Fuel filler location...how come?

NecroJoe · July 24th, 2008, 02:01 AM

How come some cars have the fuel filler on the right side, and some have it on the wrong side? It's not by manufacturer necessarily, because some Toyotas have it on the right, and some on the left. Also, this generation Mustang has it on the left, but it's on the right on the previous generation.

Anyone know why they would be different? It's not like the gas tank itself is on that side of the car...

eddysdaman · July 24th, 2008, 02:05 AM

From what I recall it depended on the country of manufacture.

Japanese made cars (RHD) have fillers on the right
American made Japanese cars (LHD) have fillers on the left

etc etc

Viper007Bond · July 24th, 2008, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddysdaman

From what I recall it depended on the country of manufacture.

Japanese made cars (RHD) have fillers on the right
American made Japanese cars (LHD) have fillers on the left

etc etc

Did you not read the original post? He pointed out that even different generations of the same model have it on opposite sides.

NecroJoe: I have no f'ing clue.

epp_b · July 24th, 2008, 02:09 AM

Um...my best guess is that it's dictated by the design of the other internal components. Ie.: where it fits after the more important parts have been placed.

bartboy9891 · July 24th, 2008, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epp_b

Um...my best guess is that it's dictated by the design of the other internal components. Ie.: where it fits after the more important parts have been placed.

That's most likely the answer. I noticed for example that if a car has a single exhaust pipe located on one side, the fuel filler is usually on the opposite side.

Aston Martin · July 24th, 2008, 02:21 AM

I read somewhere that it's also traditional, so some manufacturers stick to once side for nostalgia.

hansvonaxion · July 24th, 2008, 02:42 AM

I've always thought there should be an indicator on the dash telling you which side its on, especially for rentals.

On the subject, I was driving my father-in-laws car recently and when I pulled in to fill up there was only a pump on the right side but the filler was on the left, when I started to pull up to the pump everyone went nuts. Of course if you pull up close enough you can just swing the pump over to the other side.

Viper007Bond · July 24th, 2008, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

On the subject, I was driving my father-in-laws car recently and when I pulled in to fill up there was only a pump on the right side but the filler was on the left, when I started to pull up to the pump everyone went nuts. Of course if you pull up close enough you can just swing the pump over to the other side.

Just go in backwards. images/smilies/wink.gif

Spectre · July 24th, 2008, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddysdaman

From what I recall it depended on the country of manufacture.

Japanese made cars (RHD) have fillers on the right
American made Japanese cars (LHD) have fillers on the left

etc etc

Erm... no.

I've had Japanese-built cars with left-side fillers and American-built Japanese cars with the filler on the right. I have a British car with one filler on top of each fender and another one with the filler on the top of the left fender only.

There's probably some idiot proposing that this be regulated in the European Union (they tried to regulate banana and chicken egg sizes), but there aren't any such regs anywhere else that I'm aware of - other than "your filler must be X distance away from your exhaust" or some such.

eddysdaman · July 24th, 2008, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spectre

Erm... no.

I've had Japanese-built cars with left-side fillers and American-built Japanese cars with the filler on the right. I have a British car with one filler on top of each fender and another one with the filler on the top of the left fender only.

There's probably some idiot proposing that this be regulated in the European Union (they tried to regulate banana and chicken egg sizes), but there aren't any such regs anywhere else that I'm aware of - other than "your filler must be X distance away from your exhaust" or some such.

Hmmm well you can blame that on my Year 9 Automotive Engineering teacher.

Wiki search away - but yh, to me I would have thought anyway that it depeneded on the external design and other components.

Lupin_IV · July 24th, 2008, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

I've always thought there should be an indicator on the dash telling you which side its on, especially for rentals.

Some cars do have an indicator on the gas gauge.

http://pic.phyrefile.com/l/lu/lupin_iv/2008/07/23/fuel-gauge-empty.jpg

Dark_Templer_102 · July 24th, 2008, 03:18 AM

My economics book actually told me why this occurs.

If you think about it, if you had all fuel caps in one side, there would be sides of pumps that people would always use (you know you just pull into a gas station and stop because it is closest) and all car directions would be facing in a certain direction, and also could screw up the traffic in a gas station. (there is a better explanation but I just finished my Intro to MicroEcon class a couple of months ago and the info is a bit rusty)

I know mercedes makes fuel filler locations on both sides as well as many other cars.

KaJuN · July 24th, 2008, 03:28 AM

Just get a motorcycle so you can pull up to a pump from either direction. Problem solved. images/smilies/cool.gif

Or some 1970s American car that had the filler hidden behind the rear license plate. Those were awesome!

NecroJoe · July 24th, 2008, 03:30 AM

I had a long time to observe the fuel filler door locations from the passenger seat on the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco...

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

I noticed for example that if a car has a single exhaust pipe located on one side, the fuel filler is usually on the opposite side.

Subaru Impreza 2.5 5-door: both the single exhaust and the fuel filler are on the right side, I believe.

Some cars DO have an indicator. My car has a little triangle next to the pump symbol in the fuel gauge pointing to the right side, where my door is. I want to say my Explorer had the same arrow pointing to the left side, where its door was. Something like this:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/spudmunkey/fuel-gauge.jpg

I prefer it on the driver's side.

2008 Pontiac G6: Right Side
2008 Pontiac Solstice: Left Side
2008 Pontiac Grand Prix: Left Side
2008 Pontiac G8: Right Side

1996 Porsche 911: Left Side
2008 Porsche 911: Right Side

Lupin_IV · July 24th, 2008, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaJuN

Or some 1970s American car that had the filler hidden behind the rear license plate. Those were awesome!

Center filler, FTW, but they weren't just from the '70s*.

*Both of my cars have this feature (as the chassis was designed in the 1970s) but it existed before then as well.

hansvonaxion · July 24th, 2008, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lupin_IV

Some cars do have an indicator on the gas gauge.

Hopefully that becomes the norm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark_Templer_102

My economics book actually told me why this occurs.

If you think about it, if you had all fuel caps in one side, there would be sides of pumps that people would always use (you know you just pull into a gas station and stop because it is closest) and all car directions would be facing in a certain direction, and also could screw up the traffic in a gas station. (there is a better explanation but I just finished my Intro to MicroEcon class a couple of months ago and the info is a bit rusty)

I know mercedes makes fuel filler locations on both sides as well as many other cars.

But then, when traffic comes from both directions, it screws things up. If I come in from one end and my filler is on the driver's side and someone comes in from the opposite side and their filler is on the passenger's side, we end up head to head images/smilies/mellow.gif

. So I pull up behind someone and they leave as I'm paying, then someone pulls in facing me but I can't reverse out cos someone's pulled in behind me... images/smilies/mad.gif

If they were all on the same side, traffic flowing one way would use one side and the opposite direction would use the other side, right?

But like I said, most of the time you can swing the nozzle over to the opposite side of the car anyway.

tigger · July 24th, 2008, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaJuN

Or some 1970s American car that had the filler hidden behind the rear license plate. Those were awesome!

They're slick, for sure. But a pain in the ass if you get rear ended.

thedguy · July 24th, 2008, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

I've always thought there should be an indicator on the dash telling you which side its on, especially for rentals.

On most cars you can actually tell based on what side of the instrument panel the fuel gauge is on.

I always assumed cars had the filler door wherever the design of the car best allowed the filler tube to be placed. My car for instance has a battery that gets in the way on the passenger side.

Deviate · July 24th, 2008, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaJuN

Just get a motorcycle so you can

July 24th, 2008, 02:01 AM	#1
NecroJoe Joined: Apr 12th, 2005 Last Online: 09:03 AM Location: San Francisco area, CA, USA Age: 29 Posts: 1,834 Car: 2001 Mercury Cougar V6 Rep Power: 55	Fuel filler location...how come? How come some cars have the fuel filler on the right side, and some have it on the wrong side? It's not by manufacturer necessarily, because some Toyotas have it on the right, and some on the left. Also, this generation Mustang has it on the left, but it's on the right on the previous generation. Anyone know why they would be different? It's not like the gas tank itself is on that side of the car...

July 24th, 2008, 02:05 AM	#2
eddysdaman Joined: Mar 19th, 2005 Last Online: 08:29 AM Location: Australia Age: 19 Posts: 712 Car: 01' Mitsubishi Lancer Rep Power: 21	From what I recall it depended on the country of manufacture. Japanese made cars (RHD) have fillers on the right American made Japanese cars (LHD) have fillers on the left etc etc __________________ See My Ride, Lenny Lancer: and my Forums Website For Awesome Wide-screen Wallpapers

July 24th, 2008, 02:42 AM	#7
hansvonaxion Joined: Apr 8th, 2005 Last Online: 09:15 AM Posts: 1,084 Rep Power: 29	I've always thought there should be an indicator on the dash telling you which side its on, especially for rentals. On the subject, I was driving my father-in-laws car recently and when I pulled in to fill up there was only a pump on the right side but the filler was on the left, when I started to pull up to the pump everyone went nuts. Of course if you pull up close enough you can just swing the pump over to the other side. __________________

July 24th, 2008, 03:18 AM	#12
Dark_Templer_102 Joined: Jul 17th, 2004 Last Online: 07:32 AM Location: Alpharetta, Georgia. U.S.A Posts: 1,663 Car: Subaru Legacy GT Rep Power: 0	My economics book actually told me why this occurs. If you think about it, if you had all fuel caps in one side, there would be sides of pumps that people would always use (you know you just pull into a gas station and stop because it is closest) and all car directions would be facing in a certain direction, and also could screw up the traffic in a gas station. (there is a better explanation but I just finished my Intro to MicroEcon class a couple of months ago and the info is a bit rusty) I know mercedes makes fuel filler locations on both sides as well as many other cars. __________________

July 24th, 2008, 03:28 AM	#13
KaJuN Joined: Jul 31st, 2006 Last Online: November 17th, 2008 Location: USAF Basic Training Age: 22 Posts: 4,628 Car: Land Rover Discovery, 1980 Yamaha XJ650 Rep Power: 91	Just get a motorcycle so you can pull up to a pump from either direction. Problem solved. Or some 1970s American car that had the filler hidden behind the rear license plate. Those were awesome! __________________ D-Fence: Kajun is just outside caressing his Discovery....touching it gently, you know......it is such a dirty bitch.....but he seems to love dirty girls in high heels who are taller then him and have "quite a few pounds" on their hips ^^ Yes we can! Join my fan club. You know you want a piece of this action!

July 24th, 2008, 02:09 AM	#4
epp_b n00b of the year Joined: Jun 23rd, 2006 Last Online: 06:31 AM Location: Canadaland :) Posts: 4,703 Car: 1995 Nissan 240SX Rep Power: 40	Um...my best guess is that it's dictated by the design of the other internal components. Ie.: where it fits after the more important parts have been placed.

July 24th, 2008, 02:21 AM	#6
Aston Martin Joined: Sep 20th, 2006 Last Online: 04:24 AM Location: Hull, England Posts: 1,135 Rep Power: 19	I read somewhere that it's also traditional, so some manufacturers stick to once side for nostalgia.