Questions tagged [diesel]

A type of internal combustion engine where ignition happens when fuel is spray at high pressure into a compressed charge of air, or the relatively heavy fuel oil used in compression-ignition engines.

"A diesel engine (also known as a compression-ignition engine) is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber. This is in contrast to spark-ignition engines such as a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or gas engine (using a gaseous fuel as opposed to gasoline), which uses a spark plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture." -Wikipedia

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What to check when buying a used car?

I'm looking to buy a used car. What do you think I should check (mechanically) before buying it (especially if it's diesel)?
Reed
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Why do heavy vehicles almost always use diesel engines?

I have always wondered why heavy vehicles such as large trucks and buses almost always use diesel engines, whereas in light cars there is a choice between diesel and gasoline engines. Engine efficiency might explain the preference towards diesel…
juhist
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Small amount of wrong fuel type put in the tank

The guy who works at a gas station was filling up for brief moment wrong fuel type in my car until he realized what he did. I own Citroen Xsara 1.9d, make year 2000. Before filling the tank which is 60l capacity, I had about half tank full. The pump…
tolkinski
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Why does diesel engine need a warm-up before the start-up?

When starting up, diesel engine needs approximately 5s before turning the key for ignition. Why is this neccessary and what can be damaged if you don't do that?
winter
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Why not use gasoline on diesel engines or vice versa?

I've read gasoline engines use sparks to ignite the mixture, but diesel engines use just compression which can't be done in gasoline engines due to high compression ratios which can cause engine knocking, but if that was true gasoline? It can then…
user3407319
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Why does diesel engine have redline much lower than petrol engine redline?

Why do diesel automotive engines redline at around 4500 rpm whereas petrol ones go to 6500-8000 rpm? Does this have something to do with the compression ratio?
saurabh64
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How to test for defective glow plugs?

On a diesel engine, how can I know which glow plugs are defective, and can I change these only?
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Diesel Engine Runaway - What is it?

I was watching some youtube videos and diesel engine runaway videos started to pop up where apparently the diesel engine runs out of control until it destroys itself. My Question What is diesel engine runaway? How does diesel engine runaway occur?…
DucatiKiller
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Diesel vs Petrol motorcars. Pro's and cons?

I realize this may be a silly question to those of you on here who are proper petrol-heads and this may even be a repeat question, but I could not find anything on it on here, so here goes: What are the advantages and disadvantages between cars with…
DeVil
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What's the cause of Diesels' typical clatter noise?

I guess it's related to their basically running off knocking, but if I were to explain it to someone like this, it wouldn't convince me neither. [Edit] From http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/369700-what-exactly-causes-the-diesel-noise.html The Loud…
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Is it possible for a diesel engine computer to detect (and prevent) a runaway condition?

Although diesel runaway is not so common... ... the consequences are spectacularly catastrophic. On old-school engines, I can understand that there isn't much you can do about it except try to cut off the air supply. But what about modern…
Zaid
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Is it normal for the oil to be dark in color right after an "oil change" in a 10-year old diesel car?

I took my 2002 Jetta TDI wagon to a neighborhood shop about 10 miles, 24 hours ago. They supposedly changed the oil, but the color is very dark, almost black. Definitely not light-colored/transparent. The oil change was performed along with other…
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Diesel runaway - stopped miraculously by itself

A little background (Little longer, please excuse): Few days before while we were driving Maruti Suzuki Dzire vdi (Engine: Fiat Multijet 1.3 DDIS, CRDI engine) around 40kmph. All of sudden there was a noise from engine and while we attempted to…
Narayanan
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What are the pro's and con's of compression braking vs. exhaust braking?

My truck supports 2 types of engine brakes: Compression release brake Exhaust brake Both can be selectively deactivated using switches. What are the pro's and con's of each type of engine braking system? (considering various factors like component…
niko
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Why do diesel fuel lines have to be bled?

Background I've had a couple of situations with diesels. One in particular where I swapped a Ford F350 Powerstroke 7.8 transmission. When I was done. The truck wouldn't start. It was a painful troubleshooting situation for me because of my…
DucatiKiller
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