. When it is caught early, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while you wait pays.
About Tir-y-berth, briefly
Tir-y-berth is a small village in Caerphilly, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 147 metres. Tir-y-berth has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by terraced homes. Tir-y-berth is located near other villages such as Pengam, Fleur-de-lis, and Glan-y-nant, and is approximately 11 miles from Newport. Tir-y-berth has a population of around 1622 residents.
AdBlue drains in Tir-y-berth, and across Caerphilly too
Tir-y-berth is a village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Fleur-de-lis and Glan-y-nant among them, across the CF postcode area. Telling us a CF82 8 postcode finds you fastest of all.
No towing is required, be it stopped in the centre of Tir-y-berth or in a lay-by heading to Cefn Fforest Eco Park, and so keep it where it is. We drain it where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Cefn Hengoed Community Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your scenario, summed up
Motor not started: phone, leaving it alone. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever it is, in Tir-y-berth and Caerphilly, on 0333 366 0103.