Apparently, the new turbodiesel 2007 Range Rover TDV8 is so refined that Land Rover is afraid customers might mistake it for a petrol unit and accidentally fill petrol into the tank, especially if the driver is not a regular user of the vehicle. As ridiculous as it sounds, there was over 100,000 cases of mis-fueling reported in 2005. Needless to say, the cost of reversing such a muck-up can be very very painful to your bank account.
Which is why Land Rover has come up with something they call the petrol fuel guard system, which comes with the Range Rover TDV8. The petrol fuel guard system activates when a petrol nozzle is inserted into the fuel tank – it differenciates a petrol nozzle and a diesel nozzle by how deep the nozzle goes into the fuel tank – a petrol nozzle is thinner but longer, while a diesel’s is shotter but fatter. If a petrol nozzle is detected, a mechanical shutter is automatically activated, preventing petrol from getting into the fuel tank.
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By adding such kind of "petrol fuel guard system", it might be painful to your bank account too! Ha..ha..ha… :P
Never really see that there's a different in the nozzles, but most of the petrol stations here employed a safety case-like on the diesel nozzle, just in case someone decided to run on cheaper fuel.
But for diesel vehicles putting in petrol, there is no dummy proof devices (*until now) to prevent an accidental squirting of petrol into the diesel tank.
Have known a friend, out of good will, pour full tank of petrol into a LR TD4!
Out of good will, he got the stalled car towed and its tank flushed, plus engine and parts replaced… a whooping 10K.!!
And we have also heard of a motorcylist sputtering into a workshop complaining abt the poor performance of the bike.
Upon nearer inspection, the mechanic smelt diesel in the bike's tank.
Good devise. If the automotive and the Gas giants could unify the design of the nozzle and receptive, it would be better. Triangle against round nozzles..
…easy maa how to avoid this case….build separate gas station…1 for diesel…one for patrol…one for gas….one for kerosine…..and one for airplane…haa..haa…haaaa…opps…hope this thing not happen with my lovely car…..dont let other company borrow ur car……
hey, don't we have color code for different types of petrol at some petrol stations ? black for diesel, green for unleaded and red for leaded, etc. Can just color the petrol inlet at the car ! or the fuel cap. If color blind also susah then again if color blind cannot drive liao….
Since the size of the petrol and diesel nozzles are different, car manufacturers should make the fuel inlet (hole) of different sizes for petrol and diesel vehicles, to suit the nozzles.
Now this is something worth shouting about! :D
The problem is not the gas station.
The problem are the users. Not all know that some vehicles run diesel. Not all know what sort of engine the vehicle has.
I;ve known people who has done this before…..on company vehicles…
mzw, the newer bimmers has that.. i reckon most of the current generation europeans makes has 'em as well…
the inlet size has a trap door and the size only fits petrol pump nozzles which have be inserted deep in to pump petrol.. ;)
mzw,
the sizes are already different between diesel n petrol..but like paul said petrol is thinner and diesel is fatter.how to not make the diesel engine not letting the petrol fill in the tank is the problem since the diesel is fatter..but i know even between ron97 and ron92 got different size right paul?
err…i dont know bout you guys…but i think its damm farnee..eheheh..
long n thin….short n fat…HAHAHHAHAHA…it doesn't sound right..HAHAHHAAHA….and somemore…put inside a hole…to PUMP….AHHAHAHHAHHA…
*ahem*…cheesy?!yes!!….but its good 'yellow' laughter
..im really sorry if u guys are offended… if u ARE…get BENT…
yeah, i've noticed d sizes all along…
this device is pure genius… all diesel vehicles shud be fitted wif it :)
I never noticed the difference between the nozzles.. But I do met some1 who pump diesel into her Waja.. Lucky she realized b4 starting the car, but its oredy almost full tank.. So, the pump station attendant help her to push the car aside and drained the tank.. :D
ola every one newbie here
wow 100k missfueled pretty stupid i think
where my comment???
Nice addition to cars i think, will really help people save money. I'm surprised by the 100000 figure, actually, I've been alternating between diesel and petrol powered vehicles, and never got close to mixing em up, nor any of my family members. I guess if people are oblivious to color codes, length and diameter, there's really not much you can do to help them haha. Not much, except for said petrol fuel guard.
Cire:
I like your idea, that's way cheaper and effective, right? No chances for shutter failure and all. :)
Paul Tan, it's not so amazing. Heard of THREE cases so far. Perhaps with fatigue, absent mindedness, driving company car instead of own, etc., this happens.
Long & thin, goes right in. Short & thick, does the trick.
wow this is news to me .. i still dun understand how some drivers can confuse over the two tanks? do they look that identical?
so stupid.
A person who needs this feature is a dork.
Therefore I wouldn't want to be seen having it.
narrowband,
Give you a new modern Euro Diesel powered car, and I can bet you wont know better.
Driven a new Benz CDI? Think not. Or else you wont be making such a statement.
Even the previous generation Diesels were fairly up there when it comes to refinement. Most of the time you wont notice you have a diesel until you feel the massive torque surge on low rpm and the relatively short powerband.
I agree with DSM. Diesel technology has come a long way. In Europe almost half of all new cars sold are diesel powered.
What's the government's official stand on diesel powered cars? I remember some talk about lowering the road tax for diesel cars. And what ever happened to all the hype on bio-diesel? Will we be seeing diesel cars in Malaysia any time soon?
you know, some moron will still try to force the petrol pump thru
nice piece of technology
Yep, diesel technology has come a long way since the the days of Toyota Crowns and Benz 300Ds. Diesel engines today are very clean, silent and even more reliable than petrol engines. I've driven quite a number of turbodiesel vehicles, both old and new models, and personally, I'm addicted to the torque available at low revs and sudden surge in power when the turbo kicks in; it's great for city driving.
well just fer info.the cover thing on diesel nozzles in our fuel pumps is just not to get the greasy and smelly nature of deisel all over the nozzle and ur hands
hey, maybe if the fuel line is made into the car and pull from the car to be inserted into the 'correct' fuel pump which you're paying. Can work or not ? or BYOP (Bring your own pipe)…..
Can, sure can, but that's gonna raise production costs. Why bother making so many hoses when all the cars can just share the same one?
dudes… some cars come in both Diesel or Petrol models.. known models are BMW, Mercedes, Proton… can't blame 'em for making that mistake… for all we know some people are so bloody "cost cutting" that they mod their cars to use diesel…
hello? where did the comment go?