Diesel Fill Up Tips or Tricks?

[XXX555]

Anyone come up with any diesel fill up tricks to avoid getting the fuel on your hands/steering wheel after touching the pump nozzel handle?

I'd hate to use a plastic glove but leaving the station smelling like diesel everytime might drive me to Michael Jackson it..

[Thunder22]

Gloves are the only answer.

Unless you want to move to NJ. I haven't pumped my own gas in 5 years. Ok, maybe a few times, but you get the idea.

[FunfDreisig]

A little OT but...
My wife recently tried to fill up at a new (to us) station. She had trouble getting the diesel nozzle into the 'nanny' filler restrictor. She gave up and told me the nozzle must be the wrong size. Which was bad news since this station is the closest (and cheapest) diesel station to her mother's house.

So a couple of days later I checked it out and found that the nozzle was the right size but it had been dropped on the ground so many times that the alumium tip was dented in at the very top as you put the nozzle straight into an X5 filler tube. This dent caused the 'nanny' filler restrictor to not allow the nozzle to open the metal plate that blocks smaller nozzles. All I had to do was turn the nozzle to 90 degrees and it went in easily. Then I could turn it back vertical to actually fill the tank.

FWIW the metal plate is released by two small black plastic 'triggers' at the very top and bottom of the filler tube. These 'triggers' must be activated simultaneously. An undamaged 'normal' diesel filler nozzle touches both of these 'triggers' at the same time as it goes in and releases the plate. A small (i.e. gas) nozzle can only touch one or the other but not both.

Funf Dreisig

[Penguin]

Find a station which has one of those waterless hand sanitizer dispensers mounted near the pump. I've found that a coupe of squirts of that rubbed in and wiped off with a windshield paper towel from the dispenser removes the smell (most of that stuff is mildly scented).

It's not common, but more and more stations are providing that feature/service.

[blktoptrvl]

Originally Posted by Penguin

Find a station which has one of those waterless hand sanitizer dispensers mounted near the pump. I've found that a coupe of squirts of that rubbed in and wiped off with a windshield paper towel from the dispenser removes the smell (most of that stuff is mildly scented).

It's not common, but more and more stations are providing that feature/service.

Or just buy some and keep it in your car.

[jaaX3]

Originally Posted by XXX555

Anyone come up with any diesel fill up tricks to avoid getting the fuel on your hands/steering wheel after touching the pump nozzel handle?

I'd hate to use a plastic glove but leaving the station smelling like diesel everytime might drive me to Michael Jackson it..

Is pumping diesel any different than pumping petrol? I've only had to fill my tank once so far, and there were no issues. Was I lucky?

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by jaaX3

Is pumping diesel any different than pumping petrol? I've only had to fill my tank once so far, and there were no issues. Was I lucky?

Diesel has a stronger odor to most, and being oily, sticks to your hands more than gasoline, and hangs around on stuff more, e.g., if s bit of gasoline gets on the handle of a gasoline nozzle, it mostly evaporates in a minute or two, but if a bit of diesel gets on the nozzle handle, it hangs around for a while like oil would. Take a look at the ground near a diesel pump vs. a gasoline pump to see the difference in what evaporates and what stays.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by jaaX3

Is pumping diesel any different than pumping petrol? I've only had to fill my tank once so far, and there were no issues. Was I lucky?

Assuming the diesel pump has the correct size nozzle:
not to big -- for big trucks to fill up quickly
not too small - for unleaded gasoline....

The only real issue is that diesel is 'oily'. So it leaves a residue on the pump handle when others are a bit sloppy when filling up. The better stations clean up the pump handles fairly regularly. But some stations just let them get grungy. So it helps to wear a glove to avoid transferring the grunge onto your clothes or steering wheel.

Out here in the country we just wipe our hands off on our pants, or if you're real prissy, on your socks

Funf Dreisg

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by FunfDreisig

Out here in the country we just wipe our hands off on our pants, or if you're real prissy, on your socks Funf Dreisg

Real men in my neck of the woods just wipe their hands through their hair ... cleans your hands and keeps your hair in place. The girls just love the smell...

Seriously though, find a local fuel outlet with clean pumps (and complain to those with dirty pumps) but for insurance when you're out of your area I find those cheap cotton gardening gloves (they about a $1 a pair here) very handy. At that price you can throw them away if they get dirty.

[XXX555]

I can only imagine my malignant scowl I'd force upon the guy who wore a glove when pumping gas only a month ago... Now its me Break all the mirrors...

I have easy access to disposable plastic gloves where I work but it seems so weak. Almost as bad as that poster who complained about getting dirt on the back of his suitpants from the overhang of the sidesteps... Oh that was me too, the shame...