The whole world cries out for peace, freedom...

[smileyeagle1021]

kinda OT, but why is it still called regular unleaded... there hasn't been leaded fuel for decades now... can we just start calling it regular, kthanx

back on topic... how stupid do you have to be to think all fuels cost the same amount? I mean honestly, I have never seen diesel and unleaded at the same.

[Raieth]

kinda OT, but why is it still called regular unleaded... there hasn't been leaded fuel for decades now... can we just start calling it regular, kthanx

back on topic... how stupid do you have to be to think all fuels cost the same amount? I mean honestly, I have never seen diesel and unleaded at the same.

I've noticed that saying "regular unleaded" is more of an american thing. Cuse here in BC, Canada we just say regular. Leaded fuel was outlawed at least several decades back.

[xaenon]

That can't happen here....the nozzles for unleaded and diesel are different. Diesel nozzle won't fit an unleaded fill tube and vice versa. Plus, the pumps are separate. Got unleaded and premium unleaded on one and diesel's on its own. The only problem is when the gas company fills up the tankers with the wrong fuel. They still haven't figured out how it happened.

Pagan, never underestimate the ability of a customer to completely f*ck it up.
When one is determined, NO obstacle is too great. Make something idiot-proof,
and along comes a superior class of idiot. It's the reason the world is so f*cked
up today - everybody has to coddle the idiots. Lawyers and government have
defeated natural selection, and as a result, the idiots don't get removed from the
gene pool, and worse, they spawn MORE idiots. Until we're all surrounded by
idiots.

But in this case, it doesn't even take a better idiot. Years ago, when leaded
gasoline was still available (and cheaper than unleaded!), people would chisel
out the restrictors in their unleaded cars in order to tank up with the cheaper
leaded gas. Of course, leaded fuel would quickly destroy the catalytic converters
of the cars, but this was of little consequence to them - not many states had
E-check. Fast-forward a few years, and many of these 'converted' cars are still
out there, lumbering along - and those now-unrestricted filler necks have plenty
of room for a 'diesel' filler nozzle.

Yes, more than once I've seen the aftermath. At the time I was working in
retail/discount auto parts, and many was the time someone would come to me for
advice on how to deal with the problem. Even had one person ask if there was
some chemical that would 'absorb' the diesel from the fuel, not realizing that
diesel was itself a different TYPE of fuel, and not some special additive to gasoline.

Of course, now that leaded gas is long-discontinued (except for the uber-
expensive racing and aviation fuels), that hasn't been much of a problem. But it
DOES still happen. I've witnessed folks break out funnels. Seriously. The
significance of IT WON'T FIT is lost on them, and they treat it like it's just a matter
of willpower. How these people are able to actually rise out of bed every day,
bathe themselves, feed themselves, carry on even the most rudimentary
conversation, etc - and yet not know to avoid putting diesel in a gasoline car -
is absolutely beyond my comprehension.

Another way diesel-in-gasoline-car can happen is when their car runs out of gas
and is stranded on the side of the road. In situations like this, people will snatch
up anything that will hold liquid - two-liter bottles, antifreeze or washer solvent
jugs, five-gallon pails, what have you - and pay NO attention to what pump
they're filling these containers with. And of course it's always the attendant's
fault when they put the wrong fuel in their car. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WAS
FILLING THE CONTAINER WITH DIESEL!!!"

"Well, first of all, I don't know what you're driving. YOU are supposed to know
what you're driving, and what fuel it takes. You're supposed to LOOK at the
pump to figure out which fuel it dispenses. And finally, you're also supposed to
look at the instruments once in a while to make sure you're not going to run out of fuel.

You fail not once, not twice, but THREE times. You are the weakest link, buh-BYE
now!"

Sorry I have such hate for idiot customers - I've had a day just FULL of them.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I've noticed that saying "regular unleaded" is more of an american thing. Cuse here in BC, Canada we just say regular. Leaded fuel was outlawed at least several decades back.

I come from England, and everyone just says unleaded or super, as opposed to diesel.

[mattm04]

We had a gas company put Jet-A into an unleaded tank once near Hinton... F'ckd up almost a hundred cars and sicken'd a whole bunch of people. The gas company denied everything... until discovery papers were filled in court. Every one of the plaintiffs received an out-of-court settlement. I wonder why?

At least you are getting Jet-A really cheap. Assuming you have you own mini personal jet in your trunk.

First, a comment on the SC.

Duh!

C'mon lady there are signs everywhere! Did she even offer to pay for what regular would have been for the same amount of fuel? Not that it's any better, but at least you're not saying "Hey, I'm going to steal"

Tell her she should come to the states. $4.00 for regular, $4.80 for diesel.

I my area sever stations are below $4 now. One is 3.98 and the other is 3.96.

I really don't like winter now. We just found out the heating will will be $4.50 to 4.80/gal, compared with 2.70 something last year.

[cinema guy]

At least you are getting Jet-A really cheap. Assuming you have you own mini personal jet in your trunk.

Should have filled up the jet car and powered up the oscillation overthruster.

[wolfie]

But yeah, I wonder how she left because, if I'm not mistaken, putting diesel in a petrol motor is a major screw up. If you don't try to start your engine, you can get away with simply having your tank drained and cleaned, which is already a pain in the butt in itself. But if you do try to start the engine, it will not take it too kindly, and this can cause some serious damage.

But I hear that putting petrol in a diesel motor isn't as bad. The best practice is still to draind and clean the tank, but some say that adding some oil to the petrol works pretty fine. I also heard that adding a few liters of petrol in your diesel tank makes it easier for your engine to start during the winter.

Actually, gasoline in a diesel is worse than diesel in a gas engine. With diesel in a gas engine, it just won't run (not volatile enough to ignite). It's still cheaper to not try starting the engine, but that's just because you only need to drain and clean the tank, not the fuel lines and carb/injectors.

In a lot of diesel engines, the injection pump is lubricated by the fuel, and gasoline is not a lubricant. On a distributor pump TDI, that's a few thousand dollars in parts that will get destroyed. Adding gasoline for winter starting is "old school" (OK for '70s era diesels, but not for current ones). Now, you should be using winter diesel, or blending in both #1 diesel (basically kerosene) to keep it from gelling and an additive (Howe's, Power Service, etc.) to add lubricity and boost the cetane rating.

kinda OT, but why is it still called regular unleaded... there hasn't been leaded fuel for decades now... can we just start calling it regular, kthanx

Smiley, in aviation, the "LL" in "100LL" stands for "low lead" (less lead than in the old green 100 octane avgas, but still leaded).

[Samaliel]

Thanks for your insight. I don't drive, don't own a car, and those were just the kind of things you keep hearing about, that nobody you know first-hand ever tried, but they say a friend of a friend did and it worked.

Since I'm just a geeky code monkey, and not a mechanic in the least - truth be told, I have a lot of basic, theoritical knowledge about a lot of things, mechanics included, but... well, you get the idea - I just wanted to know if this was true or if it was something snopes-worthy.