Putting petrol in a car diesel tank

[rov1200]

On Dragons Den tonight they showed a device which prevented you filling up with the wrong fuel. As the nozzle on the petrol pump is smaller than the diesel filler how did this device achieve this?

[rov1200]

Well they gave him �1/4 million to develop it further. He said he had the sole patent and nothing existed comparitively to fit on older cars although some new diesel cars do have something fitted

[kempie]

Obviously that level of investment wasn't required for this device...

http://www.think-diesel.co.uk/

This is the showcased device...

http://www.misfuellingprevention.co.uk/dragons den.asp

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressn ews/219966/kit_to_end_misfuel_misery.html

The Ford "Easy Fuel" system implements another method of measuring the diameter of the nozzle as it enters the first part of the filler tube - if the nozzle is too narrow, i.e. as used for petrol, it restricts the nozzle from entering further.

[zig.zag]

a square peg in a round hole would have done it

nothing short on common sense i would have thought

[kempie]

... and is zig.zag going to finance the cost of world changeover to square nozzles for one type of fuel?

[zig.zag]

there must be a simpler solution

is everyone colour blind?

lol

[kempie]

A lot of the problem is those who normally drive both diesel and petrol cars and then suffer a single momentary lapse in concentration when it comes to filling the tank. It is rarer for those who exclusively drive a diesel to misfuel their vehicle.

[Jenga]

More haste and less speed is what is required when filling up to stop you grabbing the wrong pump.

[rov1200]

I suppose the petrol retailers could solve many of the problems if they had separate pumps for the 2 fuels away from each other. How many times have you seen the actual fuel fillers entwined which if put into the wrong filling port would cause the problem mentioned.