[krish82]

I live in chennai, i drive a getz, and once the low fuel warning was on, i went to a regular good busy bunk and asked them to fill. The tank capacity is supposed to be 45 litres and i think there should have atleast 2 litres of fuel left or could be more. i asked the fellow to fill till the brim and the total litres was more than 47 litres in the meter.

I didnt ask them anything or wish to argue to spoil my day, but choose not to fill from that bunk any more. Tampering of meters be at petrol stations, autos and even car odo meters are very common and easy with technologies now days. People think the one with the digital odo's cannot be tampered, but on the other had i came to know from my mechanic that tampering digital odo's are easiest with just connecting a laptop and resetting.

There are also caliberation for meters where you can caliberate it to a certain speeds, but i am not sure for what all meters its possible. Cheats are every where!

My questions
1. How is full tank calculated, till the brim or till auto cut off ?
2.How does auto cut off happen, does this cut off vary from bunk to bunk.
3. i have heard that differences on density of petrol varys from day and night. to what extent i can gain if i fill tank midnight?

[singh.amrit]

take a one litre water bottle to the pump, mark where it reaches a litre mark, ask them to pour a litre into it, this should solve the problems, do this immediately post filling your tank: reason below

How pumps cheat:

There is a circuit that can be installed in machines that makes the machine dispense lesser amount than being displayed, but it can be turned on/off via remote so when checking is conducted.. all the manager has to do is press a button from his cabin itself - applicable to digital metered pumps only

for older analog ones, gears are available that do the same, but are usually caught during inspection.


All above is true ( a close friend owns a pump :P )

[.anshuman]

Maybe the Autocut at the Pump was not working properly, due to this reason the attendant must have filled the tank till filler. This is normal, Most Cars can take upto 4-5litres more than the tank capacity if not stopped at autocut. The extra fuel is stored in the fuel pipe that connects filler to the tank.

[pnredkar]

Thanks for the replies.

tanwaramit: I checked the meter being turned to zero.

DRIV3R: No this petrol bunk is not the one that you mention.

gaddiwale & singh.amrit: Its too late now. This incident happened almost 24 hrs ago.

.anshuman: Hopefully, what you say is true. I will anyway keep a tab on the mileage and the fuel consumption.


I will keep everyone posted on this incident.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Maybe the Autocut at the Pump was not working properly, due to this reason the attendant must have filled the tank till filler. This is normal, Most Cars can take upto 4-5litres more than the tank capacity if not stopped at autocut. The extra fuel is stored in the fuel pipe that connects filler to the tank.

This is indeed true. But 4-5 liters in the fuel line? I thought it was around a litre.

[Musicmaker23]

I feel there's no way more than 1.5 litre of fuel can be filled after your tank is full. The extra fuel lies in the supply pipe. Max 2 litres (if my calculations are correct).

I had my i20 stall with ZERO fuel once. Filled 2.8 litres in water bottles. Went to top up at the nearest pump, stuck in some 43.4 litres till auto-cutoff. Tank capacity of the i20 is at 45. So i've maxed the tank capacity by just 1.2 litre (i suppose).
Tank sizes are not substantially increased by the heat. School physics teach us that gases suffer more changes with temp than liquids & liquids way more than solids! Does your car also increase substantially in size in the heat? I think not!

There's obviously something else at play here. I think its got to be the meter not being started at 'zero'. You have a bone to pick with the fuel pump!!

[aargee]

I've experienced this once on my motorcycle on Indian Oil petrol pump. In my case, I filled in for X amount of litres & paid the money, however when I divided paid money/X it was more than 1 litre of petrol that it was showing on the dispensing machine. I'd realized this only after I paid the money & this guy dispensing the money to the next guy. Lesson learnt - never fill in fuel in that specifc Indian oil outlet.

[honeybee]

You should be able to demand the results of their tests, or get the tests done in front of you, if you have any doubts about the quantity being dispensed. I believe you must be having some used mineral water bottles lying around in your car. Get them filled up. These bottles are usually a litre in size.

If you have to leave in a hurry and are not able to follow up the matter, register your complaint at the petrol pump and if possible get a written acknowledgement for the same. You could also take a photograph of the page of the complaint (just in case someone decides to tear it off).

I want to narrate two incidents that happened to my Uncle on one of the petrol pumps on the Mumbai - Pune expressway (while driving to Pune). Once he noticed that the automatic pump that checks and fills air into the tyres was not working, and there was no attendant nearby. He lodged a complaint with the petrol pump manager. Next time onwards, an attendant is always present at the place and the air pump is working.

On another occasion he was told the pump didn't have ordinary unleaded petrol and he could go for the premium 91 octane one. Again he wrote a complaint in the register about the same. Guess what? They have never run out of ordinary petrol after that.

I think each petrol pump is supposed to have a board displayed prominently which will let you know what you can do if you think the pump is not dispensing the petrol correctly, or the petrol is not pure. If these instructions are not displayed, lodge another complaint saying these instructions are missing.

And do follow up with the pump in question. Your follow up may save many other motorists from being duped, in case something fishy is going on.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by blackasta

This is indeed true. But 4-5 liters in the fuel line? I thought it was around a litre.

I don't know about Petrol cars but i have personally experienced this several times with Verna and Elantra. Every time i go for long highway drives i tank up till the filler. The first time i saw this i instantly started blaming the Fuel pump.

I am not talking about auto cut off point but maximum fuel that can be filled.

[sumitdongerkery]

Originally Posted by blackasta

This is indeed true. But 4-5 liters in the fuel line? I thought it was around a litre.

My Octy takes in almost 6+ liters after the auto cut off comfortably....

Cheers..

[xingamazon]

One of my friend had the same experience, when him and I went to the bunk for filling fuel, first we raised the issue telling this cant be the case that no way it can exceed the petrol tank limit.

Later we told him we will be going to the consumer court, but before that we asked him to give a bill detailing the litres of the fuel filled etc (which was around 5 ltr more than the tank capacity)
Funnily when we asked the for the detailed bill telling that was our evidence, he got cautious and he spoke to someone else who had filled with the same hose to other and then said sorry sir looks like that other guy filled before me and I did not set the zero properly.
Either ways demanding a detailed bill would surely scare them

[tanwaramit]

also I have got extra fuel filled after the auto cutoff so that the amount is closer to 100s multiples. The tank takes in extra fuel easily.

However taking in 4-5 liters more than the manufacturer specified tank limit is really something new for me.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Either ways demanding a detailed bill would surely scare them

The pump is anyways supposed to issue you a bill with details of the fuel dispensed, including date, type of fuel (petrol/diesel, ordinary/premium), number of litres, rate and total amount. Why do you have to 'demand' it?

Nowadays many of the pumps come up automatic bill printing. On pressing a button the pump will print out a bill detailing all this information for you.

[bornin70s]

Originally Posted by singh.amrit

How pumps cheat:

There is a circuit that can be installed in machines that makes the machine dispense lesser amount than being displayed, but it can be turned on/off via remote so when checking is conducted.. all the manager has to do is press a button from his cabin itself - applicable to digital metered pumps only

for older analog ones, gears are available that do the same, but are usually caught during inspection.


All above is true ( a close friend owns a pump :P )

Wow. Has this happened anywhere in Bangalore?
I'm quite shocked to hear it happens in Digital Dispersers as well.

[nkrishnap]

This seems to be a clear case of cheating at the bunk. This is a never ending menace at the petrol bunk even if somebody is alert.