Five Myths about Diesel Engines - Another Argonne Labs Article

[submarinesailor]

Because I drive a F250 SD diesel, I found this article very interesting:
http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2011/news110613.html.

Bruce

[Dean186]

and another good article - thanks for posting

[Ron Wenrich]

I have a 1 year old diesel Jetta.  My wife took it into the shop and they gave her a new gas Jetta as a loaner.  She said it was a dog.  No pep when you take off.

The Jetta has a small 1.9 liter engine that gets about 105 hp.  I took that on a trip a couple of weeks ago and went up one of the mountain areas with a pretty good grade.  It walked up over at 62 mph on the cruise control in 6th gear.  I was amazed.  My Toyota pickup would have died.

Diesel is more expensive than gasoline.  But, we get about 46 mpg.  Some trips I can get more than 50.  I figure I get about 20% better mileage than the gas model, so $4 diesel would be comparable to $3.20 gasoline. 

[Jasperfield]

I, too, have a VW Jetta diesel. It's an '03 model with automatic. It has 117,000+ miles on it and will burn old & new diesel, kerosene, etc. If I drive 55 it'll get 54mpg consistently. 60 will get about 50mpg.

Diesel is the ticket! If fuel becomes difficult to obtain, by price or otherwise, diesel vehicles will be in great demand.

[shelbycharger400]

While running, a small amount of extra fuel is added to the combustion chambers in the engine; the resulting heat and oxygen activate a catalyst in the DPF to burn off the accumulated soot. This renders a small fuel consumption penalty

thats nice.. now , just like fuel injected cars with cat converters... they make the engine run rich just to make a converter work.    If you get into tuning, like i have dabbled into..  you will find that all cars and trucks, run PIG RICH at idle, and most across the board.   If you reprogram/ use a stand alone system,  gas or diesel, you can actually make your car or truck preform better , use less fuel, and can can that cat.   I have heard of many people passing emmissions testing, without the cat.   storys from an old technician, of 1976 range when they started this b/s,    its a bandaid, for differences in machining..ect,   I have had engines apart with 40,000 miles on them.. with pounded out valve guides, and 8 thousandths + side to side tolerances.... no way is the valve going to seal right.      vehicles are being made cheaper and cheaper internals,   and the big 3  are dictated by the OPEC!             diesel engines are in my eyes a good thing,   the easiest to switch to propane or natural gas....  and you can get that with NO highway tax,   and at 1.50 a gal.   

[Al_Smith]

They have indeed improved the starting capabilitys of the smaller diesels considerably over the years .Good heavens the old GM conversions of the 350 gassers you couldn't shut them off if the temp got below zero else the dumb things wouldn't start until spring time .Besides that it would take you a mile to get up to 60 MPH .Dogs,dirty  dogs.

[Dean186]

Here are two more good articles from Popular Mechanics on diesel as an alternative fuel.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/diesel/4330313?click=main_sr

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/diesel/4338734?click=main_sr

[barbender]

Myth #5 is no myth at all, #2 Diesel is 40-50˘ higher per gallon in MN. AAnd glow plugs won't help with gelled fuel!

[shelbycharger400]

barbender  isnt that the truth!  somewhere you have to pay for those who dont pay for anything

Interesting enough...i didnt see it in their article,  but all road diesel contains that crummy Ethanol now.       not shure about off road ... prob dose too now.

[DouginUtah]

... but all road diesel contains that crummy Ethanol now.

I had never heard that so I did some research. Diesel and ethanol are not compatible so cannot be mixed. There is a product called EM60 which is 60% ethanol and 40% water which is injected into the cylinder at the same time as the diesel fuel, but it has to be available from a separate tank.

If you can support your claim I would be interested in reading it.

I support stations that sell Pure (E0) Gas.

[SwampDonkey]

Only thing I've seen is Bio additives and they only claim 2-3% increase in mileage. From what I've read anything more than that is a stretch. But some of the good ones do more for the engine than boost mileage slightly.

[shelbycharger400]

http://www.ethanol-information.com/ediesel.php

[shelbycharger400]

i will keep looking,  it had something to do with a winter blend or something to keep from gelling up

[SwampDonkey]

Here is a definition of "splash blending" being used in the first article at least, never read the second one.

Splash Blending

Biodiesel and diesel fuel are loaded into a vessel separately. Mixing of the products
occurs as the fuel is agitated through the blending of each fuel and during the
transportation and delivery of the fuel to the end user. Because biodiesel is slightly
heavier than conventional distillates it is recommended that biodiesel be loaded second
on top to eliminate the biodiesel from settling at the bottom of the blending tank.
When bottom loading is utilized the fuel flow may be adequate to load either fuel being
blended first with no negative consequences of these minor viscosity differentials. When
splash blending, complete compartment loads should be delivered to a single tank, rather than to a partial compartment or more than one tank.

Another tid bit:

Above ground storage—for both generic distillates and biodiesel—should be protected with insulation, agitation, kerosene blends, heating systems or other measures if freezing temperatures are common. These precautions include protecting tank piping and the pumping equipment. These cold weather preparatory recommendations are equally important when storing conventional distillates as well as biodiesel and biodiesel blends.

[documented in West Coast Collaborative] Link to a small PDF document

[Al_Smith]

I haven't kept up with the more modern blends of diesel fuel .I will say this in the days before low sulfur fuel my antique Caterpillars would certainly start easier .During the cold months I just ran them on straight kerosine ,no problems .Then it got so K1 was all you could buy at some outragious price and pay tax on top of that because there was no road tax included in the pump price . If I ran just straight diesel it would have taken a half a can of ether before they would run ,chugging away on two out of 4 cylinders  for half an hour .

Usually they started "winter blend " on road diesel about November .

[shelbycharger400]

i remember not that long ago, in 95 when you were able to purchase off road diesel at the pump up north by the cabin in brandon mn.      the owner didnt care at all what you did with it... and on the road truck got better milage with it.         gas station has long been torn down...and new one built... changed hands a few times now.

[OneWithWood]

I have been making and runnig bio diesel for quite a few years now.  Gelling is an issue in the winter.  I routinely blend petro diesel and bio diesel when the temps dip below 35°F, running straight petro diesel when the temps are below 20°F.
Ethanol and diesel, whether bio or petro, do not mix and will damage your engine.  Methanol, on the other hand, can be mixed in very small quantities with bio or petro diesel but I would not recommend doing it very often.
Purdue University has demonstrated that urea can significantly reduce the gel point of both bio and petro diesel. 

[Bill]

A few years back a mechanic friend talked me into a used 2001 Jetta diesel. Even tho VW sometimes has a spotty reputation for service ( do my own as much as I can ) I like that it'll get 'bout 52 at 75 and 'bout 55 at 65-ish . On a mad pre hurricane dash to NC last week it dropped to ' bout 48 - musta been the traffic ( or driving at a high rate of speed to keep up with traffic ? ? ?  ).

Got 134K on the odometer and regularly add an ounce of diesel additive when filling up - if nothing else the extra lubrication for the fuel pump/metering block is supposed to be good for it   . . .

[mad murdock]

If any of you guys on colder climates are having issues getting good off road diesel for your equipment, (no nasty additives), might I suggest you go to your local airport and buy JetA.  Jet A is the same thing as #1 diesel, only the packaging/handling and QC determines what the end product is called or labeled. 

[mooleycow]

Jake shoes the horses.  he was telling me he puts a quart of non detergent 30w oil in his chevy diesel when he fills  the tank.  he also says his turbo don't work and don't need it.  should i put oil in my 96 cummins when i fill the tank?

[OneWithWood]

No.

[badbird347]

Mooleycow. I don't think I would be taking advise from someone who says thier turbo dosen't work . Also if he thinks the turbo isn't needed than he should try comparing a 7.3l from 91 ford to a 7.3l in 99 ford. I have owed both and have realized way more power and MPG. I have even started planing on a twin turbo design for more boost. on the single I'm at 26psi, and it's still not enough to clean up all the fuel i'm putting to it.

[sawguy21]

If any of you guys on colder climates are having issues getting good off road diesel for your equipment, (no nasty additives), might I suggest you go to your local airport and buy JetA.  Jet A is the same thing as #1 diesel, only the packaging/handling and QC determines what the end product is called or labeled. 

Jet A is very dry, has a high naptha content, and will shortly waste injectors and pumps on diesels. I once had to use Jet A, pumped out of the bowser into the truck tank so I could make it to the next fuel stop. I added a can of motor oil for insurance.

[RobbyRob]

I put in a Kabuta 4 cylinder diesel in my Wrangler and it works great.
I put a Yanmar diesel in my other Wrangler and it does great.
I put a Cummins 4bt in a rock crawler Wrangler and it works great.

[Ironwood]

RobbyRob,

 That ALL sounds coool.

 Ironwood

[bandmiller2]

Drove a VW rabit diesel pickup for years she was kinda wore out loaded tandem tractor trailers would pass me climbing the grades.That rascal could spot a hill before I could,but I got about 50 mpg.Real cold weather I would add a gallon of gasoline to a full tank of diesel,give it some teeth to start. Frank C.