No I haven't done it yet, touch wood. But I was reading the front page of the Telegraph Motoring sction today where this issue was discussed and the huge expense of getting your car fixed afterwards. Up to £7K was mentioned.
It's about time the someone came up with a device for preventing this. I guess the car manufacturers are not going to take the lead since they would argue it's not their fault. But surely some clever person must be able to come up with a method of preventing petrol being put into a diesel.
I am putting my great mind to work. Well, my mind anyway.
|
|
Well I got away with putting about 5 litres of petrol into a modern Hdi/particle filter EU4 compliant diesel; topped the tank up with diesel when I realised my mistake and that was 10,000 miles ago so perhaps I was just very lucky! You can bet that I check and check again at the pumps these days!
|
The problem with making the hole oval is that you would need to take into account the angle at which the pump enters the hole.
Think of my situation when I pulled up at a pump today. fuel cap on the RHS, pump on the left. There was only just enough hose to reach the hole, and not enough for me to worry about having the nozzel in a particular position.
The oval insert would need to be designed to it would rotate to allow the nozzel entry.
I have a better idea, does anyone know a good patents agent/solicitor?
Hugo
|
Think of my situation when I pulled up at a pump today. fuel cap on the RHS, pump on the left. There was only just enough hose to reach the hole, and not enough for me to worry about having the nozzel in a particular position.
That's quite easily fixed by using the 'correct' side of the pump, or reversing to the pump :-)
I know what you mean though - I used to do this all the time in my 406 Estate. Now I've got a Merc C Class estate. It's near as damn it the same size, with the filler in more or less the same place, but the will the nozzle's reach round? No! And there always seemed to be a pretty girl in sports car next to me when I tried!! I've given up trying now.
|
|
If people can't select the correct fuel, they shouldn't really be drivers.
|
I drive a petrol mondeo and a diesel isuzu. I always double check the pump - suprising how many times driving back late at night that i have nearly made a costly mistake.
Paul
|
The real answer is a 'diesel fuel quality' sensor installed in the car's fuel line. These already exist, althought the price would have to fall for them to be fitted in series production. If fuel was detected to be 'out of spec' then a buzzer and red light would alert the driver.
Its not just petrol contamination that's the problem, water contamination can be a problem too..
|
I once almost got caught out in Belgium using a green coloured pump thinking it was unleaded. Before inserting I took the precaution of giving the nozzle a good sniff, which while not doing me a lot of good, enabled me to tell it was in fact diesel.
That aside, why can they not employ the simple and straightforward solution of having a large visible tag on the pump handle which says DIESEL or PETROL? No RFID required!
|
|
I mentioned this device a few months ago, somewhere else in the forum, and was fairly sharply told off re the fuel filler and the proximity of the small battery needed to power the voice chip. Fear of a spark and raging inferno I guess
|
|
What about just writing "Diesel" on the filler cap?
|
what ever happened to simply concentrating on the task in hand?
I have a knack for doing stupid things but when I stop for petrol, I check that I?ve got the right pump. I check it was put back in the right cradle, I check it as I pump it in and I check it when it stops. I check it when I walk to the kiosk and I check it on my receipt. It?s one of the few times I?m not thinking about naked chicks.
|
|
Well said BBB, if you're going to do a simple task of filling a car with fuel that could leave you stranded or with an expensive bill, you get it right...It says diesel on the pump, the nozzle (usually) and behind the filler cap, it also displays the grade selected on the digital display of the pump!. People really shouldn't be driving if they can't get that right, all this talk of triangular nozzles and RFID chips makes one want to emmigrate! We are talking about adults here, not 2 year olds. "To protect man from his folly is to produce a nation of fools."
|
Well I've always laughed at people who do this, until - I did it. Luckily I realised straight away and put 7p worth of petrol in.
My excuse is that I was at a filling station where you had to put your credit card into the pump first. I was using that garage for the first time, and it was one of the first few times I'd bought diesel.
So you open the fuel flap, take the cap off then do battle with the card reader. It wouldn't take the first card I tried, so I tried another (there's now a queue behind me). Eventually it accepted that card so I gratefully grabbed the (wrong) pump and pulled the trigger. I don't know why but I thankfully realised almost immediately. Dispensing only 7p then caused the pump to have a fit and it wouldn't let me restart a new transaction. So I skulked off to find a 'proper' filling station.
As I drive both petrol and diesel cars now, I've developed the habit of stopping straight away and rechecking that all's correct.
|
>what ever happened to simply concentrating on the task in hand?<
Absolutely. Once people in a hurry began to expect pumps to tell them of their mistake they wouldn't bother to check. Much better to learn to look after your own errors. Too many zombies about already.
|
I must admit, I've never put the wrong fuel in a car. Probably because I've never owned a diesel but after all these talks on here, I've found myself sub-consciously doing something.
I pick the pump up whilst tracing the pipe back to make sure it's on the right holder, then I'll check the pence per litre display on the pump to make sure it is unleaded I'm putting in. It's weird - I've never come across a pump in the wrong slot before yet I only noticed myself doing this the other day.
--
Adam
|
AS - I think this would be more of a worry with petrol since IIRC diesel is far less volatile than petrol and actually quite hard to ignite accidentally.
Speaking as a fairly recent petrol-diesel convert, IMO pumps are pretty clearly labelled and colour coded (as are car fuel filler) so I tend to agree with those others here who've suggested that rather than more gadgets/gizmos for people to rely on, what's really required is for drivers to pay just a little bit more attention to what they're doing when filling up.
|
the forum, and was fairly sharply told off re the fuel filler and the proximity of the small battery needed to power the voice chip. Fear of a spark and raging inferno I guess
Thankfully the design of this device; the Dieselguard took into account the fact that it would be used in a petro-chemical enviroment. Also, that some bright spark might just accidentally squirt diesel all over and into the unit just for fun was a possibility. Therefore, in order to safeguard against the likelihood of spark and or short circut resulting in ignition, the device is housed within an enclosure which is hermatically sealed by way of ultrasound in the manafacturing process. This ensures that the unit is both air tight and water tight thus preventing the possibilty of any type of spark being produced by the device. It also protects the internal components from corrosion by the elements. >> I mentioned this device a few months ago, somewhere else in
|
|
The local BP garage here in Spain has the "talking" pumps - only problem is they use the older term "gasóleo" for diesel (although everybody calls it diesel), and "gasolina" for petrol; also the voice only gives the confirmation when the pump starts.
|
Small sticker on the dashboard under the fuel gauge, big sticker on the outside of the filler flap, small sticker on the filler cap, all saying DIESEL in big capitals. And dont fill up-or drive- when you are absolutely shattered. That should do it.
Regards
Barchettaman
|
Small sticker on the dashboard under the fuel gauge big sticker on the outside of the filler flap small sticker on the filler cap all saying DIESEL in big capitals. That should do it.
Don't forget that some people can't read or write, and some that can read can't spell, and some people are dyslexic. Some people are hard of hearing so an audible warning might not work. Some people are colour blind so colour coding isn't foolproof. The only way is to have filler neck and nozzle shapes that match.
|
Square nozzle for diesel
Round for unleaded
Star shaped for super
Can see the cost of fuel going up to pay for that lot!
Edited by b308 on 30/09/2008 at 10:07
|
|
Expanding on b308's suggestion .......... Diesel ~ square nozzle. Petrol ~ round nozzle with diameter halfway between across flats and across corners dimensions of diesel nozzle. Filler necks to suit.
Edited by L'escargot on 30/09/2008 at 10:13
|
Common sense and paying attention to what you are doing might help?
? I just cannot see how any one that is driving a given fuelled type vehicle forgets what it is running on?
Fit a sender to the vehicle so as you drive on to the forecourt, there would be a ?device? to read the data that would allocate the vehicle to the correct pump type.
OR
Put back on to the forecourts - the attendants.
They could also show you where the correct fuels for your vehicle are and would do the task for you if they saw you struggling.
If you should need them, they too could guide you to the toilets - they might even wipe & clean your windscreen for you too ;-)
|
|
problem with all the ideas for preventing numpties from breaking something is that they all cost and when these ideas becomes mainstream us non-numpties end up paying extra on things for other peoples mistakes....i mean come on choosing Petrol or Diesel not exactly rocket science is it.
|
|
|
|
A possible solution is to colour the tarmac on a forecourt. Green channel for u/l and black for diesel, then have all the u/l pumps on one side of a garage and all diesel pumps on the other. For those who are colourblind, they can just watch out for the greasier looking tarmac covered in patches of sand soaking up spilt diesel.
|
|
|
