--- title: Explained: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Aberdeen canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/aberdeen-aberdeen-city/ location: Aberdeen county: Aberdeen City latitude: 57.149850 longitude: -2.093760 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-17 --- # AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Aberdeen: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It Keep the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a full flush, carried out just where the car sits in Aberdeen, is usually all it needs if caught before your motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not. ## AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank Diesel goes to the motor — yet plenty of current diesels seen round Aberdeen and Ferryhill hold another liquid too. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream and cleans it. Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives. ## How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place in Aberdeen? Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them. Hurry comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a driveway off West North Street, or on the way home in the car park at The Kings Bar. The old car's filler is where your hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's a second factor: an unfamiliar vehicle. A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, after started, keeps on. Whether it happens in Gilcomston or the middle of Aberdeen, it is the same few seconds. ## How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Torry or a forecourt in Aberdeen, check these. They take a couple of seconds. - Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually aren't. - Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one. - A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Look for it. - In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which. - The previous driver knows. Ask when you collect a rental or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light comes on. ## How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank Wherever across Aberdeen City the light comes on, this is a routine for that day. - Pull in on level, engine off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of East North Street. - Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it works. - If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on. - Finish when your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the own spout. - Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car. Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Stage five stays off limits. ## Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Aberdeen already? Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from. At a forecourt — Morrisons, another forecourt nearby or any other — the staff will usually help push the vehicle clear, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Aberdeen. Where your engine has been run already, stop safely and switch it off. Come off the M90 — over 50 miles out of Aberdeen — at the first junction. Distance matters — a quick hop across Aberdeen makes a smaller job than driving over 50 miles to Dundee — so say about how far it went. ## When our technicians get there in Aberdeen, what occurs? Wherever the vehicle has stopped, be it outside the local primary school, near The Nicole Porter Gallery or at home, our van travels to it. Both the work and our quote rest on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so our engineers ask. Nobody sets off until you have heard the price over the phone. Draining your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of your system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and neither washes out unaided. That is why it matters more. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The motor is started next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers go. Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor hasn't run take roughly half an hour once our technicians are there. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It's worth looking at your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies. ## About Aberdeen and where it is Aberdeen is a significant urban centre situated on Scotland's north-east coast, boasting a rich history and a distinct maritime character. The city is nestled within its own council area, separate from the surrounding Aberdeenshire. Aberdeen's landscape is marked by an expansive coastline with sandy beaches, and its climate is characterised by mild winters and cool summers. Aberdeen is known for its port and its role as a major city in Scotland. ## Aberdeen and Aberdeen City: AdBlue drains across the area Aberdeen is a cathedral city, and our teams that cover it also work the towns near it, Rosemount and Footdee among them, across the AB postcode area. Give a postcode beginning AB24 5, and the van gets there quickest. No need to shift your car. Wherever it stands — beside Trinity Church Aberdeen, in a lay-by heading to The Kirkyard of St. Nicholas, on a drive — that is where it is cleared. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of The Lemon Tree. ## Aberdeen people: the short version Tip nothing till you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave it switched off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, throughout Aberdeen City.