Warning about fuel pumps !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Montana Owners Club

Ozz · 05-25-2007, 01:01 PM

Almost made a mistake today....
You know how we look for the Green pump handle at stations?
Wellll, BP Oil here in Lawrence Kansas, has Black handled Diesel pump handles, and Green handles on the regular gas.
I swiped the credit card, pulled the gas nozzle out and...it was small, I smelled it and WHOA..gas smell, not my lovely Diesel stink.
Went to the other side of the station's pumps after cancelling the sale and got the right fuel; at $2.99 a gallon................

Be careful.
Ozz, the smeller feller.

noneck · 05-25-2007, 01:24 PM

Now that is a nightmare!

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-25-2007, 01:51 PM

Not a nightmare until you actually pump 20 gallons of Hi-test into your diesel tank. As many on here already know I can truly say "BEEN THERE, DONE THAT" AND IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. Cost me a small fortune in towing and associated costs. I won't go into exactly how it happened except to say it was definitely my fault and no one else. I had a full tank, 26 gallons, of diesel/gasoline in the tank which cost me 4 bucks a gallon to have it disposed of and I still had to refill with 26 gallons of diesel.

You do the math...
20 gallons Hi Test at 2.39 a gallon
6 gallons of diesel at 2.70 a gallon
26 gallons of mixed fuel at 4.00 a gallon
26 gallons of fresh diesel at 2.70 a gallon
Towing cost of $75.00 (actually forgot I had Good Sam ERS)

Those figures do not include a new fuel filter and 4 hours labor.

As I said..."BEEN THERE, DONE THAT" AND IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

prariepoodle · 05-25-2007, 03:21 PM

We have to also say "BEEN THERE DONE THAT" while in Mississippi stopped at the same kind of station and saw the green handle, Walt got out and started pumping what he thought was DIESEL and after about 2 gallons noticed that it was gas. ooops, we about went crazy. then a truck driver told us that up north sometimes they have to add gas to diesel to thin it down a little. So we filled up the rest of the way with diesel and that was about 2 years ago and everything is still working good.

Charlie · 05-25-2007, 03:36 PM

One can get away with about a 15% mixture of gasoline in the diesel tank and it should not hurt anything. Main thing that the gasoline does is to boost the cetane rating.

I was in Florida a couple years ago with a friend and we stopped at a BP station to fill up. He did the same thing to his Duramax that Glen did, but stopped it at five gallons. He made a phone call to a lab tech that we worked with and he gave us the 15% number. The five gallons calculated to 19% so he took a chance, finished filling with diesel and down the road we went pulling a 26' boat. He did not put any extra stress on the engine but needless to say it was rather tense the first 100 miles, stopped filled up again with diesel, drove another 100 miles, filled up with diesel again.
His truck suffered no ill effects and now has over 100K miles on it without any repairs.

Cetane rating on that tank was probably over 50 maximum allowable.

Delaine and Lindy · 05-25-2007, 03:41 PM

Don't tell anyone, but in Aug of 05, we had a 2005 Dually and my brother was thought to be dying and I was trying to get to the Hospital and ran by the BP and Delaine was setting in the TV because it was very hot so left the Duramax running. I was cleaning the window and the Truck made a beeping sound and the engine shut off. I ask her did she turn it off and she said know. I had pumped 27 gals of gas in the diesel. Tow truck and $534.00 later and it was on Sunday. Oh well don't tell anyone, I now smell the handle before fueling. Been there and didn't like it, but I have done it. GBY...

ols1932 · 05-25-2007, 04:19 PM

Ever since I heard of this kind of thing, the one thing I do now is to look right at the pump that I'm going to use and make sure that it's diesel. This kind of horror story scares me. A couple years ago, a man pulled into a BP station, grabbed the green hose and filled both tanks with gasoline. Then he had the nerve to sue BP because they used green hoses on all their pumps and to him green meant diesel. Couldn't read, I guess. I can understand if someone is in a hurry and makes a mistake.

Thanks for the heads up.

Orv

sreigle · 05-26-2007, 03:14 AM

I have not yet pumped gasoline into my diesel's tank but twice caught it as I grabbed the green handle. Because of the posts on this forum I now look directly at the pump to see it says "diesel." The only thing we use green for is to spot which pump in a station has the diesel. Green and usually the separate pump or separation of hoses. I haven't done it yet but the potential is always there. Hopefully my paranoia about this will keep me checking carefully.

Bruce Lenhardt · 05-26-2007, 03:34 AM

I almost did the same thing a a BP in South Carolina. I now don't entirely go by the handle color.

trukdoc · 05-26-2007, 02:53 PM

Another thing to do if you put a bit of gas in your tank is add a little oil to your fuel. Counters the gas and adds back needed lubricity for the injector. Still not a good idea to put gas in a diesel engine.

simonsrf · 05-27-2007, 05:31 AM

To further complicate the issue, at a TA travel center in California, the diesel handles are yellow!...and the gasoline handles are black.

markwick · 05-27-2007, 08:03 AM

Wouldn't it be great if gas stations identified which island(s) have diesel pumps. I don't know how many times my wife has got out and gone to see which island we need to go to. When you are pulling a rig and the gas station is busy it can be pretty chaotic trying to pull in and find the right island as you cant't really rely on looking for a green pump anymore.

BP, Shell, Arco, Chevron etc take note!!!

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