How the fuck could I have lived for 19 years without it registering that diesel fuel does not belong in a regular car?
Why the fuck did I happen tonight to go to a gas station where diesel fuel is sold, and then blindly choose the cheapest gas available?
Why the fuck did it not register with me that if the fueling dispenser, whatever the fuck is called, does not fit correctly into the gas hole, or whatever the fuck it’s called, that means that I should stop trying to fucking force it, goddammit?
Why the fuck did I have to learn this cruel lesson just a week after having the car on my own at college, after I’ve been fueling it at home for years?
I go to a Texico station in my neighborhood. Their friggin diesel pumps are really deceiving too. The guy behind the counter yelled out over the speaker that I had that wrong pump, thank God. They shouldn’t put those damn diesel pumps so conveniently with the regular gas pumps, they should be by themselves in their own area. But anyway, it’s one of those things, like stepping in a big pile of dog shit on your way out to formal dinner.
I don’t think it does too much damage to your car. But you have to drain the tank and maybe put in new set a plugs. The mechanics will know, I’m damn sure this isn’t the first time they have see it.
I drive a diesel and frequent a bb dedicated to worshipping our superior-in-every-way-vehicles and there is a recurring thread regarding people’s attempts to stop us from putting “the wrong stuff” in our cars. Pump jockeys shutting off the pumps from the inside–sometimes without even saying anything over the loudspeaker and then refusing to believe you when you tell them, "No, really, it’s a diesel. It NEEDS diesel fuel. Really, please turn the pump back on…"etc.
I agree with you that diesel should be at separate pumps. It is very annoying to pull up behind a gasser at the only diesel combination pump and have to wait while they wash their windshield, clean out their car, pick out paint chips for the nursery they are building in the service bay…all while they could have chosen any other open pump.
One of the many nice things about diesel is that, other than the situation described above, one rarely has to wait.
BTW, you’re in Santa Barbara, maybe you know my friend Sarah…
just kidding.
Although, you two are the same age or therabouts and going to UCSB, and this world seems to get smaller every day…
I clicked on this thread because I am such a fucking dumbass is my personal mantra, it seems.:o
Anyway, I pulled that trick once. This diesel fuel WAS ON THE SAME PUMP AS UNLEADED! Y’know one of those pumps with nozzles on either side? Yeah, that’s the kind. Anyway, car died, had to get a hotel room, and it cost about $200 to fix it (drain fuel, flush system, replace filters, etc.).
Let’s see…I made it out of the gas station okay. Then the gas pedal suddenly stopped working, and the car was shaking like a motherfucker and making scary noises. As I slowly realized that I was seriously fucked, I managed to weasel my way into a half-assed parallel park on the side of the road, so that my car formed about a 45 degree angle with the curb. Luckily the tail end wasn’t quite in the street. About an hour later I had assessed the situation and gotten AAA to tow the thing back to the gas station where they’ll look at it on monday, so I can be prepared to get raped by them on the bill…
Fuck! Right after I typed that, a girl from my dorm last year IMed me and wanted to go get food, and I had to make an excuse not to because I can’t take her without the fucking car. Jesus Christ…
I better get in bed for the night.
And now I’m not sure whether this reply got submitted so I’ll wait until morning and perhaps try again…
It think it’s pretty safe to say that this will not be a recurring problem for you, sundog66. We’ll get a beer in Palo Alto sometime so you can whine in detail about this.
Not to be an ass but I don’t see how you could make such a mistake. Not only does the end not fit, but the pumps are clearly marked. Don’t you look at Octane rating before you start pumping? I know I do…and I have never come close to putting diesel or the wrong octane gas into my car.
I usually glance at the octane ratings, but there have been times when I’ve been especially tired towards the end of the second day of a two-day, 2,000-mile road trip when I’ve just gotten out and gone for the pump with the cheap price over the handle without looking at the grade. So far I’ve been lucky - on road trips I only stop for gas at well-lit, well-travelled and well-supplied truckstops (because you can get gas, food and sometimes even a quick shower or at least a good face-washing in them, and truckers are good to ask for directions if you’re not quite sure of the exit number you need to get to the next interstate junction). At truckstops the diesel pumps are a separate bank on the opposite side of the station, so the worst mishap I’ve had by punching the cheapest gas was accidentally putting 92 instead of 89 in my tank at a place where they were, for some reason, identically priced.
Good shot sport. I’ve never had it happen myself, but the reverse happened to me last week. I just bought a diesel truck, and went to gas it up. After nearly ten years of putting mid-grade unleaded into a car (or motorcycle, as my last ride was,) I wasn’t thinking as I pulled in and started pumping. It seemed like the gas nozzle was loose, but…
Been there, done that (in reverse). It wasn’t even my car - I’d borrowed it from a friend. On the first day I had it, I filled his diesel tank up with gas, right to the brim. The car got me as far as my house before it died. Jacked it up, emptied the entire tankful of gas into various buckets, then cycled to the gas station for a gallon of diesel and pumped it through. No damage. Phew.
Diesel cars take regular petrol a helluva lot better than petrol cars take diesel. It’s not exactly good for either type, of course, but as jjimm’s example shows, the diesel will get quite a bit (possibly on the diesel still in the pipes, of course) without getting damaged, whereas a petrol car may be fucked up after a drive as short as a mere 10 meters. Both will require to be drained, of course.
It used to be advisable to put a few liters of petrol into diesel cars during harsh winter months, to make them start more easily. I know some of my father’s previous cars had that instruction with them, but I think that practice is dying out as diesels are getting better and better.
Fingers crossed: I bought a diesel 3 months ago, after 10 years of petrol-only driving. No fuck-ups so far, but seeing as pumps here are shared pretty much by definition (e.g. diesel/95/98), the chance is there.
I do love it, though. Almost 1,000 clicks on a 54 liter tank, if I do my best!
It was about 15 years ago and it was one of those “honest mechanics”, now extinct, I believe. I’m sure it costs way more now or they make cars where you have to replace the entire fuel system for this or something.
When I drove a car with a diesel engine I hated it when the diesel pumps were off in East Jesus. The pumps usually dated back to 1941 so, of course, I couldn’t use my credit or debit card. I had to trek four miles (uphill, mind you) from the pump to the customer service hut, pay, buy water and sustenance for my trek (uphill, again) back in the rain, er, make that snow.
It’s not the worst mistake you could make: it happens not infrequently here, where you think people would know better, given that there’s a 30:70 ratio of diesel to petrol pumps- and that ratio is equalising as the proportion of diesels grow.
I have seen one imbecile filling his oil sump to the brim with water, and another attempt to pour a litre of oil in through the dipstick tube.
On a bright note, you’re probably lucky the car stopped when it did- if you had say 3/4 tank of gas, and topped it up with diesel the car could conceivably have continued to run, on a much lower apparent octane rating, which would have destroyed valves, pistons and cat.
and there is a recurring thread regarding people’s attempts to stop us from putting “the wrong stuff” in our cars. Pump jockeys shutting off the pumps from the inside–sometimes without even saying anything over the loudspeaker and then refusing to believe you when you tell them, "No, really, it’s a diesel. It NEEDS diesel fuel. Really, please turn the pump back on…"etc.
