diesel fill opening too small

[capnruss]

I went to get fuel today for the first time since I purchase the boat and the fuel nozzle would not go into the opening. I managed to wedge it in and pumped the fuel in very slowly. Finally got it full. Anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for it that any of you have found? the guy at the fuel dock said he had never seen a problem like that of my boat and he had worked there 8 years!

[jennykatz]

Are you sure you put in diesel fuel . I think the nozzels are different sizes .I hope i'm wrong . I would check other filling stations . You probably have done that . Call the factory

[terraplane]

I have the same problem, but at the various stops for fuel I have made, (total now of 16) all have been difficult. The vendors often tell me that this is not uncommon...many boats have this difficulty. I just do it slowly, with a sponge cloth to absorb any run off.,,something the factory ought to be able to correct in future models, i would think.

terraplane on BANJO, R 25

[thataway]

There are basically two sizes of nozeles at the pumps. The larger are for high flow, and are too big for most of the smaller (1 1/4") fill hoses. You can use a funnel--and that is what I used for many years for my sailboats--there is a secondary feature--and that is some funnels have water separators or filters on them.

Rather than a sponge or rag--use a adsorb pad, as you use for oil in the bilge. Many marina fuel docks have 1/4 of these available for your use to avoid spills.

[Sea Wolf]

[tpbrady]

I think it is a high volume nozzle versus a diesel inlet made for a vehicle. With my diesel truck I have to watch for the large diameter nozzles at certain stations that cater to large trucks.

I run into the same issue with unleaded gas at the Cordova commercial fuel dock. They don't normally sell 40 gallons of gas to a C-Dory. They more often sell 300 gallons to a bow picker. Their fuel nozzles a tight fit on the C-Dory and too fast a flow rate will come out the overflow.

[helm]

Use a Baja filter, it will solve your problem and you should really be doing it anyway to protect your tank from contaminates.
www.bajafilter.com
Also look at this practical sailor article
http://www.practical-sailor.com/sample/Fuelfilter.html
Hope it helps
Eric

[thataway]

The origional "Baja filter" was a 8" deep, x 8" wide x 24" long SS box. There were 3 dividers, each of which had five 2" holes in them covered with fine bronze screens, in decreasing size in each hole in the box. The last section had a 1 1/2" pipe which fit into the fuel tank fill--with the box sitting on the deck. This filtered the fuel quite well, and trapped any water which may have been in the fuel. We used this type of filter for many years in Mexico--but more recently the fuel supplies in Mexico have become more reliable (not as much out of old 50 gallon drums).

This is a bit large to use on a C Dory or Ranger. I have used the plastic filters/funnel as described in the Practical sailor article more recently. This also is faily effective at trapping water. We tried the more modern, round Baja filter and found it was more awkward, and did not work as well as the older box filters. When the upper part was full of fuel, the filter was a bit unstable. The problem with any of these filters, is that they slow the intake of fuel, but this may be a necessity with small fill ports.

[evilskier]

I manage a fuel dock and our diesel pump is larger than the gasoline. we go with averages, most diesels fills average more than 500 gallons and you need the higher volume (larger nozzle). 99% of vessels that take on diesel have a larger fill that the will accept the nozzle. The remaining vessels have a smaller fill which you have to very careful and dispense slowly (mostly sailboats, some small trawlers)

not too big a deal, when you only need 18 gallons, i could fill up a 21ec in less than a minute, dispensing sloooooooooowly.