--- title: Explained: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Putney canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/putney-greater-london/ location: Putney county: Greater London latitude: 51.460760 longitude: -0.217110 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-04 --- # Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Putney: Why It Happens AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, keep the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands in Putney, is usually what it takes if found before the motor runs. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened. ## Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle Plenty of newer diesels in Wandsworth, as well as Putney, run on two liquids; your motor gets only your diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas and cleans it. Different tanks, different fillers. Many of motors share a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually goes in out of a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the mistake lives. ## Putney: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them. On a drive off Putney High Street before work, or in the car park outside The Fox & Hounds heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in. New-to-you vehicles come second, as well. Rentals, new cars and company motors place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap it used on the old one. No part halts the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it occurs in Putney Heath or the middle of Putney, it's the same few seconds. ## Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler Whether a Putney forecourt or a driveway over in The Mews, take a couple of seconds on these before any is poured in. - Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not. - On many cars, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck. - The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where. - Can't find it next to your diesel inlet? Then look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says which. - Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park outside the nearest station? Ask the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than once the light comes on. ## How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank Anywhere around Greater London the light comes on, this is a routine for that day. - Not in a rush on the side of Putney Hill, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly. - Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It works. - The two behind one flap? So confirm the lid on your diesel side is still shut before raising the bottle. - Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty. - Close the cap, and look once more — making sure your diesel filler remained shut the whole time. After that, start your car. If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five stays out. ## AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Putney? Brief list, then. First: the engine stays off. Leave the ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on alone runs your pump. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue settles to the bottom rather than mixing — and that is where your fuel is pulled from. If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the Sainsbury's or the Shell, ask the staff to help roll your car away from the petrol pump. At home in Putney? So your car remains put. Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your motor has already run. On the M4, under 5 miles from Putney, that means the next junction. A short hop across Putney is a smaller job than a run towards Westminster, under 5 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went. ## When our technicians get there in Putney, what takes place? Our van comes to the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, beside Algernon Charles Swinburne, or outside Our Lady of Victories Catholic Primary School. The replies settle this work and the quote, and so our engineers ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it's run. No one heads out until you have had our price by phone. After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. The filter cleaned or, if needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of your car. The motor is fired up next and tested to make sure it runs smoothly, all before our technicians leave. Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once we get there, as long as your engine hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling. ## About Putney Putney is a locality in southwest London, situated on the southern bank of the River Thames at an elevation of around 18 metres. Putney sits close to several nearby places, including Putney Heath, Fulham, and Southfields, and is approximately 5 miles from central London. Putney is predominantly composed of flat dwellings and has a population of around 8324 residents. Putney is well connected to the surrounding area, with nearby Westminster just 4.8 miles away. ## AdBlue drains in Putney and across Greater London Being a small village, Putney shares its vans surrounding places — Fulham, Southfields — all the way across SW postcodes and the wider area around them. Quickest of all: give a SW15 6 postcode to the van. Moving the vehicle isn't needed. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Edward Gibbon, a lay-by on the way to Waterman's Green, a drive. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Liliya Art Gallery, ring and ask rather than guessing. ## For Putney drivers, the short version Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere around Greater London, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same — and so leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.