If your in the habit of brimming your diesel tank PLEASE stop it.
I’m just back from visiting a biker mate in hospital who lost it on a diesel slick this morning. He’s alright, just a broken leg, a few ribs & a bit of deep purple bruising, but it’s the first casualty of the season & I’m fast running out of mates who (still) ride.
When you brim it right to the top, then the first bendy bits you hit it all starts sloshing about & at todays prices at least £20gazillion quids worth ends up on the tarmac.
There’s no need for it & you might be 50mls away, blissfully unaware of the turmoil you’ve slopped all over that first roundabout.
Chas:
If your in the habit of brimming your diesel tank PLEASE stop it.
I’m just back from visiting a biker mate in hospital who lost it on a diesel slick this morning. He’s alright, just a broken leg, a few ribs & a bit of deep purple bruising, but it’s the first casualty of the season & I’m fast running out of mates who (still) ride.
When you brim it right to the top, then the first bendy bits you hit it all starts sloshing about & at todays prices at least £20gazillion quids worth ends up on the tarmac.
There’s no need for it & you might be 50mls away, blissfully unaware of the turmoil you’ve slopped all over that first roundabout.
thats why the cap has a rubber seal in it and if it you have anti siphon fitted then that prevents a lot of fuel hitting the top of the tank.
I always brim my tank, I also check the seal on the filler cap, its part of the annual test/mot, never had any leak yet and at the cost of it I don’t want any leaks!
It`s well known that diesel expands as it gets warmer. If your tank is filled over-generously, it can only really escape via the overflow vent - and onto the road. I can only assume the pillocks who do this have never ridden a bike or are not very conversant with the finer points of their chosen occupation. I for one would fully support heavy fines for this thoughtless and dangerous practice.
■■■■■■■:
It`s well known that diesel expands as it gets warmer. If your tank is filled over-generously, it can only really escape via the overflow vent - and onto the road.
Yes, this is true, I once worked for a bloke who insisted we brimmed the trucks up at the end of the week before we went home. One Sunday I turned up at the yard, the weather had suddenly become much warmer, and the yard was awash with diesel, leaking out of every single truck.
Silver_Surfer:
Where is the overflow vent then? Surely if diesel can escape from a tank, it’s faulty?
At the top. And of course diesel can escape from a non-faulty tank, if diesel couldn’t get out, then air couldn’t get in, and if air couldn’t get in then a vacuum would be created in the tank which would either stop the engine running or implode the tank.
A few years ago I lost control of a mini-bus,thankfully it was going to a job so no passengers.Drove around a corner and it was like a curling stone no adhesion whatsoever the thing turned through 180 degrees and stopped.A following car went through a wall and landed in a flower bed.I fill until the click and take it up to the nearest round number.
just this week a local bus came around a roundabout where we are working sloshing diesel out of an unsecured diesel flap (the clip lock type) i phoned the bus co to let them know and get hold of the driver ,we have one lane of the road closed down to the next roundabout ,resulting in traffic only one way
a bit later in the day while down the other end of the road ,a motorbike could be heard coming giving it some stick (40mph road )
knowing there could be diesel at the next roundabout i waved him down as he was shifting at a good rate ,instead of taking notice he rode at me giving it more beans
then proceeded to give it the big lean round the roundabout only for the back to kick out very nearly chucking him off
best not mention the one who ignored the road closed and no entry signs ,who then rode into oncoming traffic in the fairly thick fog we had that morning ,causing the oncoming traffic to brake hard to avoid an accident with him , knob
■■■■■■■:
It`s well known that diesel expands as it gets warmer. If your tank is filled over-generously, it can only really escape via the overflow vent - and onto the road.
Yes, this is true, I once worked for a bloke who insisted we brimmed the trucks up at the end of the week before we went home. One Sunday I turned up at the yard, the weather had suddenly become much warmer, and the yard was awash with diesel, leaking out of every single truck.
Sorry to hear about your friend . I remember being taught by an on the job trainer not to completely brim it. The fridge tanks were likely culprits as a lot of them looked a bit shoddy but that was a while ago.
Always ‘brim’ your tanks, especially in winter, the bigger the gap between the fuel and the top of the tank the more condensation forms and causes water to get into the fuel system and freeze. Fit a proper fuel cap, if it leaks then throw it and buy a new one, I think you may find it’s illegal to have a loose or ill fitting cap.
Are we talking about diesel escaping from this overflow vent between the filler neck top & the fuel tank plastic cap or is the overflow vent by the sender bit on the top of the tank? This is probably a stupid question, I am not mechanically minded.
Tanks should always have an ullage space to allow for expansion, engines have a water filter to deal with condensation, they used to have a glass bowl on the lift pump. On a common rail engine the injection system returns unused fuel to the tank, that fuel is warm and will expand.
Even ■■■■■■■ engines of 1960 design had a hand warming device, you could put your hands on the tank to get warm. Common Rail has been around since the first world war.
Never brim my tanks, stop at the 1st click to allow for expansion and while we are on the subject of filling up, I always let the hose drain out too, nothing worse than diesel drips splashed all over the side and top of the tank.
gray_nw:
Never brim my tanks, stop at the 1st click to allow for expansion and while we are on the subject of filling up, I always let the hose drain out too, nothing worse than diesel drips splashed all over the side and top of the tank.
+1 that’s one thing that p’s me off filled right to the top lip
Brimming a tank is crazy.The difference between brimming it and not brimming it gets you how far?
It can and will cause diesel spills which has a profound effect other road users especially motorbikes and cyclists as most are aware.
Of course you will always get the clown that does not put the cap back on properly and the numptys that forget to put it back on at all.
Spilt diesel is lethal but some just do not seem to think of others safety.Probably the same clowns that drive like lunatics everyday.
I fill to just below the neck for this reason but some how it always manages to find its way out of the ■■■■■■■ key hole in the cap even at quarter tank suppose it don’t help when the ■■■■ thing was broken into through the lock
keith
. I remember being taught by an on the job trainer not to completely brim it. The fridge tanks were likely culprits as a lot of them looked a bit shoddy but that was a while ago.
