--- title: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Totnes: Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/totnes-devon/ location: Totnes county: Devon latitude: 50.431440 longitude: -3.686970 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-15 --- # Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Totnes: Why It Happens Stop here a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Normally, when the engine hasn't run, it is drained and fully cleaned where your car is around Totnes. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time. ## Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler? No single liquid but two: that's what many newer diesels near Totnes and True Street carry, with diesel feeding your motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream and cleans it. Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of cars 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 filling station call-out, again and again. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. The mistake grows in that gap between the two. ## Totnes: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up. First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off South Street, or outside King William IV on the way home that evening. Then your car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one. No part stops 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. It's seconds, whether out in Bridgetown or right in the heart of Totnes. ## How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one A few seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a drive in Dartington or a forecourt around Totnes. - Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't. - The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two. - The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where. - In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which. - Whoever had it before will know. Check when you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, perhaps — rather than once the warning appears. ## Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Devon that is. - Not in a rush on the side of High Street, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly. - Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — once you've located the filler and read the cap. - If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on. - Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty. - Close the cap, then check once more — confirm the diesel cap remained shut throughout. Only then, start the car. If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five is out. ## Totnes: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank? What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting the motor. Keep your ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone starts your pump. Topping up with diesel will not dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, right where fuel is taken from. On a forecourt — Morrisons, Texaco or any other — the staff will normally help push the car away, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway in Totnes. Where the engine has been run by now, stop somewhere safe and turn the vehicle off. Totnes lies under 25 miles from the M5; there, take the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Totnes is smaller a job than a trip of under 25 miles towards Plymouth, and so say. ## When our technicians turn up in Totnes, what happens? Wherever your car has stopped, whether by The Grove School, beside The Timehouse or on your own drive, the van travels to it. The answers settle the work and the price, and so we ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run. The quote is given over the phone, before any van leaves. Then the tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or changed as needed. Before we go, our engineers start the engine and check that it's running correctly. Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. 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 plenty of policies. ## About Totnes and where it is Totnes is a historic town in Devon, situated on the River Dart and surrounded by rolling hills. Totnes has a long history of settlement and sits at an elevation of 22 metres, with the town centre featuring a mix of old and new buildings, including many terraced houses. Totnes is located near several smaller communities, including Bridgetown and Swallowfields, and is approximately 20 miles from Plymouth. Totnes remains a popular residential location, with a population of around 8223 people. ## AdBlue drains around Totnes, and Devon beyond Throughout TQ postcodes, our teams that cover Totnes — a riverside town — work the surrounding spots too, Longcause and Swallowfields included. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting TQ9 5. Moving the car is not needed. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Shady Garden, a side street close to Whitespaceart: we drain it where it is. Guessing won't help behind Totnes Museum, on a border, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and check. ## The short version for Totnes motorists Tip nothing until you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Devon.