Thoughts about an "anti-misfueling" gizmo

[rwolff]

Many years ago (late '90s), I saw a gizmo on the clearance table at Canadian Tire. Basically, it was a rubber trough with a loop to hold it around the fuel filler. It had stand-off legs, and a "key" at the free end to wind it up for storage (would self-deploy when the fuel door was opened). Its purpose was so that any splashed fuel would drain away without getting on the paint.

I've heard a number of stories about either people new to diesels, or with inattentive friends/family, who put RUG in their TDI. Something like this rubber gizmo, in fuel-can yellow with "DIESEL" in big black letters (2-shot moulding) would be an extra reminder. Any idea if there's a source for such a thing?

 

[40X40]

Many years ago (late '90s), I saw a gizmo on the clearance table at Canadian Tire. Basically, it was a rubber trough with a loop to hold it around the fuel filler. It had stand-off legs, and a "key" at the free end to wind it up for storage (would self-deploy when the fuel door was opened). Its purpose was so that any splashed fuel would drain away without getting on the paint.

I've heard a number of stories about either people new to diesels, or with inattentive friends/family, who put RUG in their TDI. Something like this rubber gizmo, in fuel-can yellow with "DIESEL" in big black letters (2-shot moulding) would be an extra reminder. Any idea if there's a source for such a thing?

Preferred Solution: Pay attention to the task at hand.

Effectiveness= 100%
Cost= $0.00

https://www.google.com/search?clien...en&q=diesel+fuel+only+sticker&revid=753038866

Bill

 

[MichaelB]

Many years ago (late '90s), I saw a gizmo on the clearance table at Canadian Tire. Basically, it was a rubber trough with a loop to hold it around the fuel filler. It had stand-off legs, and a "key" at the free end to wind it up for storage (would self-deploy when the fuel door was opened). Its purpose was so that any splashed fuel would drain away without getting on the paint.

I've heard a number of stories about either people new to diesels, or with inattentive friends/family, who put RUG in their TDI. Something like this rubber gizmo, in fuel-can yellow with "DIESEL" in big black letters (2-shot moulding) would be an extra reminder. Any idea if there's a source for such a thing?

Well this strange post...............most of the newer cars come with a misfueling device either installed by a TSB or from the factory and everybody here wants to know how to eliminate it. Go figure! If you search this forum you will see.

 

[Rico567]

^^^^^

I agree with the preceding two posts:

1. There is a misfueling device incorporated on our Passat (first diesel we've owned).

2. If I pay attention to which pump / nozzle I'm using, the device in #1 above merely becomes a redundancy.

This is an answer in search of a problem, IMHO.

 

[Conrad -JSW]

Preferred Solution: Pay attention to the task at hand.

Effectiveness= 100%
Cost= $0.00

https://www.google.com/search?clien...en&q=diesel+fuel+only+sticker&revid=753038866

Bill

That's a BIG +1! I still don't get how folks can missfuel their cars. You KNOW that you're driving a diesel right? Pay attention and turn off of your automatic pilot when you pull into a fuel station and you won't have a problem.

 

[maybe368]

Many years ago (late '90s), I saw a gizmo on the clearance table at Canadian Tire. Basically, it was a rubber trough with a loop to hold it around the fuel filler. It had stand-off legs, and a "key" at the free end to wind it up for storage (would self-deploy when the fuel door was opened). Its purpose was so that any splashed fuel would drain away without getting on the paint.

I've heard a number of stories about either people new to diesels, or with inattentive friends/family, who put RUG in their TDI. Something like this rubber gizmo, in fuel-can yellow with "DIESEL" in big black letters (2-shot moulding) would be an extra reminder. Any idea if there's a source for such a thing?

Don't listen to the negativers, search it out to see if it exists already, make a prototype and take it to that BillyBob teeth guy, sounds pretty redneck to me. That is one of his criteria, cheap, easy to make. a need and will a redneck buy it. There is obviously a need because people find a way to put gas in a diesel vehicle. If you get rich, buy me a 6 pack...Mark

 

[tdiatlast]

"Negativer" here. The only way to keep RUG out of your tank is to fill it yourself.

I don't buy the argument that some contraption will somehow prevent an inattentive person from putting RUG in your tank. If they're THAT inattentive, they wouldn't remember the "gizmo", nor would they understand how to use it.

What people forget, also, is that ANY contraption that is used will always be wet with fuel after use, which requires adequate clean-up. Again, no one will take the time to do that either. "Gizmos" frequently become a PITA in real use.

My misfueling device is my brain. When it fails, I'll deal the consequences.

 

[n1das]

I have the misfuel prevention device in my BMW 535d and X5d. They work as designed with the standard car diesel nozzle (formerly the old leaded gasoline size nozzle). BMW thoughtfully supplied an adapter to use if your are stuck somewhere and have to use the big truck nozzle instead.

I've used the adapter a couple of times but not because of only finding truck diesel pumps. I've had to use it in a few cases where the pump nozzle was the correct size but wouldn't fit due to it being damaged from being banged on the pavement. The problem has ranged from being a difficult fit to the nozzle being flattened so badly that it wouldn't fit at all and I had to use the adapter. I've also had one case where I was definitely at a car diesel pump and used the adapter because the nozzle was the smaller RUG nozzle instead of the correct diesel nozzle.

My BMWs are currently bone stock and the misfuel prevention device is enough of a PITA that I want to remove it and make the filler neck like an A4 TDI. It may become my first BMW diesel mod.

 

[MichaelB]

I have the misfuel prevention device in my BMW 535d and X5d. They work as designed with the standard car diesel nozzle (formerly the old leaded gasoline size nozzle). BMW thoughtfully supplied an adapter to use if your are stuck somewhere and have to use the big truck nozzle instead.

I've used the adapter a couple of times but not because of only finding truck diesel pumps. I've had to use it in a few cases where the pump nozzle was the correct size but wouldn't fit due to it being damaged from being banged on the pavement. The problem has ranged from being a difficult fit to the nozzle being flattened so badly that it wouldn't fit at all and I had to use the adapter. I've also had one case where I was definitely at a car diesel pump and used the adapter because the nozzle was the smaller RUG nozzle instead of the correct diesel nozzle.

My BMWs are currently bone stock and the misfuel prevention device is enough of a PITA that I want to remove it and make the filler ne
ck like an A4 TDI. It may become my first BMW diesel mod.

Well I have never had any of the problems you have tried to scare us with. Both my 2010 Jetta Sportwagen and my 2014 Passat have worked flawlessly with the VW anti wrong fuel device installed on my cars. I have only used my fueling adapter once and it made a mess. I only carry it for emergency, sorta like a spare tire. I don't know where you buy your fuel but it seems like you have problems the rest of us don't have.

 

[IFRCFI]

I still don't get how folks can missfuel their cars.

And yet, it happens over and over again. Not sure why some of you feel "insulted" by warning stickers, and preventative devices. Moments of distraction happen to people, even you.

The misfuel devices work. I've only had to leave one station, where a RUG handle was improperly being used on an auto-diesel pump.

 

[Conrad -JSW]

And yet, it happens over and over again. Not sure why some of you feel "insulted" by warning stickers, and preventative devices. Moments of distraction happen to people, even you.

The misfuel devices work. I've only had to leave one station, where a RUG handle was improperly being used on an auto-diesel pump.

I'm not insulted at all. People have to be protected from themselves and that's how it is.

In the 15 years or so that I've been driving a diesels not once have I even come close to fueling them with RUG. I'm fully aware that I'm driving a diesel and I pull up to the diesel pump. I don't drive on automatic pilot and I don't 'hang' on my cell phone.

 

[SkeeterMark]

It's not necessarily protecting ourselves from ourselves (though in some cases, that is true) as most anyone on this site is rarely going to misfuel their car. However, please keep in mind that the members of TDIclub are not a representative sample of ALL TDI owners. From VW's standpoint, providing warnings or mechanisms to reduce the chance to misfuel the vehicle is prudent.

Additionally, I (like many here) have driving age children, a wife, and there's always a slight chance I would loan my car to a friend . The misfueling device in the filler neck is a good reminder for those that might not "remember" they are in a diesel car. It has never been a PITA for me, works flawlessly, and I've only had to use my adapter twice. Like others here, once at a station where the "vehicle" nozzle diesel was out of order and I had to use the truck nozzle, and once where they had a RUG nozzle on the diesel pump, which I notified them of, and they actually changed within 1 week. It's one of my regular stops and someone had changed it in a hurry when it was damaged and put the wrong one on.

 

[n1das]

Well I have never had any of the problems you have tried to scare us with. Both my 2010 Jetta Sportwagen and my 2014 Passat have worked flawlessly with the VW anti wrong fuel device installed on my cars. I have only used my fueling adapter once and it made a mess. I only carry it for emergency, sorta like a spare tire. I don't know where you buy your fuel but it seems like you have problems the rest of us don't have.

Not trying to scare anybody. I'm simply telling it like it is so please don't shoot the messenger. I get my fuel ONLY at busy stations along major routes which have high volume and high turnover of their diesel fuel. Naturally the pump nozzles get used and abused a lot more at these stations. The RUG nozzle I encountered once on a diesel pump which required me to use the adapter was at a busy truck stop during a cross country drive I did last year....not at a station I normally fuel up at.

The BMWs have a flap in the restrictor that won't open unless the correct size nozzle is used. IIRC, a 2010 JSW TDI has the filler neck sized to accept nothing larger than the correct size nozzle and doesn't have a flap to prevent a smaller RUG nozzle from going in. In the case of my RUG nozzle on a diesel pump encounter last year, the nozzle wouldn't fit in the BMW without the adapter but will fit into a JSW TDI due to the JSW not having a flap to block entry. I don't know how it would fit on a 2014 TDI.

Bottom line is I want to remove the restrictor in the filler neck in my cars to have total flexibility in what diesel nozzle gets used by ME, like my 02 Golf and 05 PD Jetta Wagen TDIs years ago. I'm the only person who drives and fuels my cars and I pay attention to what I'm doing to make absolutely d@mn sure the correct fuel goes in.

 

[LarBear]

Until I removed the misfueling adapter on the Jetta I stood right by the nozzle worrying that is was going to fall out of the adapter that it seemed to be barely inside of. As soon as I read on the Forum how to remove the adapter I jury rigged some tools to remove it. It now lives a happy life in a plastic bag in the trunk. My wife refuses to put fuel, gas or diesel, in a vehicle "it smells bad", so I happily refuel the Jetta. Nobody borrows the Jetta, that's what the Toyota POS is for. Nobody has asked me to borrow my car since the early 1960's, and my brother didn't have the decency to put any gas in it after running it nearly dry.

 

[Dirtracr95]

Im fine with the misfueling adapter in my car. Ive only twice had to hold the flap open and carefully use the truck nozzle to get a couple gallons in to go to the next station. Its never been a problem otherwise I see no need to remove it. I actually perfer it remain in there just in case I let someone borrow my car.

 

[Conrad -JSW]

It's not necessarily protecting ourselves from ourselves (though in some cases, that is true) as most anyone on this site is rarely going to misfuel their car. However, please keep in mind that the members of TDIclub are not a representative sample of ALL TDI owners. From VW's standpoint, providing warnings or mechanisms to reduce the chance to misfuel the vehicle is prudent.

Additionally, I (like many here) have driving age children, a wife, and there's always a slight chance I would loan my car to a friend . The misfueling device in the filler neck is a good reminder for those that might not "remember" they are in a diesel car. It has never been a PITA for me, works flawlessly, and I've only had to use my adapter twice. Like others here, once at a station where the "vehicle" nozzle diesel was out of order and I had to use the truck nozzle, and once where they had a RUG nozzle on the diesel pump, which I notified them of, and they actually changed within 1 week. It's one of my regular stops and someone had changed it in a hurry when it was damaged and put the wrong one on.

Good points! We need to be protected from ourselves and from others who might use our cars.

 

[romad]

Good points! We need to be protected from ourselves and from others who might use our cars.

That is why Oregon and New Jersey require only special and rigorously trained professionals to fuel vehicles (well, at least gassers; can't have them putting diesel in their fuel tanks).

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

And the one time I've fueled up in NJ in my '12 Golf the well trained professional had the unleaded pump nozzle in the filler when I yelled at him to stop. He was offended. I was out of the car to put additive in before he filled it up. Good thing.

40x40 has the right idea. Pay attention. I've yet to misfuel a diesel in 40 years of on and off ownership. I didn't have the restrictor retrofitted in my Golf, and the stickers are in a drawer.

 

[jhinsc]

That is why Oregon and New Jersey require only special and rigorously trained professionals to fuel vehicles (well, at least gassers; can't have them putting diesel in their fuel tanks).

It's a stupid "make work" program for both states. Have you seen the people pumping fuel in these states? In Oregon, I mostly see young kids during the afternoon and early evenings - part time work after school, but late at night, you can see some scary people ready to fuel up your car! The only place I've filled up in NJ is on the turnpike, just before heading into NY, and only because it's cheaper than in NY. But I never get a full fill-up - I suspect their pumps flow faster and they don't top off.

 

[n1das]

It's a stupid "make work" program for both states. Have you seen the people pumping fuel in these states? In Oregon, I mostly see young kids during the afternoon and early evenings - part time work after school, but late at night, you can see some scary people ready to fuel up your car! The only place I've filled up in NJ is on the turnpike, just before heading into NY, and only because it's cheaper than in NY. But I never get a full fill-up - I suspect their pumps flow faster and they don't top off.

It actually has nothing to do with making work for people but it's one of the possible unintended side effects. NJ's and OR's law prohibit the public from dispensing flammable liquid fuels into on-road vehicles. Gasoline is considered flammable but diesel is not (but is still considered COMBUSTIBLE), according to their respective flash point temperatures. That's why NJ's and OR's no self-serve law doesn't apply to diesel fuel.

 

[romad]

It actually has nothing to do with making work for people but it's one of the possible unintended side effects. NJ's and OR's law prohibit the public from dispensing flammable liquid fuels into on-road vehicles. Gasoline is considered flammable but diesel is not (but is still considered COMBUSTIBLE), according to their respective flash point temperatures. That's why NJ's and OR's no self-serve law doesn't apply to diesel fuel.

One thing I've never understood is why it is only dangerous vis-a-vis on-road vehicles? Why is it perfectly safe for off-road vehicles, watercraft, lawnmowers, garden tractors, chainsaws, weedeaters, generators, etc.? Does gasoline in NJ/OR magically become less flammable when it sees that it will go into anything other than an on-road vehicle?

 

[jhinsc]

It actually has nothing to do with making work for people but it's one of the possible unintended side effects. NJ's and OR's law prohibit the public from dispensing flammable liquid fuels into on-road vehicles. Gasoline is considered flammable but diesel is not (but is still considered COMBUSTIBLE), according to their respective flash point temperatures. That's why NJ's and OR's no self-serve law doesn't apply to diesel fuel.

I guess NJ and OR are smarter then the rest of the country. They can use any reason they want to justify it. Gas is actually flammable whether you dispense it or not, so the safety aspect of it is very questionable. Maybe NJ and OR had too many cars/people go up in flames?