[SDP]

4-5 litres in pipes is highly unlikely and you would have known the capacity of the pipes in the 6 years of ownership anyways.
If the "digital circuit controlled by a remote" thingy mentioned by the t-bhpian with a petrol-pump owner friend is true, then filling a water bottle immediately won't help as the pump would have been "reset" by that time.
Generally defacing the reputation of the pump by posting on forums and newspapers would also not help much because of general lack of awareness around us.
Lodging a complaint not with the pump, but with the HP/BP/IOC should help to reduce future occurances, but you are unlikely to get justice for yourselves even in this scenario.
I can think of a solution (albeit a impractical one) to prove your claim then and there itself. If the filled tank can be emptied out and the fuel measured, one can possibly prove that he/she got short-changed. Since you had residual 3-4 litres in the tank, it won't be accurate, but still it will definitely remove all doubts about the tank+pipe capacity.

PS : Its monday! Any updates?

[pnredkar]

Originally Posted by SDP

PS : Its monday! Any updates?

Unfortunately, I am stuck up in office and won't be able to leave until late at night. Will follow up tomorrow (hopefully).

[vasanthn21]

If you figure out that the petrol bunk was at fault, I believe all the Bangloreans would be interested in knowing the name of the bunk so as to avoid it.

Update us on the outcome.

Thanks in advance

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by blackasta

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

Though I don't over-fill, I tested it once and I saw that my car can hold about 4 liters in the fuel line before petrol starts overflowing.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

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

Originally Posted by SDP

4-5 litres in pipes is highly unlikely

Those who don't believe it try it with your cars next time. I am posting old pictures of Verna where the fuel warning light just came on, meaning the car had 5-7litres fuel already. This happens with most cars, two other fellow BHPians have testified the same in post #40 and #49 of this same thread.





Please do not waste consumer court's time before checking your fuel pipe capacity.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

No Car manufacturer will give it to a customer in writing the EXACT capcaity of the Fuel Tank, reason Being none of them calibrate their Fuel Tanks and hence The figure mentioned in the Manual is an approximation. Now add to That the fuel pipe, in my experience i have seen cars taking in extra fuel to the tune of 3-5 Litres.

If you are ever in doubt of the quantity being dispensed ask the manager to bring out the 5 litre calibrated Measure ( each pump has one) and get it filled in front of your eyes, If You are still not satisfied Please lodge a complaint in the complain Book present at the pump and it would be taken up seriously.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Though I don't over-fill, I tested it once and I saw that my car can hold about 4 liters in the fuel line before petrol starts overflowing.

Even I have observed that after the auto cut off I am able to fill about 3-4 litres extra till the petrol reaches the brim. I have a Santro. And I have had a similar experience with my earlier M800 as well. So we need some other stronger evidence before we start blaming the petrol pump.

[pnredkar]

I have driven 66.9km after the incident on Saturday. I know by experience that the fuel gauge is fairly accurate with markings for 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 litres and full tank. The gauge still shows more than full tank!

My car in my driving style and driving conditions gives less than 10kmpl (typically 9.5kmpl). So even by conservative estimate, the car can hold more than 6 litres above the auto cutoff.

So it seems that the only problem with the petrol bunk was that the auto-cutoff was not working!

Even in this case, I will go and meet the manager. I still want to know about the checks that petrol bunks perform to ensure the fuel quantity and quality.

Originally Posted by pnredkar

Hi folks,

It seems that my fuel tank has expanded due to Bangalore summer from 46 litres to more than 50 litres. Or atleast one petrol pump in Bangalore wants me to believe this.

Background:
I have been driving an Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI for more than 6 years now. It has a fuel tank capacity of 46 litres. It is my habit of over 6 years to always full-tank it till auto-cutoff. My low fuel warning lamp comes on when there is about 6 litres petrol still left. In my experience, the tank takes about 40 litres in such condition. Even driving for some distance after the low fuel warning, I have never required to fill more than 42 litres in the life span of this car.

About yesterday:
I generally fill petrol at Shell petrol bunks. However, due to the increase in Shell fuel prices, I decided to go back to one of our national petrol bunks. If had asked the person to fill fuel till auto-cutoff.

To my surprise, the fuel did not auto-cutoff even when the counter showed 47 litres. So according to the numbers shown, my tank would have to have about 53 litres of fuel then. I raised a hue-and-cry about the whole episode. The manager of the petrol pump came to the scene.

To his credit, he was calm and courteous during this whole episode and assured me that he will check the matter in detail. He offered me to perform some (density and other) tests in front of me. He also informed that they perform detailed checks about the fuel disposed in the day. He would present me the detailed reports if I come on Monday.

Finally, he asked me how much would I like to pay for the petrol already dispensed. I was with my wife and kid then and did not want to prolongate the matter then. Due to his courteous manners, I decided to pay the entire amount subject to the conditions that he show me the reports on Monday and refund me in case of any anomalies.

Questions:
This has raised some questions which I thought would be wise to raise on this forum:
(1) Do you see any better way in which I could have handled this situation?
(2) If I do not get a good response on Monday, how can I proceed in this matter?
(3) It there any reliable way in which I can find out how much fuel is actually present in my fuel tank?
(4) What are the nature and significance of the tests done at petrol pump?


As you can see that I have refrained from mentioning the name of the petrol bunk till now. However, if I do not get adequate follow up from the manager, I will release the details of the petrol bunk atleast on this forum.

On the positive side, I found one more advantage of filling petrol full-tank each time

Regards,
Prasad.

[pnredkar]

Originally Posted by pnredkar

Hi folks,

It seems that my fuel tank has expanded due to Bangalore summer from 46 litres to more than 50 litres. Or atleast one petrol pump in Bangalore wants me to believe this.

Background:
I have been driving an Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI for more than 6 years now. It has a fuel tank capacity of 46 litres. It is my habit of over 6 years to always full-tank it till auto-cutoff. My low fuel warning lamp comes on when there is about 6 litres petrol still left. In my experience, the tank takes about 40 litres in such condition. Even driving for some distance after the low fuel warning, I have never required to fill more than 42 litres in the life span of this car.

About yesterday:
I generally fill petrol at Shell petrol bunks. However, due to the increase in Shell fuel prices, I decided to go back to one of our national petrol bunks. If had asked the person to fill fuel till auto-cutoff.

To my surprise, the fuel did not auto-cutoff even when the counter showed 47 litres. So according to the numbers shown, my tank would have to have about 53 litres of fuel then. I raised a hue-and-cry about the whole episode. The manager of the petrol pump came to the scene.

To his credit, he was calm and courteous during this whole episode and assured me that he will check the matter in detail. He offered me to perform some (density and other) tests in front of me. He also informed that they perform detailed checks about the fuel disposed in the day. He would present me the detailed reports if I come on Monday.

Finally, he asked me how much would I like to pay for the petrol already dispensed. I was with my wife and kid then and did not want to prolongate the matter then. Due to his courteous manners, I decided to pay the entire amount subject to the conditions that he show me the reports on Monday and refund me in case of any anomalies.

Questions:
This has raised some questions which I thought would be wise to raise on this forum:
(1) Do you see any better way in which I could have handled this situation?
(2) If I do not get a good response on Monday, how can I proceed in this matter?
(3) It there any reliable way in which I can find out how much fuel is actually present in my fuel tank?
(4) What are the nature and significance of the tests done at petrol pump?


As you can see that I have refrained from mentioning the name of the petrol bunk till now. However, if I do not get adequate follow up from the manager, I will release the details of the petrol bunk atleast on this forum.

On the positive side, I found one more advantage of filling petrol full-tank each time

Regards,
Prasad.

Originally Posted by pnredkar

I have driven 66.9km after the incident on Saturday. I know by experience that the fuel gauge is fairly accurate with markings for 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 litres and full tank. The gauge still shows more than full tank!

My car in my driving style and driving conditions gives less than 10kmpl (typically 9.5kmpl). So even by conservative estimate, the car can hold more than 6 litres above the auto cutoff.

So it seems that the only problem with the petrol bunk was that the auto-cutoff was not working!

Even in this case, I will go and meet the manager. I still want to know about the checks that petrol bunks perform to ensure the fuel quantity and quality.

Today, I finally found some time to visit the petrol bunk and visit the manager. I informed him that I was satisfied with the quantity of petrol (today 130km reading at 40ltr mark = approx. 53 ltrs capacity = more than 6 ltrs above auto-cutoff).

I took this opportunity to inquire about the various checks that are performed. I learned new things and am sharing these with the member of team-bhp.

There are three main checks that are performed:
(1) Quality check: This involves the density check. The permissible range of density for petrol is 710 to 775 gm/litre at 15 degree temperature. For diesel, it is 822 to 845 gm/litre. They have a huge handbook (some Indian standard) which gives the various density numbers at various temperature. They check the density and temperature of any new load of fuel. They check the same for the existing load. And finally they check it after the load is emptied into the tank.

This check is mainly to ensure that there is no adulteration. (I was informed that adulteration may include mixing diesel with petrol to get higher return).

In the bunk that I visited they had an automatic indication of the instantaneous density for each fuel. Sure, I never noticed it earlier.

(2) Purity check: This is performed by putting one drop of fuel on a filter paper. If the fuel is pure, the drop should spread quickly and the paper should not change its colour.

(3) Quantity check: This involves filling a 5-litre container to check the exact dispensed quantity. You can demand this test if you have a doubt about the dispensed quantity.


Luckily for me, the HP mobile check van was visiting for a surprise check at the bunk. They had just finished the tests at this bunk. The quality inspector spent some time explaining the checks that were performed at various stages of manufacturing and the transportation process. He also explained the difference between the BS-IV vs BS-III fuels. He finally showed me some (confidential) report about the bunk. All numbers were within the strictest tolerances.

More importantly, the numbers about the variation in the quantity was NIL. Overall, this was the most fruitful half-hour that I have spent in any petrol bunk. I left the bunk as a happy customer.

[ssjr0498]

Which HP bunk is this!

Just wanted to know so that some of us could also go!

Cheers
Shrey

Originally Posted by pnredkar

Today, I finally found some time to visit the petrol bunk and visit the manager. I informed him that I was satisfied with the quantity of petrol (today 130km reading at 40ltr mark = approx. 53 ltrs capacity = more than 6 ltrs above auto-cutoff).

I took this opportunity to inquire about the various checks that are performed. I learned new things and am sharing these with the member of team-bhp.

There are three main checks that are performed:
(1) Quality check: This involves the density check. The permissible range of density for petrol is 710 to 775 gm/litre at 15 degree temperature. For diesel, it is 822 to 845 gm/litre. They have a huge handbook (some Indian standard) which gives the various density numbers at various temperature. They check the density and temperature of any new load of fuel. They check the same for the existing load. And finally they check it after the load is emptied into the tank.

This check is mainly to ensure that there is no adulteration. (I was informed that adulteration may include mixing diesel with petrol to get higher return).

In the bunk that I visited they had an automatic indication of the instantaneous density for each fuel. Sure, I never noticed it earlier.

(2) Purity check: This is performed by putting one drop of fuel on a filter paper. If the fuel is pure, the drop should spread quickly and the paper should not change its colour.

(3) Quantity check: This involves filling a 5-litre container to check the exact dispensed quantity. You can demand this test if you have a doubt about the dispensed quantity.


Luckily for me, the HP mobile check van was visiting for a surprise check at the bunk. They had just finished the tests at this bunk. The quality inspector spent some time explaining the checks that were performed at various stages of manufacturing and the transportation process. He also explained the difference between the BS-IV vs BS-III fuels. He finally showed me some (confidential) report about the bunk. All numbers were within the strictest tolerances.

More importantly, the numbers about the variation in the quantity was NIL. Overall, this was the most fruitful half-hour that I have spent in any petrol bunk. I left the bunk as a happy customer.

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by ssjr0498

Which HP bunk is this!

Just wanted to know so that some of us could also go!

Cheers
Shrey

Ans on the first post.

BP petrol station named Ajeya Service Station, No 15, Ramamurthy Nagar Main Road, Banasawadi, Bangalore - 43(Near Banasawadi-ring road junction).

[Hurrycane12]

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Ans on the first post.

BP petrol station named Ajeya Service Station, No 15, Ramamurthy Nagar Main Road, Banasawadi, Bangalore - 43(Near Banasawadi-ring road junction).

Query is on which "HP" petrol bunk not "BP"

[benzbala]

Guys my optra 1.8 fills in 14 litres of petrol after auto cut off!!!! am using it for more than 5 years and i usually fill it to the brim and its usually + or - 0.5 litres after auto cut off..... why is that like this?

[qqplus]

Hi

A simple question.

A lot of times we see people shaking up the car to ensure the fuel tank gets filled up to the max level.

Now, technically speaking,

I want to know whether this really results in more fuel getting accommodated in the fuel tank of the car?

Kind Regards,
Apurva.

Note from Moderator: Threads merged. Please continue the discussion here. Thanks

[VW2010]

I want to know whether this really results in more fuel getting accommodated in the fuel tank of the car?

I usually stop after the fuel nozzle get released once the safety point is hit. After that point its just the air that people try to release to accomodate a little more fuel.'

Does it work?. Yes it does accomodate a little more. May be around a litre more