--- title: Explained: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Bloomsbury canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/bloomsbury-greater-london/ location: Bloomsbury county: Greater London latitude: 51.520870 longitude: -0.126960 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-23 --- # Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bloomsbury: Why It Happens Pause reading for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where your vehicle stands in Bloomsbury, is normally what it takes if caught before your motor runs. Here before the event? In that case the rest covers why it comes about and how to prevent it ever happening. ## AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank Many modern diesels in Somers Town, as well as Bloomsbury, run on two fluids; your motor gets just your diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust gas to clean it. Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on a lot of cars. On others, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up the diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the slip lives. ## How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur around Bloomsbury? It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up. On a drive off Montague Place before work, or in the car park at Dean's Bar on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode follows. Then, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't. No part halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it happens in St Giles or the middle of Bloomsbury, it is the same few seconds. ## The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Bloomsbury or a drive out in Covent Garden. A few seconds, that's all. - Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not. - The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two. - A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it. - The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is 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 pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Tottenham Court Road. ## Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up When the light goes on, anywhere in Greater London, use this routine. - Turn off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and not rushed by Montague Street on the verge. - Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It does the trick. - The two behind a single flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel filler stays closed before raising the bottle. - Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty. - Before starting your car, shut the cap and check again that your diesel cap never opened off. Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Do not go on to stage five. ## AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Bloomsbury? What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting the engine. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, just where fuel is taken from. Ask the staff to help push the car away from the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Texaco, the Esso or somewhere else. If you are on your own driveway in Bloomsbury, leave the vehicle where it is. Already started? Pull over once it is sensible, then turn off. The next exit means the place to leave when you are on the M1, under 10 miles from Bloomsbury. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Westminster, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Bloomsbury. ## Our arrival around Bloomsbury, and what happens next Wherever the car has stopped, be it by St Josephs Catholic Primary School, near The Russell Square Bug Hotel or on your own drive, the van travels to it. The replies settle this work and our price, and so our technicians ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run. You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out. The fuel system is then rinsed thoroughly, once the tank is emptied. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, some metals corrode, and nothing clears away unaided, however long it is left. Once the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then the vehicle gets tested. Next our technicians fire it up and check it runs properly before we go. Unstarted cars mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies. ## About Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a densely populated suburban area in central London, situated near the British Museum and several major universities. Bloomsbury sits at an elevation of around 34 metres, close to the heart of the city, with nearby areas including St Giles, Fitzrovia, and the Strand. Bloomsbury is characterized by its predominantly flat-based housing stock, accommodating a population of approximately 14265 residents. Bloomsbury is well-connected to the rest of London, being just 0.9 miles from the city centre and 1.4 miles from Westminster. ## Bloomsbury and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area As a residential suburb, Bloomsbury shares its vans nearby places — Fitzrovia, Strand — right across WC1B postcodes and the wider area around them. A postcode starting WC1B 5 gets our van to you fastest. Your car does not need to shift. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Russell Square, a side street close to The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide: our engineers drain the car where it is. If you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Memorial Pole (pts'aan) for Chief Luuya'as Eagle-Beaver Clan of the Nisga'a Nation, ring and ask rather than assuming. ## Bloomsbury people: the short version Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere around Greater London, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same — and so leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.