Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in West Village
Keep your motor and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before your engine runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around West Village. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one liquid but two: that's how many modern diesels around West Village and Llandoche run, with diesel feeding the motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where a spray cleans the fumes.
There is a filler on every tank. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at every filling station visit, again and again. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. It is in that gap that the mistake happens.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen in West Village?
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Llantwit Major Road before work, or in the car park at Harry's on the way home.
New-to-you motors come next, too. Rentals, new vehicles and company motors put their fillers differently, and habit reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, after begun, carries on. It's seconds, be it out in Cowbridge or bang in the centre of West Village.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Be it a West Village forecourt or a driveway out in New Beaupre, take a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many motors show what belongs in which filler right there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Llantwit Major, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever around The Vale of Glamorgan, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Bowman's Well, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds daft. It works.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both share a flap, make sure it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around West Village?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it is the Esso or the Murco, ask the attendants to help push the car away from the pump. Your own driveway in West Village is where it stays.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next exit means where to leave if you're on the M4, under 5 miles from West Village. A short hop across West Village is a smaller job than a run towards Cardiff, under 15 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
What occurs when our technicians get there in West Village
By the local primary school, near Cowbridge United Free Church or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run, because those answers decide the work and the quote. That price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
Draining the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. A test comes last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is flushed or changed as needed. The engine is started next and tested to make sure it runs properly, all before our technicians leave.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It is worth checking your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About West Village itself
West Village is a suburban area located on the riverside in The Vale of Glamorgan, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 1096 residents. West Village sits at an elevation of 48 metres, near the towns of Cowbridge and Llanblethian, and is approximately 12 miles from Cardiff. West Village is part of a larger residential area that includes the nearby East Village. West Village is situated in a region with easy access to Cardiff and other local amenities.
AdBlue drains about West Village, and The Vale of Glamorgan beyond
Llanblethian and East Village are among the towns around West Village, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout CF postcodes. Quote a postcode beginning CF71 7, and our van arrives quickest.
There's no need to move the vehicle. The drain takes place on the spot, be it a driveway, a road near St. Cadoc's, or a layby on the way to The College Field. Guessing won't help behind Cowbridge Library, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
In short, for West Village drivers
First, the cap; then, the tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around The Vale of Glamorgan, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — and so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.