After driving 5 hours from Los Angeles to Phoenix I fill up at a Mobil station and as usual I grab the green handle and fill'r up, clean the windows and off I go. 1 minute later, I turn to my wife and say; "somethings not right with the engine." The engine is hesitating and getting worse as I enter the freeway. 2 miles later the engine light is on and the situation is grave. Fortunately, my OnStar subscription hadn't expired and they were able to perform diagnostics while driving...fuel control something-or-other fault. They were able to connect me to the nearest service dept and give me directions. Really thinking I am going to renew my subscription. Anyway, after leaving my truck and renting a car, I drove back to the Mobil station, and guess what? Green handle is regular fuel and Yellow is Diesel! WTF! I ask for the manager and ask her is green typically regular here in AZ? She tells me that only at the Mobil is it green and at least once a day someone fills their diesel with regular gas! And the second thing she says is that I can't sue because there is no state law stating that diesel has to be dispensed out of a green handle. I'm telling her if everyday someone mistakenly fills their tank with the wrong fuel at their station don't you think you should change something? At the very least just put a sign saying "this is NOT diesel." Buttheads. The final damage was $600 for the repair, $140 in lost fuel and $50 for the rental car. Not to mention the wasted time. Nice way to start my vacation. Any thoughts?

my boss just recently filled up his 7.3 powerstroke excursion with $65 of premium gas because the handle was green.

Thoughts?

How bout' "ouch." D@mnit man!

Sorry to hear of your trouble. I hope to read enough of these posts to learn from them! Some previous posts have suggested that we should be smelling the knozzle before filling up. However, we still gotta remember whether we're in the diesel or the gasser! Guess you have to smell the vehicle business end too and make a match! :-)
It would be so simple to standardize the knozzle handle colour!
And while we're on the topic of fill-ups...how about standardizing the side of the vehicle the filler is on! My gasser is on the passenger side and of course the diesel is on the driver side.
Cheers
Richard

Bummer, Dude. This has been talked about awhile back. Seems these oil companies can get together and raise their prices all at the same time, but they can't agee on handle colors. FOKKERS :(

Not to make light of this but a friend of mine who works for gm as and enginer told me this story about a high up secritary that recived a duramax as a company vehical. well needless to say that she didnt know that it was a diesel and filled her up with regular. well it rand low so her husband was driving and he filled it up with diesel because he had sense. so this goes back and forth he fills diesel and she fills gas. belive it or not after she found out it was a diesel and didnt want it any more, she turned it back in and almost nothing was roung with the truck.:o: after having tanks of gass run thrue it still ran like the day she got it. thats why i drive a gm diesel because they can stand up to stupidity and still keep hallin a$$.

I've seen pleanty of yellow and black Diesel handles around here.

Never bought fuel by color of nozzle handle. Never knew there was a color preference. Most are black.

Wierd..I've never heard the green handle rule. They seem to be random colors around here... Maybe check the nozzle diameter? Gas nozzles are smaller (at least now that leaded gas is no longer sold). The diesel nozzles have more girth.

sorry to hear that.

green pumps around here can mean either diesel or kerosene:eek: gotta be careful

One of the stations I buy at frequently (Conoco) has the green handle but the nozzle is the smaller gasoline type. The diesel pump nozzle is, like you said, supposed to be larger, so the gassers don't accidentally put diesel in their gas tanks. Evidently, several people has probably done this because the station has a big arrow and big letters written with a permanent marker stating, THIS IS DIESEL!

Wierd..I've never heard the green handle rule. They seem to be random colors around here... Maybe check the nozzle diameter? Gas nozzles are smaller (at least now that leaded gas is no longer sold). The diesel nozzles have more girth.

yeah, this whole green handle thing can get you it seems. cant go by the size of the nozel either, most are the same size as gas unless you go to a truck stop where they serve big trucks (for high volume).

I never look at the color of the handles, I look for the words DIESEL at the pump. Never had a problem to date.

To me the words Diesel are universal and not color dependent. :D ):h

I never look at the color of the handles, I look for the words DIESEL at the pump. Never had a problem to date.

To me the words Diesel are universal and not color dependent. :D ):h
10-4 good buddy. An most self serve pumps you got to push a button with
your selection. Not only that, if it is a all in one pump, the diesel is a separate handle. I guess if your really tired and not paying attention ....

Jim

Keep it simple, fuel at the truck stop. I love those huge nozzles that'll dump 20 gallons in no time!

Best way:

Look for the pump with a huge oil spill on the ground.

It's diesel.

:D

Best way:

Look for the pump with a huge oil spill on the ground.

It's diesel.

:D
Exactly. :lol: :lol:

I sniff the end of the fill nozzle before filling!! :joke: :joke:

you could pump some in a jar and send it off for analysis before you fill up ):h

I do a taste test, myself.

Madison, WI. Most of the diesel handles around here are yellow (BP and Kwik Trip for example.) Always paranoid of it myself - I look for the dirtiest pump. Been startled a few times noticing the pump was clean while fueling... but it was always diesel. This is the reason I don't let the Queen fuel up the truck.

Purple handles in Baja.

First of all Cracker..Sorry about your misfortune..
Okay, now having said that...
I could give a rat's a$$ what color the handle is...As noted earlier, I look for the word "diesel" on the pump.(Although I'm starting to wonder when they'll put that word in spanish in bold type with the english word in type like this underneath it :rant:

Son-of-a-!$#@! Censored

I have to say, that I normally try not to rely on the color, but there are times that I'm thinking about other things, and can't say I 100% check that it says DIESEL every time when it is a green handle (I'm surprised to hear that wasn't standard...I certainly just assumed it was, and can't recall seeing one that wasn't).

:eek: Egads...I need to be more careful. Thanks for sharing your lesson!

-JM

I've always looked for the green handle when pulling up, but verified with the words. Course around here the Green handle has yet to let me down.
Is this something your insurance will cover?

That's too bad CRACKER JACK!!:( I also thought the diesel pump handle was a standard GREEN, but then again, I haven't used Mobil for diesel since owning my truck. I am very paranoid when I get diesel since this is the first diesel I've ever owned. Good Luck!

Purple handles in Baja.
EVERYTHING is purple in Baja!

The international color for diesel is yellow. If you ever buy a spare five gallon can marked "diesel" it will be yellow. I don't know how this green business got started, but it's obvious that it isn't standardized so I always look for the word DIESEL above the pump handle - and smell the nozzle.


2004.5 D/A CC, SB

Here in california it's easier. I most counties in the state gasoline nozzles have vapor recovery systems on them. That means for you one the east coast, nozzle boots which create a seal on the tank which forces fuel vapors into the tank of the station you are getting fuel at. (YEAAAA RIGHTTTT). Diesel nozzles have no vapor recovery system in force YET....but knowing california like I do they will find a reason to screw something else up!! BTW diesel nozzles are pretty much green in my area, so if it's a green nozzle, with no vapor recovery system on it and the dispenser says DIESEL on it (in any size letters, I don't care) It probably is somewhat safe to put into my truck, but then again I only stop at a chevron truck stop which happens to be directly next to the terminal which all the fuel for the area is delivered thru and is ioperated by the Jobber for chevron for the area.

This is one time when states that don't let vehicle owners pump their own fuel have it made. If the grease monkey fills-up with wrong fuel, they'll be liable.:ro)

when i first got my truck the first thing i did was put a sticker on the cap that says DIESEL. hasnt failed me yet(knock on wood)

When we drive through Canada, we pump our own so we know we are getting deisel. I've seen too many people here put gas in one. The pumps onpost have a raised plaque on them that syas DIESEL.

When I first got my truck I put in 3 dollars of regular before I noticed the green handle wasn't diesel.. I filled it to the brim with diesel and put in some additive and drove it easy, got lucky I noticed it so soon.

I regularly find myself looking from the road figuring how to get the trailer into the diesel pump. I look for the green handle and either a whole separate pump or two handles on one. When I'm not in OR, I look for "Diesel"

wow! all the green handles around here are diesel. i better be more careful and start checking.

I am always checkin at the pumps....I am paranoid as heck. A couple of years ago I put a gas nozzle in my cummins....luckily I caught it before the pump turned on.....:eek:

Diesel pumps around here are black and yellow handled. I only go to a few different stations. I also have a habit of going to the big truck stops when I'm out of town. I've seen too many stations where I haven't ever seen a diesel filling at the pumps. Kinda makes me wonder whats down in the tanks:eek:

Here in town, all of the nozzels are green. Also for you diesel drivers going through Mt. Pleasant, of the 4 places that have diesel, 3 of them have seperate pumps just for diesel. Makes it easier not to mix it up I guess.

William

........been there done that and it sucks! I think the next time (never say never) it happens, I'll just buy some transmission fluid and stick it in.

easiest way to tell around here is the diesel pumps have bigger filler nozzles for pumping more fuel. (i.e. big big truck tanks) the gasser ones are skinny. can't mistake them- I thought this was the same everywhere??

easiest way to tell around here is the diesel pumps have bigger filler nozzles for pumping more fuel. (i.e. big big truck tanks) the gasser ones are skinny. can't mistake them- I thought this was the same everywhere??There are actually diesel vehicles(I believe some early duramax trucks?) that won't accept the large diesel nozzle. Some stations have "special" small nozzle pumps in some areas. Here almost all the non-truck stops have small nozzle but some areas have no small nozzle pumps. What do those poor bastards do then?

Our diesel pumps are always green ACCEPT at BP stations.They are ALL GREEN Guess what Ma filled the truck with when it had 500 miles then drove it? $$$$$$$$$$$ but no problems 12,000 later...........

This women at the gas station is obviously not a lawyer. If customers are daily pumping gas into diesels which can be a very serious expensive problem, state law or not they could and should be sued if they don't remedy the situation. Lawyers love companies that are repeated warned yet do nothing to protect the customer.

Around here some are large, some small, never paid attention to color, just the word diesel. One thing that is common is that you can't pay at the pump for diesel at the stations I use, gotta go inside, and that is a pain, I love to pay at the pump!

I look for the biggest smelliest fuel covered pump I can find with the same price or higher than supreme octane gas with the gigantiac oil staind ground next to it and after all that I put on my leather gloves cause the pump is dripping with diesel and I read the label on the pump, and than I fuel the truck, speaking of diesel dripping pumps anyone care to explain why the diesel pumps are always so nasty, I mean do people shower with it while fueling or what?

anyone care to explain why the diesel pumps are always so nasty, I mean do people shower with it while fueling or what?
Gasoline evaporates very quickly.

Diesel doesn't. Oily residue + dirt in the air = nasty

Everything in Vegas is green, and damn expensive ($2.61/gallon), which is probaly why its green.

Gasoline evaporates very quickly.

Diesel doesn't. Oily residue + dirt in the air = nasty

Ok I ll buy that but all over the handles and such it is like they use it as hand lotion or something....oh well It leaves a nice sheen on my skin anyways:D

And the moral of the story here is:



Don't go by the color of the handle. :badidea:


Don't go by the dirtyness of the handle or pump. :badidea:


Don't go by the size of the nozzle. :badidea:


Look for the word DIESEL on the pump you intend to use.:exactly:

Even the word DIESEL isn't always a guarantee. One of our local stations was pumping 91 from the diesel pumps.

Guess we need a Dual Fuel capability! :D

And a question:

Around here the pumps are either stand alone Diesel pumps OR Combo pumps that have both Diesel and Gas, BUT their are always two diffrent handles AND once you pay you have to not only select a handle you have to PUSH a button to select either Diesel OR select a grade of Gas to pump, either regular, mid grade, or super.

So even if you grab the wrong handle you would have to push the wrong button too to pump gas instead of diesel, so my question is how do your pumps work that you can just start pumping gas into a diesel with out atleast selecting the grade of gas you want, which should alert you to the fact that you made a mistake and didn't select the diesel button?


Edit: Ok never mind. You have 3 diffrent nozzle's to pump the gas right? :duh:
Station's around here have only one handle to pump 3 diffrent grades of gas. :exactly:

You could always do the taste test prior to filling!

Even the word DIESEL isn't always a guarantee. One of our local stations was pumping 91 from the diesel pumps.

Guess we need a Dual Fuel capability! :D

Your right about that.

But atleast we did our part and tried to pump Diesel into it.

If the station has gas in their Diesel tank's then it will be their dime paying for the repair's.

You could always do the taste test prior to filling!

hands friend a beer mug

"Hey Chuck, taste this."

takes a sip

"PHEW!!! YUCK!!! IT'S DIESEL OIL!!!"

"Yeah, I know that. But is it B20 or regular diesel?"

hands friend a beer mug

"Hey Chuck, taste this."

takes a sip

"PHEW!!! YUCK!!! IT'S DIESEL OIL!!!"

"Yeah, I know that. But is it B20 or regular diesel?"
Sounds like a cheech and chong skit ):h

Everything in Vegas is green, and damn expensive ($2.61/gallon), which is probaly why its green.

:funnypost and true too.

I stopped at a station last night that I haven't used before. One side of a two sided diesel/gas combo pump had a black diesel handle the other had a yellow diesel handle.

In Cali they are all green but occasionally the gas trucks fill up the wrong tank DOH! I stick with my routine stations and have not had a problem yet....

Just go to the most expensive pump, pretty well guarentees you'll get fuel and not gas. :cool: