AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Trebanog: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single fact: if your motor has started after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Wherever the car stands — Glynfach, Trebanog — never start a motor that hasn't been started yet. Leave your engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Trebanog. Stop the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. Step one stays the same, even if the job is bigger.
Match your case to a situation from the list below, wherever around Rhondda Cynon Taf you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Trebanog forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. It might be the Texaco, or the Gulf, or another station around Trebanog.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is as good as it can be. Still inside the tank, with no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — so don't get back in. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it to a bay, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Trebanog, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used on the drive. Homes just off Trebanog Road are hit as often as everywhere else.
The upshot: zero driving since leaves it nearly equal to finding it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: the keys indoors, so nobody drives the vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, phone. Your driveway is where it gets drained, be it in Trebanog or Edmondstown. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road in Trebanog with AdBlue in a diesel
A short way after topping up, the engine began playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Rhiw Garn, perhaps, or the way towards Cardiff — a trip of under 15 miles.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Through your filter, through the pipework, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. More driving, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. On the M4, under 10 miles from Trebanog, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Roughly how far did it gone? Say so as you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Any work on your car often needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet terms.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Stranded near Carmel Church or outside Porth till someone answers, the car remains switched off throughout.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Trebanog
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; no clear memory of the cap. Sound familiar? Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Penrhiwfer.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no damage to your motor. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Next: act as though it went in, then keep the motor off. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
Trebanog: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever your situation. Wherever your car is — Trebanog Arms's car park, a road by Waun-wen Community Recreation Centre, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask about the liquid, the amount, and if the engine has turned over. Answers shape the job; the price follows on the call while no one has left yet.
Then the tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running correctly, and then we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it's caught quickly, permanent damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money in advance. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as we travel pays.
About Trebanog and where it is
Trebanog is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 1961 residents. Trebanog sits at an elevation of 230 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape. Trebanog is located near other communities such as Edmondstown, Cymmer, and Porth, and is approximately 13 miles from Cardiff. Trebanog forms part of the wider urban area in south Wales, with Cardiff being the nearest major city.
AdBlue drains across Rhondda Cynon Taf, Trebanog included
Over CF postcodes, the vans covering Trebanog — a residential suburb — work nearby places as well, Cymmer and Porth among them. Fastest of all: a CF39 9 postcode for where you stand.
Stopped heading to Bronwydd Park, or bang in the heart of Trebanog, the car remains put — there is no need to move it at all. Our van empties it in place. Awkward to pin down? Close to Mount Zion English Baptist Church or a border? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Keep the vehicle that way then ring. Started already? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, in Trebanog and Rhondda Cynon Taf, on 0333 366 0103.