# Some useful facts about diesel.



## Hoodoo Valley

What do diesel engines and Budweiser beer have in common?

They were both funded by the famous Adolphus Busch. 
Name four advantages of a diesel engine over a gasoline engine: 
Efficiency: They burn less fuel to generate a given amount of horsepower. They are 20 – 30% more efficient than a gas engine. 


Engine Durability: Because a diesel engine must be built heavier to withstand the pressure within the engine, it can be expected to run many hours longer than its gas counterpart. 


More Lugging Power: Torque rise under load is an inherent characteristic of diesel engines. 


Less Pollution: The exhaust from a diesel engine, although more visible at times, contains low levels of toxic elements harmful to people. What you do see in diesel smoke are particulates, carbon and soot.


You can smoke rude bicyclists. 
Name a couple of disadvantages of the diesel engine: 

They are harder to start in cold weather.


They cost more to purchase up front.


Many local repair shops do not have the service personnel or parts for diesel engines.


They cost more to repair than a comparable gasoline engine.


They can go farther than your bladder can on a tank of fuel. 
Name three differences between a gas and a diesel engine:

Type of fuel it uses: Diesel fuel is a less volatile fuel than gasoline but possesses a greater number of BTU’s per gallon. As a result, more total horsepower is obtained from a gallon of diesel than a gallon of gas.


Type of Ignition: the fuel and air mixture in a gas cylinder is ignited by a spark. In a diesel engine, the mixture is ignited by the heat from compression.


Fuel and air mixing: In a gas engine, the fuel and air mix takes place in the carburetor and the intake manifold and the fuel is ignited by a spark plug. In a diesel engine the diesel fuel is mixed with compressed air when the fuel is injected into the cylinder. Because air heats up when it’s compressed, the fuel ignites. 

Why are diesel trucks harder to start when it’s cold than a gasoline truck?

The fuel is ignited using compressed air that is hot. When it’s cold out, it takes longer for the temperature to rise. The cylinders take longer to heat up as well. Some engines have glow plugs or intake heaters to assist in creating heat to improve cold starts.


Diesel fuel gets thicker when it’s cold, there is more contamination in diesel fuel and it can actually freeze. 

What can be done to improve the starting and runability of my diesel truck during cold spells?

Before the cold season, have the glow plugs or intake heater checked for proper operation.


Have the block heater checked for proper operation and plug in the truck whenever feasible.


Treat the fuel in the tank with a diesel fuel supplement that prevents gelling and boosts Cetane. Even treated fuel from the pump is not enough for severe cold.


Assure the truck batteries are good and the charging system is working.


Start with a fresh fuel filter and replace fuel filters often. 
What are the don’ts and the do’s of getting a diesel going that is cold and hard to start?

Don’t use ether to start a diesel. Ether has a low a flash point and when present in the intake can blow up the air filter housing and even the valve cover. Do visit Diesel Services when the truck is hard to start. Continuing to hard start your diesel will only create more starting system problems later on such as the batteries, starter, glow plugs tips can break off in a cylinder etc. It is a curable problem. 

Why are oil changes so much more important to your diesel engine than the gas one?

The primary purpose of engine oil in a gas engine is lubrication. Oil in the diesel engine not only lubricates, but it cools the engine and cleans the carbon away from the pistons and the liners. The key to diesel engine longevity is oil changes every 3000 miles on the nose! 

Why are fuel filter changes so much more important for a diesel engine than a gas engine?

The fuel filter in a diesel engine separates water out of the diesel fuel. Excessive build-up of water in the filter can cause freezing in the fuel system, can cause the vehicle to be hard to start, to die-in-flight or run poorly. It is recommended that the fuel filter be changed every 6,000 miles (every other oil change). In the winter when the temperatures are low, the filter should be changed every oil change. This will help prevent fuel jelling. 

What other maintenance items should be done periodically?

A valve adjustment, also known as an “overhead” should be done every 60,000 miles on some engines to assure maximum performance. 

Any other pertinent warnings?

Should you discover that gasoline has been introduced into your diesel fuel tank, do not so much as even start your engine. Gasoline can create so much heat in the fuel system that injectors can melt. Clear all fuel lines, change the fuel filter, fill with fresh fuel. It’s not worth the risk to run your engine on gas.


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## captchas

smoke rude bicyclist! how about smoking rude jet skiers rideing to close to my transome. when i open up up a pair of well over fueled 1200 mhp, c18 cats. now thats smoke!


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## Hoodoo Valley

Would love to see that! That would be....:lmao::lmao:


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## Dugout

I didn't know a lot of that. Thanks!


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## Hoodoo Valley

I saw a diesel that came in contact with natural gas, after hitting the in ground line. EXPLOSION!:monkey:


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## ricky

thanx that was very good info


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## rsmith335

I have had two diesel pick up trucks, they both pulled great. Having said that I will never have another diesel pick up truck, Iv'e been better of runing gas, if you change the oil ( 6 Quarts not 10 ) you can easly get 250,000 out of gas engines or more. And when a gas engine gives up you can buy a new crate motor installed for about $ 2,500.00 from GM 
( GM 350 ) with a 3 year or 36,000 mile warenty. I don't know about polution statement, when I get to work some mornings the air- diesel smoke will burn your eyes and sinuses and stink to high heaven from semi diesel trucks setting idling all night. Whats strange is, we have a back hoe and a trac hoe that are diesel, open cabs and the burn clean. Whats the deal with stinkin semi diesel trucks?


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## wjjones

Very little if any emissions control, and now they are adding 10% + ethanol to diesel. I like the Cats, and the cummins.


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> Very little if any emissions control, and now they are adding 10% + ethanol to diesel. I like the Cats, and the cummins.


What effect if any, will the ethonol have on the diesels? Should I be burning stove oil....? Oh wait, I already am! Still curious if it has any effect on the longevity of our engines.


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## rj'sbarn

tractor beam said:


> I saw a diesel that came in contact with natural gas, after hitting the in ground line. EXPLOSION!:monkey:


Natural gas does the same thing to diesel that nitrous does to gasoline. 
There was an old autocar pulling the saltwater tank off of a pumpjack site a few years back. They found out the well had been getting gassy and blowing off around the casing the hard way. The old detroit in that autocar started whirring and spinning up slow at first then picked up and blew the majority of the truck into the next mile section line. It spun up slow enough to give the pumpers time to run off screaming to a safe distance before it came apart. The rumor was that the big engine hit 4k rpm before it came apart. Good old tough mid '70s detroit saved those guys lives by holding together as long as it did.


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## Hoodoo Valley

That would make a great youtube video! In this case, Washington water and power paid for a new engine, so it had a happy ending!


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## Mahindra One

Tractor Beam, Do you recommend any specific Diesel additives?


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## farmertim

Living in Australia, I am glad my lower temperatures only reach about 23' f, I don't worry about frozen fuel or coolant.

Have fun because fun is the best thing to have!!!!


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## Hoodoo Valley

Mahindra One said:


> Tractor Beam, Do you recommend any specific Diesel additives?


We just get some product from John Deere and add it to summer diesel, until the winter treated diesel goes on sale. Off the top of my head, I can't recall what it is, but it's just a winter formulation simular to anything you could get at walmart, just 3 times as expensive!.


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## machold

I add 50ml of Power Service Diesel clean to 20L of fuel, all seasons. No problems.
Power Service Products, diesel fuel additives, prevent gelling, clean injectors, disperse water, boost cetane, reduce emissions, improve fuel economyPower Service Products, diesel fuel additives, prevent gelling, clean injectors, disperse water, boos


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## oldtom

rsmith335 said:


> I have had two diesel pick up trucks, they both pulled great. Having said that I will never have another diesel pick up truck, Iv'e been better of runing gas, if you change the oil ( 6 Quarts not 10 ) you can easly get 250,000 out of gas engines or more. And when a gas engine gives up you can buy a new crate motor installed for about $ 2,500.00 from GM
> ( GM 350 ) with a 3 year or 36,000 mile warrenty. I don't know about pollution statement, when I get to work some mornings the air- diesel smoke will burn your eyes and sinuses and stink to high heaven from semi diesel trucks setting idling all night. Whats strange is, we have a back hoe and a trac hoe that are diesel, open cabs and the burn clean. Whats the deal with stinkin semi diesel trucks?


the hoe's are working ,the trucks are idling no the most efficient use of diesel power just to heat/cool the cab run 12-16lts engine at idle


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## farmertim

oldtom you are right, the big problem with a diesel idling for long periods is that the bore glazes up and then that allows quicker wear and blow-by.
my old engineering manager would rip the testicles out of anyone caught idling a diesel truck just to keep themselves warm with the heater!!!


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## Miaugi

Thanks for posting...I learned some stuff today!


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## ErnieS

For lack of a better place to put this, I just scored 20 gallons of off-road diesel for 40 bucks. Gulf Coast Alabama is shrimping territory and when a boat comes in for repairs, the tanks must be drained and removed before any welding can be done anywhere. If you know someone or time it right, you can buy a 55 gallon drum for 100 bucks.
Of course, you need to know that the fuel is fresh, but the larger boats down here carry over 1,000 gallons and return near empty so the fuel is turned over pretty fast.
I rack my drum with the bung a few inches high so sediment stays at the other end, and let the drum settle for a day before use.


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## farmertim

Ernie, thats a good win, need to keep my eyes open over here for that sort of thing, although I do know someone who has welded a crack in a tank that was FULL of diesel, it seems that the stuff wont burn with no oxygen to it. But that is a gamble I wont take!!!:flamedevi


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## Ranger520VX

*Diesel Fuel*

I have a 1999 Ford F-350, 7.3 turbo diesel with 240,000 miles. I use Marvel Mystery Oil from Walmart with each fill up. I have a 40 gal fuel tank & I use 16 oz per fill up and I get anywhere between 3 to 5 more mpg. I have tried everything made for a diesel and this works best. I have been using it for a long time & will continue to use it. Works good in gas burners also. 
:usa:


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## JALaswellSr

One thing I was not aware of is that a Diesel can run backwards. It happened to my son with his 1210 Ford tractor recently. The battery was down so he used jumper cables to start it and didn't wait for the tractor battery to charge a bit. It turned over slowly and started but sounded very unusual and when he let out the clutch in reverse it went forward with little power. My neighbor that has worked with diesels all of his life said they do sometimes run backwards and usually when started with a very low battery current. That is why my little Briggs-Farryman diesel has a controlled compression release for hand starting with a crank. You get it up to a good cranking speed before the compression hits and fires the engine. I guess they knew it could break an arm if you didn't.


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## Country Boy

I guess in theory a diesel could run backwards because there is no carburetor to draw air through for the fuel air mixture. The diesel is injected directly into the cylinder by the pump. I know the old Detroit diesels (2 cycle) could run backwards because my vet had that happen to him when he worked at a steel yard while in vet school. Had to back up to a giant slag pit with a truck that had to be pull started with the engine running backwards (he had to use 1st for reverse) hoping he didn't snub it or screw up and accidentally back into the pit. It had snubbed out on him earlier and he popped the clutch to restart it on the hill he was on, but he had it in the wrong gear so the engine started backwards.


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## Kd7lmq

I run heating oil in my tractor, I have about 120 gallons in the 275 gallon tank right now, but I add add a couple of quart bottles of ATF on each fill up. As well as Startron to keep the alge down. http://mystarbrite.com/startron I Also use in the boat the boat that has a 110 gallon tank, and we use only about 30 gallons a year. The Racor filters pick up the remains, running a 10 micron, then a 2 before it gets to injection pump.


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## pogobill

I got caught in the arctic one time years ago with a tank full of summer fuel. didn't use the truck much and next thing you know it is freezing! No way I could fire up the truck to burn the fuel off. Ended up getting it into the company shop at night to thaw out, then ran it and added kerocene to it to keep it going. The kerocene thinned out the fuel and kept me going until I could fill up with winter fuel. It would run on JP4 jet fuel as well, which is a kerocene type fuel we used in our helicopters.


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## farmallpat

I have a 93 fr250 with the 7.3 non turbo 444 cid international auto trans 3.55 gears 8ft western plow.over 350k on truck. The only repairs to engine were a starter and alt,oil change's and is on its 3rd pick up bed do to damage from loading and farm use in gen, 
this truck is still in service,
There is now way that any gas pick up would work as hard and last as long. gas trucks will not pull as hard .Resale sucks on gas pick ups. Nobody who works a truck wants a gas hog. 
If you do the math in the long run a deisel cost less to run,own, and resale is 30% higher atleast
if its heavy duty its deisel


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## ErnieS

captchas said:


> smoke rude bicyclist! how about smoking rude jet skiers rideing to close to my transome. when i open up up a pair of well over fueled 1200 mhp, c18 cats. now thats smoke!


You probably don't do that very often considering you normally burn 100 gallons/hour.


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## chogg

New a man who bought some Jet-A fuel from an aircraft service company that defueled aircraft prior to service and run in his diesel tractor and in his old Cadillac Seville diesel. he claimed it worked great.


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## Joisey

I owned a 1981 VW Diesel Rabbit. In the owners manual was the recommendation that no more than 10% regular gasoline be added to the tank of diesel to prevent gelling. I tried it and it did work and never did any harm. Ran that car for 250K.


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