My parents bought a Buick Electra Estate station wagon with one of those 5,7L diesels. When it ran it was slow but got 37 miles to the gallon. It went through 4 engines under warranty. I put an Oldsmobile 350 from a 1971 Cutlass that caught on fire in it and never had any more issues.
Neat stuff there. Was Maryland Mike at the other end of the row where you were set up with the Other Witte Diesel electric that had the radiator on it ? Good to see you and Mike at the show……
when I worked at a rental store, I had to clean the jack hammers and hose,, I usually used kerosene , but at the time we didn't have any so I though, well.. diesel will work... the compressors were the big trailer type so I hooked every thing up, and pulled the handle on the jack hammer,,, it sounded like a .50 machine gun.... lol I guess that is the principal of diesel engines..
Clear as mud? Want to read about it? Here's what Mike basically highlighted: Compared to gas-powered engines, diesel engines start and run from much higher compression and a more energy dense fuel. So, in an average passenger vehicle with a gasoline-powered engine, healthy engine cylinder compression is generally between 120-160 PSI, with gasoline topping out at 125,000 BTU energy per gallon on average. In a diesel engine cylinder compression would be between 300-500 PSI, with diesel fuel topping out at 138,000 BTU per gallon on average. Your mileage will vary noticeably in real life, depending on the nature of the fuel, such as with ethanol or with biodiesel, their respective additives, the operational quality of the vehicle's fuel system, ambient conditions, driving habits, demand load on the engine and various fuel contaminants. OK, I need a break. That was almost too much nerdage noise for me to write.
Far simpler than today's electronically operated, multi-point injection systems on modern diesels, just squirt & squeeze, just as Rudolf Diesel had invented... :P
