AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Waundeg: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Waundeg, catching it before the motor runs normally leaves a drain and a full flush where it stands. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it happens and the ways to avoid it altogether.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds your engine — but many newer diesels driven round Waundeg and Blaen-y-cwm carry another liquid as well. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. Other motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have both side by side under one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, normally from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Waundeg: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Waundeg before work, or in the car park outside Mountain Air Inn heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and once it is gone, limp mode follows.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour after it has started. Tynewydd or the middle of Waundeg: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Ashvale or a forecourt in Waundeg, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Rhymney.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — anywhere you are across Blaenau Gwent — a simple routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Maes Morgan.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, perhaps, but it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel filler stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Do not go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Waundeg?
Do not start the motor: that is where the short order of things starts. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the bottom rather than mixing — and that's where the fuel is pulled from.
At a forecourt — Texaco, Gulf or another — the staff will usually help push your car clear, when you ask. If you are on your own driveway in Waundeg, leave it where it stands.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. Waundeg lies under 25 miles from the M4; on it, take the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Newport, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Waundeg.
Our arrival in Waundeg, and what happens next
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, close to Siloam Baptist Church or on your own drive. Our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run, because the replies determine this work and our price. Nobody sets off before you have had the price over the phone.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, after the tank is cleared. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes out on its own, no matter how long it sits. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and the filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. Your engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before our engineers leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided the motor hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, take a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Waundeg itself
Waundeg is a suburban area situated in the county of Blaenau Gwent, Wales, with a riverside setting and an elevation of 366 metres. Waundeg lies near the communities of Tynewydd, Nant-y-Bwch, and Dukes Meadow, and is approximately 18 miles from the city of Newport. Waundeg has a population of around 933 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Waundeg is located in a region of south Wales, within commuting distance of major cities and about 136 miles from London.
AdBlue drains in Waundeg and across Blaenau Gwent
As a residential suburb, Waundeg has the same vans as nearby places — Nant-y-Bwch, Dukes Meadow — all the way across NP postcodes and the surrounding area around them. A postcode starting NP22 3 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car remains where it is. Anywhere it sits — near The Forgotten 53 Memorial, in a lay-by en route to Parc Bryn Bach, on a drive — that's where it is emptied. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Rhymney Valley Gorsedd Stones? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so ring.
For Waundeg motorists, the short version
Pour nothing until you have read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep the vehicle off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Blaenau Gwent.