What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Treorchy
One fact counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the motor has run afterwards. Not started yet? Then keep it that way, wherever your vehicle is — Treorchy or Treherbert. Leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Treorchy. Already run? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. Stage one stays the same, even though the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Rhondda Cynon Taf it happened.
Treorchy forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the right one. It could be the Texaco, or the Murco, or another forecourt around Treorchy.
The point: of every spot to find out, the forecourt is the best. Only your tank has AdBlue; no component past it has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. A few jobs: a shove into a bay with the attendants helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away is drained where it is at the pump.
At home in Treorchy with AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown all week. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in at the driveway — and it's only by the bin that the cap got a second look. Just off Ynyswen Road is no less likely from any other place.
Meaning? As long as the car has not been driven since, it is second to the forecourt case. On the floor of your tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Put the keys indoors overnight — or someone might take it off first thing — then phone us. Out in Ynyswen or right here in Treorchy, the draining happens at your drive. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Treorchy: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way beyond filling up, your engine began misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. Somewhere on Dunraven Terrace or heading towards Swansea — under 25 miles away.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up somewhere sensible, then switch the engine off. On the M4, under 10 miles from Treorchy, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No trial starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Call, and say what distance the vehicle was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a car you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Wherever you happen to be across Rhondda Cynon Taf, any motorist could slip up.
The point: just as above, split by if it ran, only with one added stage. Work on your vehicle often requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet terms.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stranded in the car park at Ynyswen, or by Capel y Bedyddwyr, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Treorchy?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think it did. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels less than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. A hurried stop by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Pentre: both fit.
The point: the engine isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the outside. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start your motor. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it's been run — so phone and describe to us what you saw.
Treorchy: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation has the same opening to the work. Three questions come once our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a driveway, a road by Ynyswen Welfare Hall or the car park at The Lion: the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. Your price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies shape the work.
Then your tank is cleared 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, so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in after the fuel filter has been flushed or replaced, and the car is then tested. Never started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Our engineers start the car last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it is running smoothly, and then we head off. Permanent damage is very unusual if it's noticed early, and the whole job is done where the car is. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Treorchy itself
Treorchy is a town situated in the Rhondda Valley in south Wales, on the banks of the River Rhondda. Treorchy has a population of around 8427 people and is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing. Treorchy is located near several smaller communities, including Ynyswen, Pen-yr-englyn, and Cwmparc, and is approximately 18.6 miles from Swansea. Treorchy sits at an elevation of 170 metres above sea level, in a scenic riverside setting.
AdBlue drains across Rhondda Cynon Taf, Treorchy included
Pen-yr-englyn and Cwmparc have the identical vans as Treorchy, a riverside town, along with further places throughout CF postcodes. Giving us a CF42 6 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Ystradfechan Park or in a car park in the middle of Treorchy, it does not need to shift. Our engineers drain the car where it is. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Treorchy Library or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle off and ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Treorchy or anywhere in Rhondda Cynon Taf.