Of course there are. Quick question. Ever have any trouble finding diesel fuel in your travels? I know all the stations around by me that have it, which frankly seem to be most all anymore, but I am talking about off the beaten track. Just curious. Thinking about a diesel.
Never been a problem. Remember, diesel is a favorite of farmers and ranchers, so it is pretty common in rural areas.
That said, you NEVER want to run out of fuel in most Diesel engines. When I bought my truck, the salesman said you might as well have it towed to a mechanic if you do.
Nope, never had an issue.
Basil Exposition wrote: Never been a problem. Remember, diesel is a favorite of farmers and ranchers, so it is pretty common in rural areas.
Of course, that makes sense. Thanks for the quick response guys.
In reply to Basil Exposition:
Running a diesel out of fuel is worse on newer stuff, older stuff (Benz comes to mind) often had a primer pump and was tough enough to not take any damage from it.
I've never had an issue. I'd have to guess I have 250,000 on diesel, well, most of that is on veggie oil but when I do have to buy diesel it's never been an issue for me.
Once, shortly after I bought my TDi in 2003 and was driving it to a race in rural WV. Was driving on fumes when I found a station - that turned out to have a near empty tank - but I could get in just enough to get me to my destination where there was another station. Filled to the roof with gear and 2 DH bikes on the roof, combined with some aggressive mtn driving in WV and a 6500 ft climb, that was the worst mpg tank I ever got (only one under 40 mpg).
Typically, I'll run the car until the warning light goes and then start looking for a station, but if I'm heading into a questionable area I'm more conservative. But in my normal driving, I know how far I can go and where stations are. Availability near highways is never a problem, so I'll usually fill up before heading into rural areas I haven't been before.
I ran my Cummins dry once (fuel gauge didn't work) and it was a SOB to get restarted. A contractor passerby with diesels said if it happens again, disconnect the air hose from the filter box and block it with something that will seal the hose (he said your hand will do). Then have someone crank the engine. The resulting vacuum will suck the air out of the injectors and get the fuel flowing again. Fortunately, I never had the opportunity to try this technique and I'm not sure how well or if it would work on newer HP engines.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to Basil Exposition: Running a diesel out of fuel is worse on newer stuff, older stuff (Benz comes to mind) often had a primer pump and was tough enough to not take any damage from it.
Depends on the "newer stuff". Some of the newer trucks run a boost pump in the fuel tank. Any air in the fuel lines gets blown right back out again.
First time I did a fuel filter on a newer Ford, I was impressed. Yes, it sucked to get about a half-gallon of stinky fuel up the sleeve, but the truck started immediately afterwards and no hiccups.
Ian F wrote: I ran my Cummins dry once (fuel gauge didn't work) and it was a SOB to get restarted. A contractor passerby with diesels said if it happens again, disconnect the air hose from the filter box and block it with something that will seal the hose
Depends on what year Cummins. The 12v can be primed manually (literally with a built in hand pump) and that will usually get you going again. If not, it's easy to crack open the fuel lines just before the injectors. Keep starting the car until fuel squirts out, and you're good.
We've got an '09 TDI Jetta, looks like I'm in the minority here, but there have been a handful of times where we had an "oh crap" we're going to need fuel soon, and none of the stations we stopped at had diesel. The other issue we've ran into is stopping at a station that only has diesel pumps for trucks, i.e. the fuel nozzle from the pump won't fit in the fuel filler neck of the car.
Worst one I recall was being on the South side of Sidney OH after leaving the Shelby Co. fair late one night. I knew we'd need fuel on our way back to Columbus, but had passed a handful of diesel stations on our way there and thought I'd just fill up on our way home. Well, there were plenty of diesel stations but at that time of night they were all closed. We made it back to the North side of town to a station near I75 that was open and had diesel on fumes.
We typically drive until the low fuel light comes on, it usually indicates 50 miles left when the light comes on at highway speeds. There are adapters that fit on the truck nozzles and allow them to fit in the car filler necks, but we've owned the car since new and only could have used one maybe 3 times. We've come dang close to running out a couple times, closer than I'm comfortable with, but thankfully have yet to actually run out.
seems like it would be a good idea to keep some kind of funnel or that adapter in the trunk
a TDI is near the top of my list for when I start looking next yr
In reply to wbjones:
They have gotten a lot cheaper, I haven't found myself needing one in a long time, and even then I found another station with the proper nozzle soon enough. For $10 would be cheap insurance.
http://www.amazon.com/TDI-Diesel-Fuel-Nozzle-Adapter/dp/B00696Y74O
Interesting. I didn't know the newer TDi's have the smaller inlet. The inlet on my '03 will fit a truck nozzle. I don't like using it as it can flow more fuel than the tank venting system can evacuate the displaced air, but in a pinch I can fill it by barely squeezing the lever.
calteg: neither does any good when you're stuck at a station after a tow and don't have any tools. The engine eventually fired but put out a HUGE cloud of white/blue smoke when it did... clouded the entire filling island. It was kinda funny, although more than a little embarrassing.
My '03 Dodge Diesel has the bigger inlet and I refuel at truck stops often. I've heard the Fords and Chevys have smaller inlets, but don't know for sure.
Do those adaptors really work? With the backflow it creates it seems it would be tough to moderate the flow from a truck pump enough to keep it from shutting off. Those things push a huge amount of fuel!
In reply to Basil Exposition:
My guess is it would be similar to using a truck nozzle in my car - you'd have to watch it carefully and be easy on the lever so that it doesn't auto-shut-off or spray fuel all over the place.
OK now you are making me a little nervous.
Feedyurhed wrote: OK now you are making me a little nervous.
It really depends on where you live and how you'll be using the car. Diesel is more common now than it was when I bought my car 10 years ago. Like I said, it's a mistake you make ONCE, and then you pay attention and be a little more conservative with filling up when you can and don't know when you'll be able to next.
In reply to Feedyurhed:
We're approaching 70K miles and I never bat an eye at taking our Jetta across country through uncharted territory. I find myself watching interstate truck stop signs and making mental notes of the ones that say "diesel." Anytime I've come close I still managed to find diesel before it was too late. Don't sweat it, if running out of fuel scares you don't do any research on PD cams or CR HPFP. 
Besides the low fuel indicator is supposed to be treated as a challenge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEdU_lrtZk
Never had even a close call. Since I live in town, not every station has diesel and the diesel pumps are not always super accessible, but I note the good ones with fresh fuel and make points to fill up while running my errands.
That being said, I always try to fill up at stations with decent truck traffic to make sure I get fresh fuel.
Not hard to find diesel.
DO NOT put gas in it (ask me how I know).
And be careful in BP stations. The green pump handle is always diesel. Not at BP. At BP, green is their trademark color, so all the gas pumps have green handles. The diesel is the black one (ask me how I know).
What you will find annoying, is when you come to a filling station that has 8 different gas pumps but only one of them is diesel/gas combo pump, every single pump will be unoccupied but that one diesel/gas pump will have some shiny happy person putting gas in their car. They will then have the audacity to give you the stink eye while you wait for them to finish filling their tank.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to Basil Exposition: Running a diesel out of fuel is worse on newer stuff, older stuff (Benz comes to mind) often had a primer pump and was tough enough to not take any damage from it.
I ran my '94 K1500 out of diesel once, the gauge still read about 1/4 tank and the mileage didn't add up for me to have run out. But sure enough after putting 21 gallons in it started right up, I was expecting to have to bleed the injectors but I guess the older Detroit Diesels aren't as finicky as the newer trucks. I have a friend that won't run his Cummins lower than 1/3 tank, he's worried that the low fuel will make his fuel pump run hot and burn it up.
My Dad just recently got a TDI and it seems like most of the time there is a station with diesel, particularly on the highway. However, we took it on a trip from NC to AR and when I stopped for fuel in Tennessee I had to look harder than I would have thought.
On the bright side we got around 45 mpg the whole way 
I've never had problems finding diesel so I haven't run out in my Ford. I can say it fires right up after fuel filter.changes, so it can't be too finicky.
bigdaddylee82 wrote: What you will find annoying, is when you come to a filling station that has 8 different gas pumps but only one of them is diesel/gas combo pump, every single pump will be unoccupied but that one diesel/gas pump will have some shiny happy person putting gas in their car. They will then have the audacity to give you the stink eye while you wait for them to finish filling their tank. - Lee
Yep I have actually seen that happen.
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