What Makes Diesel Engines More Reliable for the Long Haul?

Early direct injected Mercedes-Benz diesel, circa 1963

Yesterday we posted here about a YouTube video explaining why diesel engines produce more torque. The video, about two years old, not only showed how diesel engines differ from gasoline engines, but also how many people were interested in understanding these differences. More than 1.5 million people had watched the video.

The link that led us to that video was actually found in an article at Interesting Engineering titled What Makes an Engine Reliable. 

What does make an engine reliable? The short answer is how well this conglomerate of moving parts can deal with the heat and stress generated by the multitude of mini-explosions taking place inside the piston cylinder.

The author Trevor English begins with an eye opening statistic. We have more than 1.4 billion cars on planet earth. Some of the beaters in this world are held together with wire, nuts and bolts. Some barely start, and some will last for ages. 

Here's how English describes what goes on inside an engine:

 

Engines handle some insane environments. On one end, they can survive in extreme weather conditions, but what happens inside is an even harsher climate for engineering. From fiery explosions every few seconds to hot and cold cycles with oil gushing about, getting a machine with thousands of parts to handle this environment is no easy feat. 

He then turns to the reliability question. Why do some motors last a million miles (with maintenance) and other blow apart at 200,000?

  

The primary reason engines blow is overheating. 

When an engine gets hot, all of the components of the engine warp and expand. Engineers design for these expansions within a certain range but when an engine reaches temperatures outside of its intended range, seals and gaskets can blow — or worse — cylinders and other components can catastrophically fail under the stress. 

To deal with all this heat engineers developed cooling and lubricating systems. Coolant conveys the heat away from the engine. Lubricants reduce the heat generated by friction and also serve to mitigate heat. 

 

English breaks down the various way design failures in these cooling systems can lead to premature death for an engine at certain failure points. Cooling systems are also dependent on radiators to dissipate the heat, which is another variable in the reliability equation. It's more than just having oil and coolant though. Oil and coolant capacity is also a variable. This, he states, is one of the first design features that can make an engine "ultra-reliable." 

 

Interestingly enough, there are ways that small engines can be designed to be more reliable. And just because an engine is big, he states, it doesn't mean it will live longer.

Diesel vs. gasoline

The heart of this story for us comes at this point after all the other groundwork has been laid. Why are diesel engines regarded as more reliable, especially for long distance travel and towing? The answer, he states, has to do with lubrication. The fuel itself is more lubricative than gasoline. 

What he is referring to is what happens when the fuel is injected into the cylinders. Diesel fuel helps lubricate the enhine and minimizes friction. By way of contrast, gasoline usually has detergents that clean the interior of oil and other grime inside the cylinder.

Additional considerations

The article is essentially about reliability and all the decisions engineers must consider when creating a new engine design. For example, what material to use for the head and the block, as well as the head gasket, which is a common failure point.

"Another factor that influences the reliability of engines goes beyond thermal forces and rather deals with kinetic forces from the movement of the pistons. The way these forces are dealt with primarily comes down to engine layout," he explains. 

The various kind of engine designs are discussed next followed by a discussion of engine cycles as it goes from cool to hot and back to cool, and how this has a bearing on an engine's durability.

   

In short, this is an exceedingly thorough discussion that is worth reading in whole. We've only touched on some the highlights here. Be sure to check it out. If you do not have tine to read it now bookmark it for a good weekend diversion.

What Makes an Engine Reliable

https://interestingengineering.com/what-makes-an-engine-reliable

See also: Why Do Diesel Engines Make More Torque

https://theblueflameblogger.blogspot.com/2021/01/why-do-diesel-engines-make-more-torque.html

A Quick Nod to Diesel Power Products in Spokane as We March Into Cyber Monday

People have been shopping after Thanksgiving for years, even though the term "Black Friday" wasn't coined until the early Fifties. With the advent of the Internet it seems only naturally that an online counterpart would pop up. Thus, in 2005 Cyber Monday was born. And just as there are boatloads of deals luring shoppers to retail outlets on Black Friday, so also we find online retailers doing likewise. Very few shoppers will have gone this entire weekend without some form of online interaction.

The term Cyber Monday, coined by the National Retail Federation, was created by retailers to encourage online shopping. The press release announcing this new "holiday" was titled, "Cyber Monday" Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Shopping Days of the Year. And it quickly did.

Some people have called the day Blue Monday, which seems a misnomer for two reasons. First, there already was a Blue Monday, the third Monday in January which some folks evidently believed the most depressing day of the year. (No doubt they lived in a frigid, isolated place in the far North.) Second, when people shop, they seem to get energized, whether purchasing gifts for oneself or loved ones.

According to Shop.org's Bizrate Research eHoliday Mood Study last year, "77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving." In light of this year's hunkering down, we suspect that that number will grow even more. I've never seen so many online discounts and promotions as we're seeing this year. Cyber Monday will no doubt be one for the books.

Last year, Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record of $8.59 billion, compared with $2.98 billion in 2015. The term Cyber Monday is now international in scope. 

I mention all this to draw attention to Diesel Power Products, a top-tier diesel performance headquarters located in Washington's Spokane Valley. Their online storefront provides the most comprehensive catalogue and product support in the industry. We like it that they offer Champion Blue Flame ‘Classic” Diesel Engine Oil and Champion Blue Flame API 15w40 Performance Diesel Engine Oil.

The folks at Diesel Power Products pride themselves in being America's Diesel Superstore with over 330,000 Facebook likes and 6,000 followers on Twitter. They have a small store approach—large enough to supply you with anything you need, yet small enough to remember who you are. Their thoroughly trained team of diesel enthusiasts supports their online storefront with expertise and experience. 

What we like is that they are about both performance AND reliability. If you need diesel performance or stock replacement parts, call them and experience the Diesel Power Products difference. www.dieselpowerproducts.com or call:  888-993-4373

DPP lives up to their name as the Northwest’s Premier On-Line Diesel Distributor, carrying an unmatched parts selection from other many companies like Champion Oil.

Remember when the Monday after Thanksgiving meant back to work? Now it means back to work buying stuff on-line. This year you not only don't have to push anyone out of your way, it's nice to get at least some of your shopping done without wearing a mask or trying to figure out if you're six feet from the other people in line.