--- title: Northwood: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank, Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/northwood-kent/ location: Northwood county: Kent latitude: 51.355150 longitude: 1.403540 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Northwood: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It? AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, keep your ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Usually, if your engine hasn't turned, it is emptied and fully flushed where the car sits in Northwood. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time. ## AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank Diesel goes to the motor — yet plenty of modern diesels driven about Northwood and Newington carry a second liquid as well. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the gas. Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives. ## How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Northwood? It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up. On a driveway off Mentmore Road before work, or in the car park at Northwood Club on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows. Next, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not. Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and once the tip starts, nothing halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Northwood or out in Whitehall. ## Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel? A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Haine or a forecourt in Northwood. - Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Trust the cap, not its position. - The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two. - A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it. - In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which. - Whoever had it before will know. Ask as you collect a hire car or fleet car — from Ramsgate's car park, perhaps — not once the light comes on. ## Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up For the day the warning appears — anywhere you are around Kent — a simple routine to follow. - Pull in on level, motor off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Northwood Road. - Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found your filler and read it. - Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle. - Finish once the tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour slowly through its built-in spout. - Shut the cap, then look once more — making sure the diesel cap remained closed throughout. After that, start the car. Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Skip step five altogether. ## AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Northwood? Don't start the motor: that's where the short order of things begins. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it. On a forecourt — Tesco, Sainsbury's or any other — the staff will normally help push your car away, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Northwood. Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. Northwood sits under 25 miles from the M20; on it, take the next exit. About how far did it go? Hopping across Northwood is less a job than a run of under 25 miles to Canterbury, so say. ## Our arrival in Northwood, and what occurs next We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Dame Janet Primary Academy, close to St Mark's Church or on your own driveway. Both the work and the price rest on three answers — what fluid, what amount, and whether it's run — so our engineers ask. No one sets off until you have had the price over the phone. Then that tank is drained and your system cleaned thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of it washes out unaided, however long it sits. Testing is at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or replaced as needed. Before we go, our engineers start the engine and confirm that it is running correctly. If the engine hasn't 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. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling. ## About Northwood Northwood is a suburban area in Kent, situated near the coast and approximately 15 miles from Canterbury. Northwood sits at an elevation of around 52 metres, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Northwood is one of several suburban areas in the region, including nearby Whitehall, Westwood, and Bromstone. Northwood has a population of around 3746 people, making it a small but established community. ## Northwood and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area Over CT postcodes, our teams covering Northwood — a residential suburb — work the nearby places too, Bromstone and Westwood among them. Fastest of all: give a CT12 6 postcode to our van. The vehicle stays put. We drain it where it is — a side street near TK Maxx, a lay-by on the way to Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground, a drive. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Newington Library? By a border? Checking beats assuming, and so phone. ## For Northwood drivers, the short version Always, the cap; after that, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Kent.