How bad is this?

John Welsh said:

Sample video of the different nozzle sizes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_2IXEmpEZc

 

I've been to more than a few stations that do not have the larger nozzle on the diesel pump. 

In reply to DrBoost :

But, in this case we verified that the auto diesel hose was in fact bigger which confirmed the diesel.  I was just trying to send hope that one error (pumping diesel) might actually be a different error (misreading the pump.)

I finished up with what I hoped could be an easy reminder for the future.  Maybe that reminded should have been more in the style of Johhny C and OJ, "if the hose does not fit, you must quit."  

On the topic of nozzle size, I further read that the slightly larger diesel nozzle is not a law or requirement but more of a courtesy or industry standard practice.  I can see examples where if the diesel pump handle broke and nothing else was available, or the attendant was less informed, the pump handle might be wrongly replaced.  

Adding confusion to all of this is the fact that there is then a 3rd sized nozzle.  This biggest nozzle is found at the Semi-Truck pumps and intended for the huge mouth openings of semi truck saddle tanks who might be purchasing 50-100 gallons at a time.  

So, at a huge gas station/truck stop like a Pilot/Flying J you will find auto-diesel pumps up front near the gasoline pumps and out back you will find semi truck-diesel pumps.  If you pull in with a VW TDI you want to take it up front.  If you take the TDI out back that semi truck nozzle will be too big to fit in the tank opening provided by VW.  

In reply to John Welsh :

Except that VW usually provided an emergency nozzle adaptor that fit over the big truck nozzle, that would fit into the TDI's filler neck, for use when in the middle of BFE and the only Diesel option was a truck pump.  This was, of course, before it was mandatory to have an 8000lb Diesel-burning truck if you had to haul anything larger than a 64oz drink from the 7-11.

From what I have heard, it worked about as well as you'd imagine, but at least you could get fuel in the car so you weren't stranded.

I recently rented a tractor from Home Depot that was a diesel.  After buying a diesel can, I was surprised that the filling nozzle at a local gas station wouldn't fit in the diesel-specific can.  Thankfully, another pump had the smaller nozzle.  Up until that point, I had no idea there were multiple size nozzle for diesel fuel.

Most stations around here have the diesel pump well separated from the gas pumps.