--- title: Buckfastleigh: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank, Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/buckfastleigh-devon/ location: Buckfastleigh county: Devon latitude: 50.481240 longitude: -3.778140 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-08 --- # AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Buckfastleigh: Why It Happens and How to Stop It Stop here a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, when the motor hasn't turned, it's emptied and fully purged where the car is around Buckfastleigh. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't. ## Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor Diesel goes to the engine — but many current diesels seen around Buckfastleigh and Buckfast carry a second liquid as well. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream and cleans it. Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each forecourt visit, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is topped up far less often, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between the two. ## AdBlue in your diesel tank around Buckfastleigh: how it happens It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up. Hurry follows from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Chapel Street, or on the way home in the car park outside Globe Inn. The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: an unfamiliar car. A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, once begun, carries on. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Buckfastleigh or out in Lower Town. ## How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one Check these first, at a forecourt in Buckfastleigh or a driveway out in Lower Dean. Seconds, that's all. - The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by position. - Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one. - A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it. - The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which. - The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Totnes, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on. ## Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up Wherever in Devon the light comes on, this is a routine for that day. - Switch off once parked — level ground, motor off, and never in a rush beside Plymouth Road on the verge. - Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, but it does the trick. - If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on. - Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out. - Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car. Find during the second or third step that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Don't carry on to step five. ## Buckfastleigh: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank? Then the order of things is short. Don't start the motor. Leave your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself starts your fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from. The attendants at Dart Garage Ltd., Shell or another forecourt will usually help to push your car away if asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Buckfastleigh. Already started? Stop once it is safe, then switch off. Buckfastleigh lies under 25 miles from the M5; on it, take the next junction. A short hop across Buckfastleigh is a smaller job than a run towards Plymouth, under 25 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went. ## What happens when our engineers arrive around Buckfastleigh Our van reaches your car anywhere it stopped — your own drive, near St Luke's Church, or by Buckfastleigh Primary School. Our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, since the answers decide the work and the price. That price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving. Then the tank is emptied and your system cleaned thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. A test comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or changed as needed. The motor is fired up next and tested to make sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers head off. Unstarted cars mostly need a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours. ## About Buckfastleigh itself Buckfastleigh is a town situated on the River Dart in Devon, with a mix of terraced housing and other buildings. Buckfastleigh sits at an elevation of 42 metres, close to the nearby settlements of Lower Town, Glebelands, and Higher Town. Buckfastleigh is located near Plymouth, which is 17.8 miles away, and is part of the South West region of England. Buckfastleigh has a population of approximately 3572 people. ## AdBlue drains around Buckfastleigh and across Devon As a riverside town, Buckfastleigh has the same vans as surrounding areas — Glebelands, Higher Town — all the way across TQ postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Quote a postcode that starts TQ11 0, and the van gets there fastest. The vehicle doesn't need to move. Wherever it sits — near Jellyfish Art Gallery, on a layby heading to St Lukes Green Space, at home — that is where it is cleared. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Jellyfish Art Gallery and Cafe. ## Buckfastleigh drivers: the short version Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Devon, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same — and so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.