--- title: Avonmouth: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank, Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/avonmouth-bristol/ location: Avonmouth county: Bristol latitude: 51.500730 longitude: -2.698900 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-21 --- # AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Avonmouth: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Around Avonmouth, finding it before the motor runs normally leaves draining and a thorough flush where it stands. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not. ## AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers Plenty of modern diesels on the roads round Avonmouth and Easton-in-Gordano carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream and cleans it. Each tank has its own filler. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place the two side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives. ## How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place around Avonmouth? Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things coincide. On a drive off Avonmouth Road before work, or in the car park outside Avonmouth Tavern heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode follows. Next, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not. A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, after started, keeps on. Whether it happens in Shirehampton or the middle of Avonmouth, it is the same few seconds. ## Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel? Whether a Avonmouth forecourt or a driveway over in Lawrence Weston, take a few seconds over these before any goes in. - Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't. - Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two. - Open the flap and check for a label — many cars show which goes in which inlet right there. - The handbook says which it is if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet. - Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside the nearest station? Ask whoever drove the car last before leaving, not once the light comes on. ## Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank When the light comes on, wherever in Bristol, follow this routine. - Not in a rush on the side of Richmond Terrace, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first. - Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud while unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It works. - Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle. - Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty. - Before starting your car, close the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap never came off. If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five. ## AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Avonmouth? Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from. The attendants at Costco Gasoline, BP or another forecourt will usually help to push the vehicle clear when asked. If you are on your own drive around Avonmouth, leave the car where it sits. When the motor has been run by now, pull over safely and turn the vehicle off. Leave the M5 — under a mile out of Avonmouth — at the next exit. A short hop across Avonmouth is a smaller job than a run towards Bristol, under 10 miles away, so tell us about how far it went. ## What takes place when we get there in Avonmouth Our van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, beside St Andrew's Church, or by Avonmouth Church of England Primary School and Nursery. Which liquid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask because the replies decide the work and price. On the phone call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of anything else. Then the tank is drained and the system cleaned thoroughly. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it washes out unaided. Hence it counts more. Filter flushed or, if it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; and then a test of your vehicle. The motor is started next and tested to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers go. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling. ## About Avonmouth itself Avonmouth is a coastal locality in the Bristol area, situated near the mouth of the River Avon and approximately 5 miles from Bristol city centre. Avonmouth has a mix of industrial and residential areas, with terraced housing being the predominant type. Avonmouth sits at a low elevation of around 9 metres above sea level, close to nearby places such as Shirehampton and Pill. Avonmouth is part of the larger Bristol urban area, but retains its own distinct character. ## Avonmouth and Bristol: AdBlue drains across the area Over BS postcodes, the teams that cover Avonmouth — a coastal area — work the surrounding places too, Pill and Lodway among them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting BS11 9. Shifting the car isn't necessary. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Avonmouth Park, a side street near Avonmouth Library & Community Centre: our engineers drain the vehicle where it stands. Guessing won't help at the back of Avonmouth Village Social Club, close to a border, or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check. ## The short version for Avonmouth motorists Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave it off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in Bristol.