[carwatcher]

I had pasted Petrol sticker on my Fusion's fuel small door (not the tank lid) earlier and after I saw this thread immediately put 'P' sticker on Linea's fuel small door. But despite this, I make sure that I specifically mention the fuel to be filled and noticed that almost all the attendants always ask before filling.
I strongly feel that manufacturers should be made to put a sticker mentioning type of fuel both in English and Hindi to avoid this unnecessary inconvenience. By saving Rs.2-5 someone ends up paying anything from Rs.500-5000 somewhere else. In the process precious fuel/time/labour is simply wasted which could account for 100-1000 stickers. Common sense is really uncommon always.
To avoid peeling of the stickers from the cars, the sticker can be put inside the fuel small door as noticed by me in few vehicles.

[TaurusAl]

I have a small sticker indicating 'Diesel' once you open the fuel filler cap. I think most Diesel cars have it. Not sure of petrol cars. Telling an attendant loud and clearly about the desired fuel and also getting out of the car to double check is a must IMO.

[Archish]

This reminds me about similar incident about 5 years ago. We were travelling in our family friends Lancer from Trichy to Rameshwaram. Started early morning at 3.30 and stopped mid-way somewhere after Pudukottai for fuel at around 5 am. It was a diesel Lancer and the sleepy bunk attendant filled in Petrol. It was the driver's mistake 80%, he dint even bother to get down from the car, the car which was running at the time suddenly stalled and then only we realized. By this time the car had taken up almost 20 liters of Petrol Then, it was a free for all circus, our family friend blasted her driver and the driver started to shout back saying it was the attendant's fault, she was in no mood to listen to him, then he threw the key down, flagged down a bus towards Trichy right before our eyes and went off.

By then the owner of the fuel station and all the employees had gathered and the poor attendant was getting all the heat. Then I stepped in, asked them to push the car on to the ramp, There was a provision to drain the tank, drained the tank. Then poured in about 5 liters of Diesel, and using air hose flushed out all the fuel. Then again put in some Diesel and started cranking the engine. Initially refused to start, but after 2 mins started. The engine was spluttering and coughing for about 5 mins, then smoothed out. Now, filled the tank with Diesel. By this time it was 9.30 am, the time we planned to reach Rameshwaram. Anyways, the owner of the bunk was very apologetic and even refused to take money for all the fuel. After this incident, I jump out of the car every-time in a fuel station and very clearly mention the fuel type to the attendant.

Originally Posted by carwatcher

I strongly feel that manufacturers should be made to put a sticker mentioning type of fuel both in English and Hindi to avoid this unnecessary inconvenience.

I think the best solution should be that the fuel caps can be colored coded. I mean, maybe 'green' color cap for petrol and 'blue' color cap for diesel. This should be a universal code. The fuel dispenser 'gun' should also be of the same color. No language needed. Just simple colors that any one can understand.

[simplyself]

Almost all the cars now sport P or D (whether put by dealer or the manufacturer).

As many models have both petrol and diesel variants, it is only natural for fuel attendant to mistake a diesel one for petrol and vice versa.

Apart from the sticker, the driver must inform the fuel attendant the type of fuel to be filled in.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by simplyself

Almost all the cars now sport P or D (whether put by dealer or the manufacturer).
Apart from the sticker, the driver must inform the fuel attendant the type of fuel to be filled in.

Isn't informing the attendant would solve this problem permanently and we wouldn't then even require the need of colour coding, nozzle dia, stickers, etc.
Whatever the excuse or reason, isn't it true that one anyway has to inform the amount (in Rupees) of fuel to be filled, so type of fuel also could be told very easily, therefore I sometimes wonder how this situation arise in first place.

[fiesta]

In case wrong fuel has been filled, it is advised not to crank engine and tow car to nearest authorised workshop. The damage could be from cleaning tank, pipelines to even seized piston. So better not to take any chance.

[yaser_cyclist]

Once a friend(a new driver) called me from a bunk saying I am at the bunk. He hadn't bothered to get out of the car and check what was being filled in his M800. Guess the attender was new. After filling like 10lts, he asked "sab aap diesel hi bole the na?"(Sir, you told diesel only - right?). Luckily it was off and the manager there helped empty the tank and replaced the fuel.

The next time, it was a Sonata, and it was already covered with flowers etc for the groom. On the way to pickup the groom, the driver realized it needs fuel. I didn't want to go the function hall before the groom so was I called him and he said, "I am ready and the car is on its way, I would leave in 10-15 mins". An hour later I called to check the status and he was like "bad news, the car went for fuelling and accidentally they filled diesel instead of petrol. The manager helped a lot itseems but it delayed the things by a couple of hours.

[simplyself]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

Isn't informing the attendant would solve this problem permanently and we wouldn't then even require the need of colour coding, nozzle dia, stickers, etc.
Whatever the excuse or reason, isn't it true that one anyway has to inform the amount (in Rupees) of fuel to be filled, so type of fuel also could be told very easily, therefore I sometimes wonder how this situation arise in first place.

True.

And to put it bluntly, whoever feels lazy or cumbersome to inform the fuel attendant is unfit to drive. How can a person who is so inattentive can have attention on driving?

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

IMHO, human beings believing that they can actually multi-task is the root cause for most problems. Reminds me of a quote I read a long time back - "There is no such thing as fool-proof. Fools are so ingenious, they will find new ways of making mistakes"

All it takes is for the owner/driver to get out of the car and make sure that the right kind of fuel is being filled. Wonder how many owners/drivers will walk off a crowd with the wrong woman on their arms, assuming them to be their wives

Rajan

Yep. How hard it is for the driver/owner to confirm whether its diesel or petrol that is being filled. Two days back, I was filling Diesel in our car from BP and noticed that the fuel dispenser 'said' "Diesel Diesel Diesel" in static for a few noticeable seconds immediately after the Diesel nozzle was lifted from the dispenser. I wish they had a system like that two years back when one of the attendants had accidentally filled in Petrol instead of Diesel in our Fiat Uno. Luckily, we noticed it before leaving the pump and the fuel was drained out.

[junaid12345678]

Yesterday, the worst time I ever had on wheels. The moron at the BPCL pump, Thonnakkal, Trivandrum filled my DDIS with petrol in spite of the diesel sticker on the fuel lid and me saying clearly 'DIESEL' before filling. Before I could stop him, he had pumped in almost half liter of petrol. The fuel indicator was blinking and I rushed to the key slot and turned it off. I was shocked for a moment and unleashed all my fury at the attendant. He admitted his mistake and asked me to lodge a complaint and I did so and the management offered me to undertake all the repairs at their cost. I called maruti 24hr helpline and they advised me to fill diesel to neck as the petrol involved is
just half liter, will easily gets diluted. Drove for about 60 kms, nothing so far.

One thing that took my brains out was the words from the attender that Innova cabbies often fill 1 litre of petrol when fueling tankfull claiming an increase in pickup Now, I am thinking of that D4Ds that are forced to eat petrol by these ignorant cabbies

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

One thing that took my brains out was the words from the attender that Innova cabbies often fill 1 litre of petrol when fueling tankfull claiming an increase in pickup

This is hilarious! Road-side engineering has many tips of this nature on offer. Take one of them, and you are done for good.

Glad to know that you've managed to take control of the incident in your case. But, yes make it a habit to step out of your car every time you go for fuelling.

A bit OT.. but I have another roadside-engineering-tip on offer as I was told: Never slot into reverse gear after the first cold start of the day. Slot into 1st. Move the vehicle forward an inch. And then go into REVERSE. Otherwise, it damages the gearbox!!!

[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

Never slot into reverse gear after the first cold start of the day. Slot into 1st. Move the vehicle forward an inch. And then go into REVERSE. Otherwise, it damages the gearbox!!!

Thanks for your advice, memphes. I will follow it for sure. Another way to damage the gear box, by reversing your car in the morning. Roadside engineers have so much potential that they can change the entire fuel system of a car. If a diesel engine can run with petrol in a 50:50 ratio, then why can't full petrol run a diesel? Their thought goes like that

[MuzzledMoose]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

This is hilarious! Road-side engineering has many tips of this nature on offer. Take one of them, and you are done for good.

Glad to know that you've managed to take control of the incident in your case. But, yes make it a habit to step out of your car every time you go for fuelling.

A bit OT.. but I have another roadside-engineering-tip on offer as I was told: Never slot into reverse gear after the first cold start of the day. Slot into 1st. Move the vehicle forward an inch. And then go into REVERSE. Otherwise, it damages the gearbox!!!

This is actually done for the fact that slotting 1st and moving it forward eases the slotting of reverse gear in some cars especially those with notchy gears

[kicksperliter]

on 18/08, I had to drive down to my native which is in Penugonda, Anantpur dist. From there my village is around 40 kms and kind of remote. I wanted to fill in the diesel of my Tata Indica V2 Turbo at Andhra with a greediness of savings few Rupees. It was raining heavily previous evening and morning was little pleasant. I stopped at a HP Bunk and told the attender to top up my Car with Diesel, as per the fuel gauge, I might have been left with close to 10L in my Car.
I paid and started off my Journey. From the bunk to my village it was 106kms and stayed at my native for a day and started my journey back to Bangalore. So in total, I completed around 360+ kms from the Petrol bunk and home.
Next day I tried cranking my car and IT DIDN"T Start. I called Tata Helpline, they dropped at my home and checked the Fuel Pump and all that was coming out was WATER
They opened the tank and the Tank 3/4 of the tank is FULL OF WATER. I was shocked and astonished.
I knew where did this water come from, and took my i20 CRDI and drove off to the HP Petrol bunk where I had filled in the diesel.
The manager and attendee came rushing towards me after seeing me getting down of the car.
Before I started to spit fury on them, they came and apologized and mentioned due to heavy rain, the sub-tank had been empty of diesel, and it was filled with Rain water due to heavy rains previous night.
They said, sir few cars which had filled in diesel after me, got into trouble within few mins/hours and they had all of them complains on the HP Bunks.
The Manager said, he was worried about my car and was anxiously looking forward for me to return.
When I narrated my story, that I traveled 350kms plus with still 3/4 (34Ltrs) of water still intact in the tank (NOTE: I had close to 10lts of Diesel before brimming up). He was surprised.
He paid me 20,000/- as damages, coz that was the estimates provided to me by Tata. He duly disbursed the cash to their prompt response.
I got my TDI Fuel pump replaced with new pump which almost costed my 28,000/-.

The million dollar question is how on earth did Indica travel at almost 80-90km/hr speed covered 360+kms with almost tank full of water. Even the service engineers at astonished

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by kicksperliter

on 18/08, I had to drive down to my native which is in Penugonda, Anantpur dist. From there my village is around 40 kms and kind of remote. I wanted to fill in the diesel of my Tata Indica V2 Turbo at Andhra with a greediness of savings few Rupees. It was raining heavily previous evening and morning was little pleasant. I stopped at a HP Bunk and told the attender to top up my Car with Diesel, as per the fuel gauge, I might have been left with close to 10L in my Car.
I paid and started off my Journey. From the bunk to my village it was 106kms and stayed at my native for a day and started my journey back to Bangalore. So in total, I completed around 360+ kms from the Petrol bunk and home.
Next day I tried cranking my car and IT DIDN"T Start. I called Tata Helpline, they dropped at my home and checked the Fuel Pump and all that was coming out was WATER
They opened the tank and the Tank 3/4 of the tank is FULL OF WATER. I was shocked and astonished.
I knew where did this water come from, and took my i20 CRDI and drove off to the HP Petrol bunk where I had filled in the diesel.
The manager and attendee came rushing towards me after seeing me getting down of the car.
Before I started to spit fury on them, they came and apologized and mentioned due to heavy rain, the sub-tank had been empty of diesel, and it was filled with Rain water due to heavy rains previous night.
They said, sir few cars which had filled in diesel after me, got into trouble within few mins/hours and they had all of them complains on the HP Bunks.
The Manager said, he was worried about my car and was anxiously looking forward for me to return.
When I narrated my story, that I traveled 350kms plus with still 3/4 (34Ltrs) of water still intact in the tank (NOTE: I had close to 10lts of Diesel before brimming up). He was surprised.
He paid me 20,000/- as damages, coz that was the estimates provided to me by Tata. He duly disbursed the cash to their prompt response.
I got my TDI Fuel pump replaced with new pump which almost costed my 28,000/-.

The million dollar question is how on earth did Indica travel at almost 80-90km/hr speed covered 360+kms with almost tank full of water. Even the service engineers at astonished

Diesel is lighter than water and it floats and maybe that's one of the reason why you were able to drive for so long. Did you notice any loss of acceleration or other problems while driving