Burning Volts.

[Keith]

The penalty for putting gas in the diesel is generally very much worse than you describe Randy, in fact, most motor insurance policies in the UK specifically deny cover for this method of 'auto-destruct'

Depending on the mix (a little gas never really hurts in weak mixtures), the wrongly fuelled diesel will experience severe bore wash within a couple of miles causing oil to rise into the combustion chamber.

You can imagine what happens next in most cases.. the motor will run itself to destruction consuming it's own oil with no way of shutting down the engine once this process starts, unless you own a stickshift and there is a strong wall handy.

Almost any amount of dilution (save for a very weak mixture) will result in complete engine teardown at best, with total replacement ususally the result.

I remember they did start sizing diesel and gas filling nozzles differently to match the respective smaller/larger filler necks, but I don't know what happened to that system as I have only ever driven diesels for the past 15 years or so.

The warm up problem you describe though is still an issue because of the relatively short commuter journeys here but modern diesels seem to be tough enough to take it.

By the way, found this news item, although it may not be new to you guys over there..

Insight - GM's Volt: The ugly math of low sales, high costs | Reuters

 

[Nick]

Where do I buy one? I'll even take RHD if I have to.....who makes this?

Jim,

got a feeling it is not quite on market yet but here is there website (hopefully due for some improvement).

Home

I have filled in their online query form with an unusually brief query for me of "HOW MUCH"

Added a pic of it in the flesh at the bottom, although the 2nd pic shows some manufacturers of traditionally diesel powered vehicles are moving away from that form of propulsion, not sure with the low mpg it will catch on although it was claimed it would do 100mph.

Almost any amount of dilution (save for a very weak mixture) will result in complete engine teardown at best, with total replacement ususally the result.

Hate to disagree Keith but not always.

I got away with it when I was a white van man a few years ago. Filled the whole tank with petrol drove it at 70mph for a few miles down the Motorway. It was touch and go at the garage as they thought I may have bent the crank which apparently can also happen.

They got it going in the end and it was fine after that but as they emphasized I was very very lucky. Guess God is a Liberal supporter after all :laugh:

The drained petrol went in their old sump oil burner that provided their heating. :shocked:

 

[Keith]

Why do Liberals always have to argue? :laugh:

Don't start. it was a joke... :evil:

There again..... :shifty:

Go for it! :idea:

(I HURT a lot of Smilies doing this post! Will you pay for their treatment? They are from Ecuador & seeking asylum)

By the way, this is Lonesome Bob personally thanking Obama for the GM Volt deal....


Obama is saying "Yeah Bob, good to meet you too. What the fuck? Oh.. sheeeet!" Crunch!

I believe B.O'B only suffered 18 multiple fracture and a bruised ego...

 

[Bob Fechter]

Why do Liberals always have to argue? :laugh:

Don't start. it was a joke... :evil:

There again..... :shifty:

Go for it! :idea:

(I HURT a lot of Smilies doing this post! Will you pay for their treatment? They are from Ecuador & seeking asylum)

By the way, this is Lonesome Bob personally thanking Obama for the GM Volt deal....


Obama is saying "Yeah Bob, good to meet you too. What the fuck? Oh.. sheeeet!" Crunch!

I believe B.O'B only suffered 18 multiple fracture and a bruised ego...

Got your facts wrong there, Captain, that's Yerugliness demonstrating the Heimlich Maneuver using his personal inflatable doll, which does look quite a bit like B.O.

 

[Bob Fechter]

And here's the Crack family getting in touch with Joe Biden!

 

[Keith]

Well I ain't gonna be eating with you anytime soon if that's your idea of a heimlich manouvre Bobbo.. I think you got your facts wrong matey.... :

 

[Nick]

And here's the Crack family getting in touch with Joe Biden!

From your own personal "special" photograph collection Bob?

Whatever lights your candle.:stunned:

 

[Randy V]

Do you guys ever give all the political rhetoric rest?

 

[Keith]

Only if you Amuricans give your election a rest....:shifty:

After you...

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Well, Randy, I was dumb enough to buy one of them. A very nice burgundy Olds Cutlass wagon.

It never ran well, smoking, running very roughly, just plain stalling out and getting towed to the dealer. Going up a mountain was an embarrassing nightmare. It spewed smoke all the way up the hill and struggled the whole way with two adults and no further load.

The dealership I took it to, on a monthly basis, even built a special clean room to work on the injection system, and nothing they ever did kept it going more than a week or two without a new problem. They never once told me someone put gasoline in instead of diesel, and I know we didn't.

The dealership was very sincere in trying to get this thing right, but they never could and finally admitted they couldn't. I got out of it, knowing I couldn't afford to pay for this kind of service myself when the warranty would end, and took a drubbing on trade in. I was happy to get rid of it.

Here's just a random sample of guys dealing with these things, very telling;

The GM 5.7 Olds 350 Diesel Thread - Topic

These cars sucked. I knew a few folks who took out the diesel engine and put in a 350 Chevrolet motor. At least they ran.

GMs modern diesels are a lot better, but still not the equal of the Cummins B series engines in the Dodges, or the older Ford/Navistar diesel. The newer Ford diesel is a pain, though. I think there is now a THIRD FOrd truck diesel which may be better, but the older V8 Ford diesel trucks, even though they are several years old, sell at a premium. I have several friends with over 600K miles on hardworking Ford trucks with those diesels, and they are still trucking along. So to speak.

 

[Randy V]

The swap for a gasoline engine would have been far more simple if choosing the Oldsmobile 350 gas engine as it is a bolt-in swap including the exhaust.

These old diesels still have a fairly strong following from what I have read. Numerous things can be done to improve the reliability.

I still remember a neighbors old Mercedes diesel giving him absolute fits every time he went to start it below 40 degrees F. It was a smokey little beast that thought it was a Harley Davidson the way it constantly seeped oil from multiple places. Of course the dealerships here in the states were not a lot of help as only maybe 1 in a thousand Mercedes sold here was a diesel they did not train their mechanics up well enough - or perhaps they just lacked experience..
All engines diesel and gas can have problems. More likely to have those problems if the engines are abused or just simply not maintained. Diesels also have the added burden of fuel system maintenance that needs to be more frequent given the propensity for attracting moisture.

I was trained and certified by the US Navy as an Engineman (diesel / gas / turbine mechanic) so I am no stranger to the technology..

 

[Bob Fechter]

Ford's new Duratorq TDCi straight five cylinder diesel looks very promising.


FORD DURATORQ TDCi: A NEW GENERATION OF DIESEL ENGINE | Ford Motor Company Newsroom

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

LB,

That Ford link is YEARS old! They are on another grneration fo diesels already!

The new US built Ford Transit van will have a diesel engine options as well as an EcoBoost gas V6.

The new Ford 6.7 diesel used 2011 and up is garnering a good reputation for economy and durability. I know someone with almost 100K on one and they have bought more for the company. The 6.0 diesel was a Navistar product, the 6.7 is the first "in-house" Ford diesel.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Rick is that Transit Gas as in LPG / CNG or "Gas" as in Petrol as you incorrectly call it?

It would be really interesting if ford USA was already looking at LPG as an alternative

Ian

 

[Randy V]

Well regular gas hit $4 a gallon here at the discount stations yesterday... Suddenly I'm feeling like my hybrid car just gained a few more percentage points in value...

 

[just ernst]

Well regular gas hit $4 a gallon here at the discount stations yesterday... Suddenly I'm feeling like my hybrid car just gained a few more percentage points in value...

how much???,...you are a lucky man,...
in italy regular gas hits 2 euro a lit,...is around 1/4 gallon,...so 1 gallon cost 8 euro,..is in dollar in moment,...10,32 $ for 1 gallon gas,.....
ernst,...thinking about elektric,..

 

[Keith]

In UK GBP, Imperial Gallon = £6.30, US Gallon = £5.32

In USD, Imperial Gallon = $10.08, US Gallon = $8.50

So, @ $4 I wouldn't be complaining any time soon, but I guess panic will set in.

I was in California during the mid '70's fuel crisis. It was like a war zone!

Can't quite recall but I think gas was around $0.25c a gallon then!

 

[Bob Fechter]

"Michigan and the federal government deemed that electric car batteries were the future and spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars trying to make it so," said James Hohman, a fiscal policy analyst with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Policymakers shouldn't waste taxpayer dollars on the industry du jour; they should level the playing field."

Obama-Promoted Battery Plant Moves to 'Rolling Furloughs' As Company Pulls Back on Jobs Projections [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

 

[Mark]

Ergo one of the main reasons the world economy is in the tank: Uneducated Politicians taking advice from Scientists on unproven theories and then scaring the population into taxation and heavily subsidised industries.

What a world we have created for ourselves. Instead of fighting each other over who did what to whom and who's candidate has the whitest teeth, we should all demand that our Politicians STAY THE HELL OUT OF BUSINESS!

If Politicians knew anything about business, they would be in business. Those that have left business for politics have either, A) failed at business, or B) realised that they can bolster their personal holdings through manipulating public office.

Baaaaah Baaaahh Baaaaaah

 

[Jim Craik]

Mark,

I know that you hold anyone with any kind of advanced education and Scientists in very low esteem.

I'm sure you think that we would all be better off in a world full of folks who know very little.

But then again we would not have Penicillin, electricity and light bulbs. But we would have Polio, Bubonic Plague and the clap.

I do not know about your country, but here in the US there are very, very few uneducated Politicians.

As for your comment that "If Politicians knew anything about business, they would be in business".

We also have a long history of sucessful business folks who then go into Politics Mr Romney & Mr Reagan come to mind.