--- title: Explained: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Surrey Quays canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/surrey-quays-greater-london/ location: Surrey Quays county: Greater London latitude: 51.492000 longitude: -0.044500 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Surrey Quays: Why It Occurs If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Surrey Quays. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not. ## Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler? Plenty of newer diesels in Isle of Dogs, as well as Surrey Quays, run on two liquids; the engine gets only the diesel. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own. There is a filler on every tank. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two side by side behind one flap. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what filler it needs. The mistake grows in that gap between them. ## Surrey Quays: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them. First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running dry leads to limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Plough Way, perhaps outside The Surrey Docks on the way home that evening. The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second factor: an unfamiliar vehicle. Nothing halts the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Tavern Quay or the heart of Surrey Quays: it is the same few seconds either way. ## Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel? Be it a Surrey Quays forecourt or a drive out in New Cross, spend a few seconds over these before any goes in. - Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not. - Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one. - The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where. - The handbook says which it is if the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet. - Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Canada Water? Check with the person who drove the car last before leaving, not when the light goes on. ## Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Greater London that is. - Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Lower Road. - Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick. - If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on. - Stop when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently using its own spout. - Close the cap, then check again — making sure your diesel filler remained shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle. Find during the second or third step that the bottle went into the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five. ## AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Surrey Quays? Don't start the engine: that's where the short order of things starts. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from. If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Tesco or the Shell, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Surrey Quays. Already started? Pull over once it is sensible, then switch off. Surrey Quays lies under 10 miles from the M11; on it, use the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards London, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Surrey Quays. ## What occurs when we turn up around Surrey Quays Wherever your car has stopped, be it by Rotherhithe Primary School, beside Osprey Estate hall or at home, our van comes to it. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the answers set both work and quote. That price comes over the phone, before any van leaves. Draining the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and none of it washes out on its own, however long it sits. After the filter has been flushed — or renewed, where needed — clean diesel is added, and finally the vehicle gets tested. Next our technicians fire it up and make sure it runs correctly before we leave. With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine hasn't run need about half an hour once we are there. No money in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way. ## About Surrey Quays and where it is Surrey Quays is a suburban area in southeast London, situated on the southern bank of the River Thames and adjacent to the large Surrey Quays shopping centre. Surrey Quays sits at a low elevation of around 1 metre, with its lakeside setting providing views across the water to the city. Surrey Quays is predominantly composed of flat dwellings, reflecting its modern residential character. Surrey Quays is close to other nearby places such as Tavern Quay and Rotherhithe. ## AdBlue drains across Greater London, Surrey Quays included Surrey Quays is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places around it, Rotherhithe and Millwall among them, across the SE postcode area. Give a postcode beginning SE16 2, and our van gets there fastest. Your car doesn't need to move. A drive, a lay-by on the way to PNK Garden, a side street close to Surrey Docks Watersports Centre: our technicians drain it where it stands. Awkward to explain, like the back of Silverlock Tenants Hall? By a county line? Checking beats assuming, so phone. ## For Surrey Quays drivers, the short version Tip nothing till you've read the cap. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it is, anywhere around Greater London: switch it off then call 0333 366 0103.