Small disaster

I lost £250 yesterday: I was at Sainsbury’s and after the shopping, I went to get some fuel as the tank was all but empty and I filled to with ... diesel... and I drove off... I actually managed just a little over 15 yards, and it stopped.

A one hour wait, £170 to drain and flush, £40 worth of diesel gone and another £40 worth of petrol required...

The only bright part came when a Jehovah's Witness appeared with some tract and started on about God (who was completely absent when the diesel was going in.) I mentioned this and he smiled as if I had just told him that I had received a telepathic message from Mars - then fortunately the guy from the flushing company arrived and I had reality to deal with...

He sucked the tank dry, pushed out the stuff through the Schraeder valve on the left of the cylinder head, and then stuck a gallon of petrol in the tank.

The flushing guy was an interesting bloke: and kept me entertained with stories of breakdowns and his life as a motorbike mechanic, I asked him how many call-outs he has in a day, he told me that today he had had 4 but the other day he had had 10! I asked what he did with the fuel – He collects “mainly petrol” in one tank on the van and “mainly diesel” in the other – he then sells the stuff to a company that separate them and resell them to supermarkets. You can do the accounting but assuming 5 a day = £850 less VAT = £680 per day with costs being the van (and insurance which will be high), the pumping equipment, his wages, premises, and it all looks quite profitable.

The car's running fine now.

Jehovah,s hanging around petrol pumps, is that the lazy way to piss us off, I mean drum up business or was he getting fuel as well and decided to offer some words of wisdom :grin:

PaulQ said:

I lost £250 yesterday: I was at Sainsbury’s and after the shopping, I went to get some fuel as the tank was all but empty and I filled to with ... diesel... and I drove off... I actually managed just a little over 15 yards, and it stopped.

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I got a question. The diesel pump head is much wider than petrol pump head at the stations.
So you can't put diesel into petrol engines. Petrol into diesel yes, but not diesel into petrol.

Even the Puma owners guide mentions this on page 83: "Vehicles with petrol engines have a filler neck with a narrow opening, which is compatible with the nozzle on ONLY UNLEADED fuel pumps".

So how did you manage it?

Yes, I thought that too. At the time, it didn't seem strange as I rarely poke the nozzle all the way in (as the bishop said to the actress) But the pump nozzle sits nicely on the top of the green plastic insert/restrictor at the top of the inlet pipe.

I was distracted by my sodding Nectar card on a "Pay at the Pump" deal. The card refused to read, so after putting it in every possible way, I gave up in frustration and just got on with it.

zinc2000 said:

Jehovah,s hanging around petrol pumps, is that the lazy way to piss us off, I mean drum up business or was he getting fuel as well and decided to offer some words of wisdom :grin:

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I was in the car park - having been pushed there from the forecourt - he saw I was in trouble and therefore came over, I assume, in the hopes of catching me at a moment of despair and thus offer Biblical advice.

Come to think of it, aren't the JW's the ones who don't believe in transfusions? And yet the Puma needed a complete transfusion of petrol!

Im so glad my car has the Easyfuel capless system, its impossible to put the wrong nozzle in

I just read up on this system, cool, bit like a chastity belt for cars........only the correct "nozzle" will go in :grin:

No getting your hands dirty on filler caps too

next time...fill up before the pub.....

zinc2000 said:

I just read up on this system...

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So did I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlK2qekqX5s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll stick with remembering to pick up a green pump, marked Unleaded.

I like your story :grin: (not the part where you broke down and it cost you more money but you know)

Especially the intervention of the JW lol.

Who is this Jehovah guy?
Can't be very bright when he commits crimes and there's an awfull lot of witnesses mulling about in the strangest places.
Surprised he hasn't been caught yet :lol:

PaulQ said:

...God (who was completely absent when the diesel was going in.)...

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That made my day! :grin:
Verdict - Devil has something to do with the diesel :twisted: By the way, VW has a lot to say about that these days :wink:

PaulQ said:

...a Jehovah's Witness appeared...he smiled... He sucked the tank dry,..

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I know it sounds too good to be true, but also is true to be good :lol:

PaulQ said:

The car's running fine now.

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Ende gut, alles gut Better luck next time!

PaulQ said:

...Come to think of it, aren't the JW's the ones who don't believe in transfusions? And yet the Puma needed a complete transfusion of petrol!

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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHA :lol:
Come to think of it, as long as JWs reject blood transfusion, they`d rather not change the engine oil :wink:

zinc2000 said:

...a chastity belt for cars........

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A little off-topic:

A knight is preparing for a crusade so he tells his butler:
- Here is my lady`s chastity belt`s key, keep it as if it were the apple of your own eye!
Riding on his way out, the knight hears his butler shouting:
- Pardon me, milord, but you seem to have given me the wrong key!... :wink:

As the final word, I was at the same pump the other day and, out of idle curiosity, I tried the diesel pump to see how I managed it, as the neck of the pipe has a green plastic restricter in it. The diesel nozzle is stopped by the restricter, but only to the extent of preventing it from going fully in. As I usually only put the nozzle in a short way, I didn't notice the difference.

PaulQ said:

As the final word, I was at the same pump the other day and, out of idle curiosity, I tried the diesel pump to see how I managed it, as the neck of the pipe has a green plastic restricter in it. The diesel nozzle is stopped by the restricter, but only to the extent of preventing it from going fully in. As I usually only put the nozzle in a short way, I didn't notice the difference.

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Cue the smutty comments