Quote:
Originally posted by 87300D
Reason number 3) Diesel engines are built heaver. Sure you need it with a compression ratio of 22 to 1, but the engine will handle other stresses better. We are talking well built engines here. I know everyone has a crappy diesel story but this goes the same as gas engines as well.
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You hit the nail straight on the head there! IMHO that's the single biggest reason that diesels will outlast gas engines. In addition, diesels have fewer things to go wrong. Diesels lack an ignition system (glowplugs don't count
), and their fuel system is only somewhat more complicated than a carbureted gas engine (injector pump internals aside, but the only engines that I know of that have injector pump problems are the IH 6.9l's and 7.3l IDI's
), and IMHO easier than an EFI engine.
Looking at it from a somewhat different tack, it has been my observation that most American built gas engines will go about 100,000 miles before some major maintenance is needed (rings go bad, fuel sysem issues, lubrication issues, etc). They may still run, but they won't be "right" per se. American diesels, on the other hand, can go more like 300,000 miles before reaching that point. The diesel that's in my pickup has over 200,000 miles on it, and I've relaced the injector pump, but have otherwise had no engine issues (I've had problems with the truck overall, but this was mostly due to it sitting in the desert unused for a few years, and stuff dried out). The engine's never been torn into, the head gaskets are original, and she'll fire on the first crank. Most Ford gas-powered trucks that I've seen on the road of this genre are much the worse for wear; theyre typically either not firing on all cylinders, or are putting out smoke. Are there exceptions? Of course there are, just like there are diesels that haven't gone very long (improperly maintained, have a GM logo anywhere on 'em
etc). The Cummins 6BT that Dodge uses is capable of going past 1 million miles! I'd love to see one of Dodge's gas engines pull that off.
One other way to look at it is to look at the trucking industry. You won't see a gasoline-powered big truck out there anymore. Why? You could build a gas engine that can put out that kinda power. But it won't get anywhere near the fuel mileage that a diesel will get, and won't go to 750K miles before needing an in-frame, either.
Just some thoughts...I'm a firm believer in diesel power, as you can see.
Take a look at the "Why are diesels better?" link in my signature...that goes to a paper I wrote a few years ago about the advantages of diesels over gas engines. Thought you'd be interested.
FWIW, I have most of the maintenace log from my 300D, and unless some major engine problems happened between 196K and 223K miles, the engine's never needed any serious work other than preventative maintenance, and other than some blowby, runs like new. To me, that says a lot, especially at 240K miles.