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I am thinking about getting a dieseled powered truck, but have never owned one before. I am curious as to any advantages(mileage wise, power wise, etc) that it may have. Also, is it true that you can put about anything in a diesel engine and make it run? Thanks!
I love, love, LOVE my diesel pickup (Dodge Ram, 1997). So much so that at 335,000 miles, I just got the transmission rebuilt and had it painted and am hoping for another 300,000.
I don't know that a diesel will burn "anything" (don't be filling the tank with gasoline, for example), but they will run on biodiesel and sometimes, I understand, on used cooking oil, though I don't know anyone personally who's actually done that and I think there may be some modifications.
The biggest thing about diesel engines, though, is longevity. Yes, we can haul a full size tractor on a trailer behind Sam (my pickup, Sam I Am), and we have to keep reminding ourselves that there's something back there because the truck simply doesn't notice. Yes, we get 22 mpg regardless - fully loaded and towing a tractor or with just me in it, city, highway, you name it, 22 mpg. But the biggy is that 335,000 miles, when we get out on the highway, Sam STILL wants to stretch his legs and drive to Alaska (we're in Texas).
Lots of owner info on the automotive threads about diesel pick-up trucks.
Unless you need the hauling ability of those high torque motors, they won't pencil out for most people due to the increased cost of buying one. And they do take maintenance a little more seriously than a gasoline motor if you're going to get the performance and durability out of one.
No, you can't just "put about anything" into one for fuel. The later fuel injection systems are prettty fussy about high quality petroleum based diesel fuel in the quest for clean emissions ... even bio-diesel blends above 10-12% will cause running problems in many and require you to run fuel additives to keep the system functioning properly. Not saying you can't run these fuels/blends, but you'll pay a price to do so. Folks running vegetable oils and home-brewed bio-diesel fuels are using old piston injection pump cars that tolerate these fuels better, but the trade-off is driving an older vehicle and being willing to tinker with your car ... and some have gone to great lengths to accomodate the alternative fuels, like having two fuel tanks and a change over valve set-up so that the motor is started and warmed up on petroleum fuel and then changed over to the alternative fuel for the warm cycle, then changed back to the petroluem fuel tank when it's soon to be shut down (so there will be petroluem fuel in the injection system to start the car again when cold).
I am thinking about getting a dieseled powered truck, but have never owned one before. I am curious as to any advantages(mileage wise, power wise, etc) that it may have. Also, is it true that you can put about anything in a diesel engine and make it run? Thanks!
This really should be posted in the Automotive sub-forum. There'll be a lot more response there.
First and foremost, you CANNOT burn just about anything through a diesel. Yes, you'll need to run different fuels depending on the temperature outside, and you can run bio-diesel. Some people even rig up their diesels to burn Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). But if you're a novice, that won't apply to you.
There are negatives with diesels. They're almost always more expensive to buy, and repairs are more expensive. They're louder than a gas engine, can smell bad, and do not respond and accelerate in the same way. They're also harder to start in cold weather.
There are also positives with diesels. They're typically better for towing, partly because mileage under load doesn't drop as badly as a gas engine will. Fuel economy is better, and longevity is usually pretty amazing.
I've owned a lot of diesel vehicles in the past - both cars and trucks. I do not currently own any, because the kind of miles and amount of miles I now drive would not make good economic sense. Typically, if you drive a lot of miles - especially on the highway, and even more so if towing - a diesel might make good sense. But if you just commute in the city, I'd suggest you steer clear of diesels.
As I noted above, my vehicle is an older model - and I'm MORE than glad to drive an older vehicle. The maintenance involved on it has been, well, tires, brakes, it did eventually recently need a transmission rebuild (well, it could have been fixed but at that point we figured we'd gotten our money out of it over the past 300,000 miles and it was probably about time), oil changes, the usual. It has had a couple of problems lately - the aforementioned transmission and something that was just flat my own danged fault for making the turn too tight coming out of the drive and bumping through the ditch and jostling something loose that got fixed asap. And those had nothing to do with the type of engine - I finally figured out that the real challenge in diesels is keeping the vehicle from falling apart around the engine!
Maybe I've just been lucky, but the maintenance on the diesels (this one and the 1987 Mercedes diesel we had for a few years) has been significantly less than on the gas-powered vehicles we had - and those were Toyotas and until we got diesels, were the most reliable vehicles we could find. (We still have a Camry.)
I really can't speak to the newer diesels - maybe they're not as reliable as the older ones
I've had an F250 diesel as a daily driver since I bought it new in 2000. At the time I bought it, and for years before then, diesel fuel was cheaper than gas, and diesels get better mileage. I guessed at the amount of driving I'd be doing, put a pencil to the savings I'd get with diesel, and figured it would be the better investment over time.
And then the price of diesel skyrocketed and the number of miles I drove plummeted. For me, a gas engine would probably have been cheaper. (My truck just turned over 70,000 miles a couple weeks ago -- 7,000 miles per year average!)
But we pull a fairly good-sized 5th wheel camper in the mountains, and it's nice to have the extra power at higher elevations. And even though the price of diesel is higher than gasoline, when towing I get nearly twice the mileage with the diesel than what I got with the gas guzzler before it, and when not towing I get a 50% increase in mileage. When it's trade-in time, my diesel engine held its value very well. Ten years later, the extra I paid for the diesel engine is still there in the value of my old truck.
A diesel lasts longer, but it does cost more to maintain. It costs $100 for an oil change; repairs cost more, it doesn't start as well in the winter; it's noisier.
Being the owner of two diesel vehicles , all I can say is I love them and won't own a "gasser" ever again for a daily driver or a tow vehicle.
what got me started on the diesel bandwagon was the need for something that would tow #7500 easily and get good mileage. I purchased an '01 Dodge Ram w/ a Cummins , did about $4k worth of modifications (not really needed) and 150k miles later I still have a great tow vehicle that gets 22mpg unloaded (not bad for #6500) and 15-16 towing. Now that I don't really tow that much I've got a '00 Jetta TDI, with about $2500 mods (again not needed) bumping the HP level from 90's to 140. I put 420 miles a week on commuting and just love this car. It's somewhat stylish, fun to drive and get's 48-50mpg.
Now all that being said, if you are not mechanically inclined and don't want to be, don't keep your vehicles very long , and don't put on too many miles.. a diesel might not be for you. Owning and driving a diesel vehicle is kind of a love affair LOL
So for me the benefits are , mileage, power and longevity.
One important thing to consider with a diesel. They are not your best choice if they will be used primarily for "short errand trips" (less than 5 miles) in town, especially in a cold climate zone. Diesel vehicles are better suited for trips over 5 miles each way. A diesel engine should run at normal operating temperature for 10 or 15 minutes to let the engine burn off any condensation inside. This keeps the oil from forming sludge and reduces the formation of water in the fuel.
Gasoline engines are less sensitive to the short trip issue because gasoline is more combustible and there are spark plugs to trigger the combustion of the gas.
I wish some of the mini diesel cars sold in Europe were available in the US. Some of them have 1.3 to 1.5L diesel engines that get the equivalent of well over 60 mpg. I've driven a diesel version of a VW Polo in Germany (smaller than VW Golf hatchback) and it is fantastic. There are dozens of other brands that are equally as good.
dodge diesels are great. I have had 2... one with 100k miles in 1 year. another with 180k miles . you should drive to alaska horse lady, it is fun. I will leave you this for inspiration
I woke up to this one morning... towing a trailer up to AK for a friend. The ground is PURE ice. This truck is a 4x4. thank goodness.
had a 2001 with rv275 injectors, smarty ECM and south bend clutch, good for 700 RWTQ on the dyno, i think it was 305 RWHP, 25 MPG at about 6500 pounds.
not towing any more now, so we have a Jetta. 1 kid on the way... may switch to Liberty diesel in the future.
actually I do havea hitch and trailer with the Jetta. It tows 1k no problem. I wouldn't domuch more than 2k. Have done up to 14,000 on a 3/4 ton dodge.
Overall.... will never own a gasser again.
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on a 3/4 ton dodge.
