How to Get Maximum Service Life Out of Your Diesel Engine

Diesel engines have historically been respected for their longevity and reliability, as well as their towing power due to their torque-monster status. With the ever-increasing focus on emissions in more recent year there has been a trade-off. 

According to an article in Driving Line earlier this month, the result has been that to reach the absolute minimal emissions engine builders have had to nominally sacrifice reliability and fuel economy.

So the question this article strives to answer is this: How do you make today's diesel-powered trucks last as long as possible? The short answer is to not neglect routine maintenance, not skimp on replacement parts and knowing how your emissions control system works. The rest of the article offers the following tips.

1. Run Quality Fuel
Today's ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) isn't great, but engines manufactured since 2006 were designed to run on it. Unfortunately, diesel fuel is fairly unstable. Over a relatively short time period diesel fuel will degrade. The Driving Line article asserts that within four weeks after being refined, "diesel fuel can degrade as much as 26-percent. For this reason they recommend using "quality fuel from a highly-frequented filling station." When you think about it, it makes sense. This will prolong the life of your injectors and injection pump as well. Fuel additives will help as well. 

2. Don't Neglect Filter Changes
Filters exist for a reason. It's assumed that a certain amount of contaminants will get into the fuel tank. You need to keep these from being pushed into the injectors. Fuel filters remove the debris that would give you headaches later if you need to replace injectors. Similarly, oil filters keep your lubricants clean so that the engine runs optimally as designed. 

The author also mentioned the water separator. Fuel filters capture debris, but what about that other pesky contaminant: water. Diesel fuel absorbs water and can thereby become contaminated in that was. Therefore many diesels feature a water separator that extracts water from the fuel. This needs to be maintained as well.

3. Perform Regular Oil Changes
This is a Vehicle Maintenance 101 type of thing, yet people disregard it to their peril. The author notes that it's not necessarily a matter of changing the oil at "x" number of miles because there are other variables that factor in. A lot of diesel work trucks spend a high amount of time idling. The odometer does not adequately reflect how much time the engine has been running. According to this article, one hour of idling is equivalent to 25 miles of driving.  

4. Replace Your Air Filter, Too, As Needed
This could have been included under the Filters category above, but it's worth underscoring here because of its relationship to the turbo. If you're only driving on highways and other paved surfaces, you simply need to check the filter periodically. Many engines are used in work trucks in gravel pits and other dusty terrains. The air filter is your "last line of defense" in protecting the turbocharger's compressor wheel. Replacing a turbo will make your wallet skinnier. Driving Line states that the number one cause of turbo failure comes from swallowing debris from a dirty air filter. Keep it clean.

5. Emissions Issues
Emission control devices and sensors can be a problem. This article states that "EGR coolers and valves, DPF's, diesel oxidation catalysts and SCR/DEF systems are problematic--along with all the sensors that go along with them." How you address this seems to be a gray area. The author shows support for using OEM parts, but then seems to suggest here that you may choose to work with your independent mechanic for an aftermarket solution. Your goal will be minimum downtime with the aim of maximum service life. Servicing these components is infrequent but essential for long-term reliable performance.

6. OEM Parts
The author suggests that the manufacturers of engines know what is best for the engines they have designed. He also notes that certain kinds of non-OEM parts can jeopardize your warranty. We certainly want to exercise care in that regard. Nevertheless, the aftermarket exists because there are smart people who have created solutions for issues missed by the manufacturers.  

The article closes by citing examples of pickups that have travelled far beyond their expected service life. A 6.0L Power Stroke that had hefty numbers, a 6.6L LMM Duramax V-8 with 600K miles towing campers, a Chevrolet Silverado 3500 with 740K miles... They're out there. They're designed to go the distance, but taking good care of your baby is up to you.

Related Link
Champion Launches API CK-4 Premium Heavy Duty SAE 10W-30 Diesel Oil

Diesel-Powered Vehicle of the Week: Stainless Diesel Sets New Pro Street Record in the 4s

There are people who try to tell us that competition is bad. It hurts people's feelings when they don't win, they say. 

One of the arguments to counter this is that competition makes people dig deeper, work harder to achieve success. "Winning" is meaningless if it isn't achieved the old fashioned way, through competing with rivals. When everybody wins, nobody wins.

When Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile in 1956, he was able to achieve this because he was in a foot-race with someone else and he wanted to win. Even though he did it by only six tenths of a second, the world went crazy because pundits said it couldn't be done.

Today's "Diesel Vehicle of the Week" is the new record holder in the Pro Street class, Team Stainless Diesel. The event took place this weekend at the Ultimate Callout Challenge where their diesel powered Ram 1500 clicked off a 4.96-second pass to break the 1/8th-mile record previously held by Firepunk Diesel, also a Ram 1500 pickup. (The record for a diesel dragster is a much snappier 4.10 seconds and 181 mph.)

You can be sure that there will be more tweaking by each of these teams this year as they strive to best one another's times. 

The Ultimate Callout Challenge in Brownsburg, Indiana, has become a major battleground for these kinds of 4-wheel ground wars. Still ahead, there will are plenty of other events coming up this year to test their wits and their resolve. 

The truck's sponsor is Stainless Diesel, a company that provides products for diesel powertrains. According to autoevolution.com they've been upgrading this truck for a couple years now. 

It's apparent that High Fives are a thing of the past for diesel pickups. We have at least two teams now giving us High Fours.

AS THE COMPETITIVE RACING SEASON RAMPS UP be sure your lubrication needs are taken care of. Check out our Champion Racing Oil Contingency Program, which covers a full range of motorsports racing events.

How to Tell Whether You Have a Bad Diesel Fuel Injector

All diesel engines use fuel injection. The first mass-produced diesel car, the Mercedes-Benz, used fuel injection as early as the late 1930s. Fuel injection was first introduced in gas-powered passenger cars in the 1950s. By the 1990s fuel injection replaced carburetors altogether in passenger cars. The chief difference between carburetion and fuel injection is that the former sucks the fuel into the engine whereas fuel injectors atomize the fuel by injecting it under high pressure through the nozzle.

Fuel injectors consist of two main components, the nozzle and the injector body. If either of these gets damaged of clogged, it compromises the overall performance of your vehicle. One of the keys to smooth, efficient performance is to make sure your injectors are clean. 

A story in yesterday's EconoTimes addresses this issue of injector performance. It's titled 7 Signs That You May Have a Bad Diesel Fuel Injector. Here are the seven things to pay attention to, according to this story. 

1. Engine Misfiring or Vibrating
Does your vehicle frequently misfire? Do you experience a delay when you press the accelerator? This could be a sign that you have an injector issue.

2. Check Engine Warning Light
There was a time when check engine lights were more of a nuisance than accurate indicator of trouble. I had a mechanic once tell me that the solution was to put a postage stamp over it because they were too sensitive. Nowadays, they are invaluable. A good mechanic can take a reading on the codes and tell you precisely which cylinder injectors are causing a problem. You should first check your glow plugs before going the extra mile to check the injectors.

3. Rough Idle
According to EconoTimes, if you have a change in the feel of your vehicle when idling, it may be a clogged injector. It may also be an clogged air filter, so you may want to start there, especially if you drive on dusty roads and haven't checked it in a while.

4. Engine Stalling
If your engine stalls for no apparent reason, it may be because the engine is not getting the fuel it needs. Insufficient fuel will cause the engine to stall out. When injectors are badly clogged, this will be a consequence, though it can also be caused by a fuel leak where the injector is connected to the fuel lines.

5. Diesel Fuel Smell
If you have a diesel fuel smell while driving, this is very likely a faulty injector leaking. You need to take care of this right away. 

6. Poor Fuel Economy
Another reason to keep your injectors clean is because for it is essential for optimal engine performance and fuel efficiency.

7. Bad Emissions
If you live in a state with required vehicle inspections, you may fail an emissions test and wonder why. It is quite possible you have partially clogged injectors. 

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One way to address these issues is to include fuel injector cleaning as part of your routine engine maintenance regimen. Just as you have become disciplined about routine oil and filter changes and checking fluids, so you will want to incorporate routine fuel injection cleaning. 

Diesel fuel injection cleaners are fairly essential to longer service life from your engine. There are other fuel additives that serve specific purposes as well including deposit modifiers, corrosion inhibitors, freeze depressants and more.

Two fuel additives from Champion Brands that you may be unaware of are Diesel Flo Fuel Conditioner and Power Plus Diesel Fuel Additive with Cetane.  The latter will not only remove deposits but also reduce emissions, provide corrosion protection, increase cetane and improve power, a multi-functional diesel additive for today's high-pressure common-rail injectors and modern diesel fuels.

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The article 7 Signs That You May Have A Bad Diesel Fuel Injector has additional information that is not elaborated upon here. To read the full story, Follow This Link.

Is This 3-Cylinder Diesel the World's Cleanest Combustion Engine?

Yesterday, Express Drives brought us a another story about the 10.6-liter, 3-cylinder diesel engine that Achates Power claims is the "World's cleanest combustion unit." The article begins by contrasting the huffing and puffing and smoke generated by an old school high-capacity diesel engine under a heavy load with the new Achates engine. This Achates diesel has all the right stuff. Less smoke, better fuel-efficiency and more power. What's not to like? On the dyno it produces 440 hp and 2372Nm of torque, with a potential for more. 

Engineering a new engine design isn't something that happens overnight. We recently mentioned a new diesel engine design that Ford is undertaking and how it would be three years before we see it in production. So it is that Achates Power initiated this project in 2018, which is just now coming to fruition.

The project has been funded by the petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco. The concept for this engine drew inspiration from aviation designs, resulting in a two-stroke rather than a four-stroke diesel. The engine is currently being tested in a Peterbilt 579 as well as a Walmart delivery truck.

CALSTART, a non-profit dedicated to the adoption of clean energy, has given the 3-cylinder opposed-piston 2-stroke an outstanding emissions rating of 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour limit for ultra-low NOx. This statement about the engine was surprising to read. "The engine is designed to take on natural gas, gasoline, diesel as well as hydrogen fuel." There are no emissions coming out of the tailpipe, according to the company's technical officer.

Compared to a conventional engine of the same stroke running at identical rpm (thus same mean piston speed and same piston acceleration), the doubled stroke of an opposed piston engine gives a more compact combustion chamber that provides better thermodynamic efficiency and the highest power density in mass and volume.

It's not surprising to see oil companies pursuing clean energy and low carbon solutions for our future. Many clean energy advocates distrust the motives of oil companies. In reality, the internal combustion engine has a proven track record a a low cost and efficient source of power. If it can be turned into a clean source of power, there's still an abundant supply of this natural resource just below the earth's surface. 

The only natural resource more abundant is air, but hydrogen fuel cell vehicles may be expensive due to the technology. According to the company, internal combustion doesn't require the same level of purity and produces a minimal amount of NOx. There's some very real potential down this path for the future as well. 

The Walmart truck with this engine will be rolling out in July.

The source for this story can be found here at Express Drives.

Our first story about this engine can be found here.

Demand for Chev Tahoe and Suburban Diesels Is Growing

How many manufacturers of full-sized SUVs offer a diesel engine alternative? Toyota does not. Nor does Nissan. And neither does Ford. GM alone seems to own this space with a trio of large SUVs -- the Chevy Tahoe, Suburban and the GMC Yukon. GM has evidently identified an unmet need that its competitors have neglected, or simply or created a demand that consumer have been waking up to.

According to the article in GM Authority, when GM made a decision to insert its 3.0-liter I-6 LM2 turbo-diesel Duramax into their 2021 Chevy Tahoe and 2021 Chevy Suburban, both models saw an increase in orders for the diesel engine option. And that is the point this article strives to bring home.

Whereas gasoline-powered full-sized Tahoe and Suburban SUVs still garner more than 90 percent of sales, the story is about the significant growth taking place in the diesel category. Sales numbers reflect the highest take rates since the Duramax became an option.

What is it that is causing this increased interest in the full-sized diesel SUVs? Some surmise that the SUV body styling is preferred over the Chev Silverado 1500 or GMC Sierra 1500, which both offer the same engine. There is certainly a place for each in the lineup. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

The article proceeds to outline the special characteristics of the 3.0-liter LM2 Duramax engine, which features a duel overhead cam (DOHC) configuration and direct injection, enabling it to produce 277 hp at 3,750 rpm with 460 pound-feet of torque at 1500 rpm. For it size the fuel economy looks good, too. Both are "significantly more efficient" than their gasoline-powered counterparts.

When it comes to towing, the Tahoe diesel is able to tow more than four tons or carry a max payload of 1717 pounds. The Suburban likewise can tow four tons and carry a payload of 1,625 lbs. These are essentially workhorses dressed in their Sunday best.

As you might expect these brands have been keeping pace with the stylish requirements of a futuristic contemporary vehicle. Check our this interior shot of the cockpit. It's NASA Mission Control for civilians. 

Without a doubt the bottom line in this story is that diesel engines are being embraced by a broader portion of the market. The benefits have been increasingly recognized, and sales numbers are confirming it.

The full story includes a few pricing details. And lots more photos. You can find it by clicking this link.

A Diesel Anecdote, Plus a Little Advice from Forrest Gump

No question about it, the film Forrest Gump was a major achievement for Hollywood as well as for its star Tom Hanks. It was one of the most original and memorable films of 1994. 

The story followed the life of Forrest Gump, a slow-witted but kind hearted man whose life intersected with many historical moments in U.S. history. Borrowing a technique employed by Woody Allen in his short feature Zelig, in a number of scenes we see Gump is inserted into real footage from history, interacting with U.S. presidents JFK, LBJ and others. 

Woven throughout the film are various pearls of wisdom delivered by its hero. You've likely heard, "My mama said 'Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." 

Forrest Gump has a masterful and entertaining way of presenting valuable life lessons. Many of them are delivered as proverbial insights from Forrest's mother (Sally Field) whom he loves to quote. For example, several times in the film Forrest is asked if he were stupid. Gump replies, "My mama says that stupid is as stupid does." What she meant, and we need to learn, is that a person should be judged by his or her actions.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

The Colonial Pipeline ransomware hack earlier this month hit the Southeast like a jackhammer. In parts of the Southeast 85% of the gas stations were out of gas. The Colonial Pipeline runs from Texas to New Jersey and supplies 45% of the fuel to this region. As of yesterday, two-thirds of all gas stations in Washington D.C. were empty.

Against this backdrop we came across a story that shows how dangerous it is to rely on advice you find on social media. The article appeared in USA Today's Fact Check column. It's titled, Fact Check: Watered-down diesel can't be used in a gas-powered engine.

This attention-grabbing headline implies that someone actually said you can do this. So I read further.

As you can imagine, people were panicking last week because of the fuel shortages. Some of these who looked online for solutions came across a post on Facebook that read, "Remember, if the station is out of gas you can put diesel in your car as long as you water it down."

What!!!?

To make matters worse, the post was shared 1800 times. Perhaps it was shared as a joke, but if someone actually attempted to implement this advice, they would be in a serious quandary. First, the USA Today piece explains, "diesel fuel is thicker than gasoline and can damage components in a gas-powered vehicle. Adding water doesn't help, though, and does its own harm."

No kidding. As the article goes on to note, just as water and oil don't mix, neither does water and diesel fuel. Inside the tank, the water will settle to the bottom and rust your fuel tank.

For the record, gasoline and diesel fuel don't mix either. That is why they have distinct dispensing nozzles and color schemes at the pump.

By the time you reach the end of the article they hardly have to spell it out, but they do. The claim that you can mix oil with diesel fuel is... False. 

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Related Links

USA Today--Watered-down diesel Fact Check

Washington Post Map of Gasoline Shortages

What Happens if You Put Diesel in a Gasoline Car?

Featured Diesel Vehicle of the Week: The Kamaz Master Team Rally Raid Truck

Support for sponsors is a global enterprise. 
Kamaz captain Edouard Kikolaev, Red Bull in hand.

For those familiar with it, the Dakar Rally is one of the most exhilarating events in motor sports. It's essentially an off-road endurance test. Because of the ruggedness of the terrain, the vehicles that compete are generally off-road vehicles of various types (four-wheelers, Quads, UTVs, cars, trucks and motorcycles.

The annual event used to be called the Paris-Dakar Rally, running from Paris to Dakar Senegal. Because of security issues (chiefly in Mauritania) the 2008 rally was cancelled and the following ten years the event took place in South America. The two most recent events were held in Saudi Arabia. The race maintains its name because of its symbolic stature which is equated with pushing the limits of endurance. 

Winters are a good reason to go south & race each year

It is within this context that we get to talk about the diesel-powered Kamaz Master Rally Team truck, which was cited in Ian Wright's CarBuzz story, Crazy Diesel-Powered Cars. The Team is a Russian based racing team that has entered the Dakar Rally 27 times, winning an impressive 15 Dakar events. 

Over the years they've used increasingly powerful diesel engines to with this year's turbodiesel entries producing over 1000 horsepower. The engineering is remarkable throughout. Wright points out how their 2019 "Kapotnik" has a 12.5-liter diesel engine that is "happy to do 100 mph across any surface while handling like Colin McRae's Impreza despite looking like it has the maneuverability of a mobile home." 

To a certain extent it looks like a cross between a motorhome, dump truck (in terms of ribbed ruggedness) and a military transport. The row of lights across the front provide max visibility. If you're racing after sundown you really must bring your own lights.

The Kamaz team won its first Dakar in 1996, five years after the fall of the Soviet Union. With this year's win in January, the Kamaz Master Rally Team has racked up its fifth win in a row. Who will step up next to challenge them in 2022?

Key Links
Russian Team Kamaz-Master’s driver Sotnikov wins Dakar-2021 rally raid in truck category
This Red Bull story also has some smokin' video.
Crazy Diesel-Powered Cars (Car Buzz)