Is a diesel engine really the best option?

[T1 Terry]

Copied from another thread to avoid dragging it off topic.

Commodore is still performing well but we are dreaming of a turbo diesel ute to tow with, the economy and power available compared to my 5.7 litre guzzler is amazing. Can't afford a newy but something will come along. Hope to see you all soon, bobk.

As in "it's amazing how many think the running costs of an equivalent powered diesel to a petrol engine would be easier on the wallet"?
It is a rumour put about by those who thought the same thing and don't want to be alone in their misery Running costs include servicing costs and engine ancillaries as well as internal component replacement along with a exaggerated prices for diesel servicing and repair compared to petrol engine servicing and repair.
Anyone who thinks they can go a million kms without servicing the fuel injection system are fooling themselves, might have got away with it back in the Gardener diesel days, but to get the performance from a small capacity diesel along with meeting fuel emissions means you won't see anything like those sort of service intervals. Try closer to 100,000km at best and if you ignore the clear signs that repairs are needed, add in an engine rebuild within the next 50,000 kms and the injectors being replaced, not reconditioned, in the costs. Price new electronic injectors and figure out how many sets of spark plugs that would buy with spark plugs lasting 10,000km at least these days with unleaded fuel and platinum electrodes.
A replacement particulate filter compared to a catalytic converter? Don't for second think a 5.7ltr normally aspirated diesel will give the same performance as a 5.7ltr petrol engine, add a turbo to the 5.7 ltr petrol engine and watch the fuel economy improve and now check out the fuel consumption of an equivalent performance diesel engine that meets emissions regulations ...... that engine will not fit in a ute, try a Silverado or RAM truck .... do you have the licence to drive one of them?

I'd think along the lines of converting the vehicle you have to a hybrid that will give you all the torque and more that diesel will give you but better economy and regenerative braking .... there is a reason so many manufactures are going to hybrid over seas yet using Australia for it's dumping ground for under performing diesel powered vehicles ... we have very lax emission laws over here at the moment .... but don't expect it to remain that way .....

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Girt’s 6.5 litre turbo diesel V8 pulling 8~9 tonnes (with or without car on trailer) gets between 4.5~6 km/litre, depending on terrain.
Don’t ask me what that is in l/100km.
However, our 200 litre fuel tank lasts about 500~800km.
We have Girt serviced about every 5000km.

[T1 Terry]

Girt’s 6.5 litre turbo diesel V8 pulling 8~9 tonnes (with or without car on trailer) gets between 4.5~6 km/litre, depending on terrain.
Don’t ask me what that is in l/100km.
However, our 200 litre fuel tank lasts about 500~800km.
We have Girt serviced about every 5000km.

6km/ltr is roughly 16 ltr/100km, 4.5km/ltr is roughly 22 ltrs/100kms.
500km / 200ltr = 2.5km/ltr, 800km / 200ltr = 4km/ltr .... so, ummm..... looking at the per tank of 200 ltrs fuel burn it is between 40ltrs/100km and 25ltr/100km at best. That Chinese maths problem comes to mind .... The "Some Ting Wong" factor
What is the cost per 5,000km service Ray?
Now, try to picture that size diesel engine in the average ute ..... the toadstool effect comes to mind now, not mushroom ......... now picture the firewall tunnel to fit that flywheel and gearbox and the rear of the vehicle to fit the diff required .......

T1 Terry

[native pepper]

Don't think modern diesels are worth the effort, or modern petrol engines, but until the mid 90's diesels were well worth having. My series 60 landcruiser had 650000klm up when I sold it, had 85000klm when I got it and never touched it, except for glow plugs, which changed twice and that was because bought some cheap chinese ones which lasted a year, after 3500000 on the originals.

My series 80 cruiser, purchased with 380000, reached 490000, before someone who drove it when I was in hospital, forgot to switch to BD it clear the engine of vo and within 20000klms, the engine was shot with blow by. Checked out converting it to an EV, but found the kits available were over $35000 fitted and with a range of just over 200klm, currently my range is 2300+klms. So rebuilt the engine with turbo upgrade, intercooler and 3inch straight through exhaust, which cost me $13000. Now have at least another 350000klm and it absolutely flies and getting better economy with the upgrades. At 100kph, get 9kpl, as it runs on vo, have no fuel expenses. My 5000klm service, cost less than $50 to change the oil and replace oil filter. I buy my oil in 204lt drums, which saves my over 30% and buy filters in bulk, which drops the price by over 50%.

Modern engines today are designed to be expendable with short life times, they are high revving to get the horsepower they claim and operate at much higher temps, thinner block walls and flimsy heads. A friend of mine runs a mechanical workshop and he still drives his 1hdt 93 cruiser, which has over 700000klm and says his next vehicle will be an EV. He also says he would never buy a modern diesel or petrol engine because they are in his words, crap. He's ordered a top of the range Rivian, which should arrive sometime this year. Would love one of those, but now there are more 4x4 Ev's about to come on the market, the choice is growing, Also discovered they are making Ev's in Aus, and some are pretty cheap for urban users

[T1 Terry]

The petrol engine in my '08 Prius has around 780,000km on the clock and still going strong. That says to me there is nothing much wrong with modern petrol fueled engines, the single rail electronic injected turbo diesel engines aren't likely to see those sort of kms and not had serious engine work done to get them there. On the Prius Chat forum the record at the moment stands at just over 1 million miles (no idea is US miles are the same as imperial miles but I'd expect them to be the same) and it was only scrapped because the head gasket failed and the owner was a courier of some sorts so couldn't do without the car for it to be repaired and reasoned it owed her nothing and she could pin a $100 note to steering wheel as a reward for the brilliant effort it had given her from new and still been way in front. No idea what happened to it, she just bought a brand new Prius and back on the road virtually same day .....

T1 Terry

[BruceS]

Fascinates me hearing just how many km's a vehicle has done or did do.
I'm not calling anyone a liar by any means!!
My brother bought a brand new 'W' model KW and had a contract running from Melbourne to Perth (leaving on Fri night & unloading Mon Morn) & return each week for 50 weeks of the year.
In 12 months he only amalgamated a bit under 350,000 km.

[Greynomad]

My cousin was an AFP copper, so I’d expect his records to be spot-on. (He even logged replacement of light globes and which ones! )
When he gave us his 2001 Honda Civic it had done 220,000-odd km, mainly city driving with fairly regular trips Canberra-Sydney for family reasons.
We’ve put another 18,000 on it in two years.
He and I have ensured it has thorough services at the appointed times.
It’s still purring along nicely.

[Bow]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g ... ived-cars/

[Bow]

https://highmileage.cummins.com/

[native pepper]

The petrol engine in my '08 Prius has around 780,000km on the clock and still going strong.

T1 Terry

That's over 65000klms a year, not bad driving. With petrol engines, my friend was referring to the small turbo petrol engines of today. My bus has a Isuzu 6bdt and according to the bloke I bought it off, the engine had done well over 1 million klms when I bought it, had it over ten years and done more than 500000klms and it still purrs along with good power and torque, Lots of people have commented on how I always warm my engines up before driving, when they jump in and drive away. To me how long you get out of your engine depends on how you drive and treat it and in my opinion, warming an engine to operating temps before driving, will make you engine last so much longer.

Suppose I'm lazy, so glad don't have to change plugs etc, or worry about electrical faults using diesel and do run all my diesel engines on veggie oil, which also makes a difference to their longevity and costs.