Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Diesel Engines Motorz #75

today on Motorz Chris was talking all about diesel engine hey welcome to the very first episode of our sixth season of motors now in the past 74 episodes we've covered just about everything but there's one very important topic that we've completely missed out on and that's diesel engines so today we're going to talk all about diesel engines from the history of them the difference is between gas and diesel engines and how they work why they used to be so loud and stinky but aren't anymore how to care for and maintain them the different types of diesel fuel that exists and of course which aftermarket products are out there that will help make them perform even better the diesel engine was invented back in 1893 by a guy named Rudolf diesel now it was originally designed to run on peanut oil while the efficiency of the gasoline engine is 25 to 30 percent the diesel engine was designed to run at 50 percent a much greater efficiency to save fuel now we all know that there are gas engines and diesel engines and each requires its own type of fuel mistaking one for the other can really mess with your engine but what happens when you use gasoline in a diesel engine well since gasoline is designed to be resistant to self ignition gasoline in a diesel engine either won't ignite or will ignite at the wrong time additionally the difference in lubricity of gasoline to diesel affects the high pressure fuel pump as well which costs upwards of $2,000 but what really are the big differences well diesel engines don't have these little guys and they don't have a throttle body which on gas engines regulates the air flow that enters the engine the consistency of diesel fuel is closer to oil which is where the common term of oil burner has cropped up when referring to diesel engines there's also less vapor pressure than gasoline so you're more likely to smell gasoline vapors than you do diesel fumes the compression ratio is much higher - whereas a gas engine runs at 10 to one a racecar runs at 12 to one a diesel engine runs at 18 to one I'll explain why that is in a bit now the diesel engine is more or less the same as a gas engine but how the fuel is ignited is quite a bit different let's talk about the intake stroke where the valve is open and the pissed is moving down with a gas engine a mixture of fuel and air is drawn into the cylinder but with a diesel engine only air is drawn into the cylinder next is the compression stroke with a gas engine this is where the air & fuel mixture is compressed with a diesel engine only air is compressed and with that whopping 18 to 1 compression ratio the air temperature under that compression exceeds 550 degrees Fahrenheit on the ignition or power stroke both valves are closed a gas engine creates a spark just before top dead center lighting off the fuel and air mixture driving the piston back down and diesel engines the fuel injector squirts in a shot of diesel fuel directly into the cylinder at pressures over 20,000 psi because the air is so hot it ignites the fuel this event is more of a violent explosion like a bomb going off instead of a controlled burn like you see in gas engines this is one of the reasons why diesel engines are louder more heavy and stouter than a comparable gas engine and finally there's the exhaust stroke for both gas and diesel engines this event is identical the exhaust valve opens then blows spent combustion gases into the exhaust a diesel engine is just a fancy air pump the more air you get in and out of the engine the more power you make and the more speeding tickets your gun again now you guys know exactly what would happen if I were to toss this into a beaker full of gasoline right so there's no need to demonstrate that not diesel fuel is so much like oil that when you take a lick match and toss it in it just puts it out well I got you guys so worked up over some possible pyrotechnics on the show what the hell just kids don't try this at home now we'll be right back after this break and we put out this huge fire it just never ends with you I feel like if it's not one thing it's another well that ends today the craftsman c3 life one battery more than 30 tools and the power to tackle any job it stands in your way welcome the c3 line from craftsman get the new more powerful xcp battery now runs up to four times longer craftsman trust in your hands hey welcome back to motors like I said at the top of the show diesel engines have historically been smelly noisy and dirty but today you'd be surprised how clean and quiet they are there are a lot of reasons for this including new technologies engineering and laws high-tech engine controls fine-tune the operation of the engine which reduces emissions and makes the engine run a lot quieter piezo electric injectors can fire multiple shots of fuel and coupled with high-pressure fuel rail ramps which deliver the fuel at over 30,000 psi this helps the injectors atomized the fuel better making the engine more efficient computer controlled variable geometry nearly eliminates turbo lag giving diesel a more lively throttle response similar to gas engines now the reason why turbos are used in nearly all diesel engines is because they help increase the efficiency of the engine the turbo essentially collects all the energy that you would normally dump into the atmosphere and uses it to drive an air pump to cram more air back into the intake since turbos take energy to spool up imagine trying to spin the paddles of a riverboat it creates this phenomena commonly called turbo lag the inherit design of a diesel engine creates gobs of low-end torque to get the vehicle rolling all the while spooling up the turbo the torque accelerating the vehicle masks the fact that the turbo is spooling up kicking in later as the vehicle accelerates for diesel engine care and maintenance simply follow your owner's manual for the manufacturers prescribed intervals just be aware the diesel trucks have huge oil pans or require three to four gallons of oil which about twelve to sixteen quarts per service plus oil filter try to stick with OEM oil filters that have proper filtration requirements too here are some tips if you do a lot of city driving or heavy towing you should change your oil more frequently you can send your oil to labs like Blackstone labs for an oil analysis along with the brand of oil and oil filter you use and your vehicle's mileage since your last oil change they'll tell you if you can increase your oil change interval it will cost you about a $5 and they'll even send you a free test kit also change your fuel filters that prescribed intervals this is very important because new injectors cost six hundred bucks each go for at least a three micron fuel filter such as this rpm nine hundred diesel fuel refinery FST performance this product also separates water from fuel and heats the fuel during cold weather operation this is not the place that you want to cheap out now it comes to towing you need to start with good maintenance like we just described because you'll be challenging your entire engine more so than normal highway or city driving be sure your tires are inflated to their proper pressure and check for irregular tire wear make sure you have a good trailer brake controller and ensure that your towing is within the weight limit of your hitch whether it's a bumper pool gooseneck or a fifth wheel and finally get some good gauges to monitor everything we'll talk more about that in a bit now to perform the upgrades that we're talking about in this episode you're not going to need a whole lot of special tools but you will need an oil and a filter wrench and probably some air tools as well as some common tools that bridget has right over here what you got virgin you'll need a torque wrench various wrenches ratchets and sockets work gloves and safety glasses Chris so you guys not a whole lot to do this now what you commonly see out there at the pump is diesel number two but there's some other options as well there's usually just one type of diesel fuel sold at the pumps indicated by the number two on highway diesel the principal measure of diesel fuel quality is its cetane number a higher cetane number indicates the fuel ignites more readily when sprayed into hot compressed air biodiesel refers to vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel fuel processed in such a way that it runs and it's used like petroleum-based Diesel's the downside the biodiesel is that there's lower energy content in it so you end up using more of it per mile than straight diesel decreasing your miles per gallon now when referring to biodiesels you may have heard it called B 20 the B and the number after it refers to the percentage of biodiesel to petroleum-based diesel for example with B 20 20 percent is biodiesel while 80% is petroleum-based diesel most vehicles are improved to run up to be 20 and most states have a mandate to drive blends up to be 20 by the Year 2015 wvo or waste vegetable oil conversions are kits that allow diesel trucks to run on straight vegetable oil this has the downside to having your exhaust sometimes smelled like a deep fryer now even though it may smell like french fries don't inhale it straight out of the tailpipe those harmful gases could kill you now the downside to wvo is that it's not compatible with newer electronically controlled diesel engines in cold climates diesel fuel since it's a lot like oil will start to gel and turn cloudy these temperatures will essentially turn the fuel to wax clogging up your expensive diesel engine summer blends are good down to negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit while winter blends can go down to negative 20 degrees now if you're traveling cold climates there are additives you can use to lower the gel temps even further these additives use kerosene to achieve that be sure to check to see if it's compatible with your engines catalytic converters III Diamond fire spark plugs are the most powerful spark plugs you can buy they deliver a more complete fuel burn more power better economy and reduced emissions III time and fire spark plugs and auto parts and lawn and garden stores everywhere hey welcome back to motors and our big diesel episode now we've talked a lot about how diesel engines work compared to gas engines all about fuel maintenance and more but what we like to do most here is talk about how the aftermarket can improve our rides and while we won't be showing you how to install anything in this episode we will be going over some products that you can buy that will help you out and allow your diesel engine to run more efficiently now there are a ton of different aftermarket products out there but the two most common modifications are an intake and exhaust kit sitting right here on my workbench is a cannon cold air intake kit from performance parts calm as well as a magnaflow exhaust kit from those guys over at Magnaflow as I explained earlier your diesel engine is an air pump by making it easier to pull air into the engine with an aftermarket intake you increase power replacing the factory intake SRI stricte vin take with one that is more free-flowing will make a huge difference just imagine trying to suck air from a coffee stirrer compared to a garden hose now you have more air coming in well you've got to get those spent exhaust gases out of there as well and aftermarket exhaust kit is just the ticket to complete the cycle to better airflow top to bottom tuners also referred to as programmers just like this Max Energy tuner from Hypertech modify the engine map to make it run more efficiently extracting more power OMS tune the engine conservatively to reduce damage to drivetrain parts and to meet EPA emission requirements now aftermarket tuner like this one will alter that map closer to your emissions threshold maximizing the power output as a result now the one big difference between gas and diesel engines is that diesel tuners can get so much more power out of a simple tune due to the huge operating air to fuel range of a diesel engine one method is to advance the timing of the fuel injection event and another method is to increase the fuel pressure and/or the duty cycle of the injection event with the sole purpose of increasing the amount of fuel per combustion event this is a known recipe for more power which is simply to add more fuel and more air just be aware that as you start making more horsepower you'll need to beef up other parts of your drivetrain primarily your transmission gauges are critical in modifying a diesel engine gauges like the ones we have right here from Auto Meter can tell you all about the health of each component and when to back off that accelerator before causing expensive damage also it's good to know what the normal operating conditions are so when something does change or is out of the ordinary you'll notice it so that you can address it before it becomes a serious issue the boost gauge is a great way to monitor your turbos performance if boost drops off it could indicate that there is a boost or exhaust leak it could also be used to monitor the effects of the new intake or your new tuner a transmission temp gauge is also recommended you want to make sure that it is under 200 degrees Fahrenheit if you run above 250 degrees for more than a minute I would suggest changing the oil and filter as you have changed the molecular makeup of the transmission fluid heat causes the ATF to break down and lose viscosity which reduces its ability to lubricate there's also a pyrometer gauge which shows you the egt or exhaust gas temperature you want to keep this below 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit with spikes up to 1,400 degrees for no more than a minute you should track your normal cruising eg T's because if it's higher than normal it could indicate something's not right with your engine now with all this awesome power and strength in a diesel engine driving it around on the streets and highways is just the start these are some of the crazy things that people are doing with their diesel powered vehicles daily driven diesel trucks can easily hit 12 second quarter mile tires now this sport is more for farm trucks with sled pulling is an event that challenges your truck to drag a 30,000 pound weight transfer sled down a 300-foot track now this isn't a timed event rather the winner is judged by how far they can pull the sleigh it's a true test of endurance of the entire vehicle there's even an organization called the NH RDA which stands for the National Hot Rod feasel Association this is the fastest growing race organization in the world providing a forum where both competitors and fans can safely come together to enjoy the sport of diesel motor sports throughout North America letters brought to you by e3 spark plugs born to burn hey welcome to letters now before I get to your letters there's a couple things I want to talk about first you probably noticed there's a new guitar over there on the wall that's a custom painted guitar from the guys at milestone painting body in Tennessee they made that just for us the motors craftsman Sears guitar so I want to thank you guys jacob miles and crew nice job and of course if you're on Facebook please like our page at facebook.com slash Motors TV if you're on Twitter follow us at motors now here's our first letter from will he writes in and says hey Chris I've got a 1977 GMC Sierra with a 350 small block that runs about 170 horsepower what can I do to bump that number into the 300s well well if your motor is healthy enough you could probably add a forced induction system such as a supercharger to the motor but you need to check the motor to make sure it can handle adding that much power to it you're asking for it to produce more than a third of the power that it's currently putting out which is a fairly big deal for a 35 year old motor especially if the engines internal parts are not engineered for that much of an increase our next letter comes from Edward Mooney he writes in and says hey Chris loved the show thanks Edward I have a 2009 Ford Mustang and after watching your video on body kits I put one on my car but I still think the car needs more pop what should I do pull Edward change up the wheels and tires if you haven't already there's a lot of different options out there and maybe you just need a fresh new combination now you can also look into getting a vehicle wrap or a custom paint job a wrap might just be the way to go since a partial can be a lot cheaper and you can easily change it up every few years as you taste change you can refer to our vehicle rap episode to find out more and finally Thomas endicott writes in with a spark plug question is it necessary to check the spacing before installing the plug well Thomas it depends on the vehicle and the type of spark plug use the best thing to do is check the repair manual for your vehicle to find out if there's a specific gap size needed if it doesn't list one then the type of spark plug that you're installing just doesn't need to be gap there are also newer styles for plugs that don't need to be gaped at all like our e3 spark plugs due to the design of the plug there's actually no way you can possibly gap it even if you tried and you can also find out more information about spark plugs by just watching our spark plug episode I'd like to thank Thomas and everybody else for sending your letters you guys get free e3 spark plugs for your ride now to learn more about their diamond fire technology or to see if they're available for your vehicle just head on over to e3 spark plugs comm cards brought to you by craftsman at Sears every garage is a set of basic spring clamps and we've got a ton of them right here but every now and then there's something really cool that comes along and I've got to tell you guys about it this is something that I found one day while shopping around at Sears calm it's a four piece set of ratcheting clamps from craftsman yes ratcheting they're so cool check them out this set comes with two one and a half inch clamps and two two and three-quarter inch clamps the ratcheting mechanism is engineered with a gear action design that produces a series of extremely fine clamping adjustments activated by just the pressure of your hand there's also a release button on the side of the organ Amma candle grip that gently releases the clamping pressure allowing you to both apply and release pressure with just one hand the pivoting jaw ends holds securely onto almost any surface even irregularly shaped objects now if you need an extra hand when it comes to cutting drilling gluing or just about anything else get a set of these little guys you can check them out at your local Sears store Sears com of course or visit the partz page at our website for more information ah I don't know about you guys but it sure does get hot working in the garage during the summer heat now you can stay as cool as possible by drinking icy cold beverages and firing up a fan but no matter what you do working on a vehicle and the heat can just be downright brutal now as you know Motors is filmed in a real two-car garage studio so like you we experienced the same problems our solution to the heat was a cyclone 3000 from Porter cool it's called an evaporative cooler which is basically a giant fan pulls in moisture from tap water that slowly drips down a pad behind the fan in order to lower the temperature of the area up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit much cheaper than running an air conditioner the cyclone 3000 is perfect for any home garage as it will cool an entire 700 square foot area it's got a built-in sixteen gallon water reservoir but you can also leave a garden hose hooked up to it for an unlimited water supply thanks to the built-in float valve it runs off standard 115 volt power weighs 100 pounds it's rust proof and due to very few moving parts there's very little maintenance involved there are two fan speeds to deliver air at speeds of 2400 or 3000 CFM a switch to turn on and off the water pump and a valve to adjust the amount of water the pump delivers to the pad now comes fully assembled with locking casters for more information on all their cooling products made right here in the USA visit porta cool calm or check out the parts page at our website now if you've got a pickup truck you probably already got a set of tie-down straps and like a bedliner it's almost a requirement for pickup truck owners to haul stuff around to keep everything inside the bed of your truck and off the road now there's one thing I've learned about tie-down straps is that there's a lot of garbage ones out there the majority of them just aren't made very well the straps are cheap the hooks are cheap or they scratch up your truck and the buckles are just a royal pain to use so when I found out that our friends at amp research sold a set of their own I had to get my hands on them and check them out and you know what they're the best tie-down straps that I've ever used like their other products such as the bed extender bed step and power steps these straps are well engineered to last and use they feature an inch and a quarter wide 100% nylon strap rubber coated s hooks with safety Clips no-slip heavy-duty steel cam lock buckles with heavy-duty steel springs they adjust from 24 all the way up to 78 inches will take on a 1,200 pound load and like all other amp research products they're made right here in the good old USA now for more information head on over to amp - research comm or visit the partz page at our website now hopefully I've answered all your main questions about diesel engines but here are a few more things that you might be wondering aftermarket products are known to create a lot more power for diesel engines over gas engines the reason for this is the design of the engine itself longer strokes create more torque due to a longer connecting rod there's also a difference in mpg when comparing the two types of engines a diesel engine operates at a lower rpm which translates into less fuel consumption also the higher compression ratio extracts more energy from diesel fuel which has higher energy density than gasoline now some of you have asked us in the past why there's a cost difference between a diesel vehicle and a similarly equipped gas engine now the reason for this is that diesel engines have more mass more mass means more metal which means more cost newer emissions requirements also translate into more costly catalytic converters gas engines for example use a simple 3 Way CAD whereas diesel catalytic systems are 10 times costlier than the gas engine vehicle equivalent because of their more complex cats I'd like to thank Hypertech Magnaflow Auto Meter FST performance performance parts comm and action turbo right here in San Diego for their help supplying products for this episode and to find out more about the products featured in this episode just head on over to our website we'll catch you next time on motors piezo electric engine injection that's a mouthful of words the whole EV answered all your questions about diesel engines hello and just getting ready okay put it down get busy hey action 52 action that was actually good house actually pretty cool you

Channel: Chris Duke

Views: 1,070,741

Keywords: diesel, engines, gas, maintenance, fuel, aftermarket, performance, laws, gauges, auto meter, hyper tech, max energy, magnaflow, exhaust, fst performance, k&n, intake, nhrda, blackstone laboratories, action turbo, e3 spark plugs, craftsman, ratcheting clamps, port-a-cool, cyclone 3000, garage, cooling, amp research, tie-down straps, car, truck, vehicle, automotive, educational, instructional, how-to, diy, upgrade, swap, chris duke, brigitte patton, Pickup Truck (Body Style), Diesel Engine (Invention), engine

Id: S-3SywOvBN4

Length: 23min 7sec (1387 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 25 2013