diesel secrets

[oddshot]

Cummins is working on developing a new 4 cylinder engine for the Nissan Titan that will make a hair over 200HP and around 350 ft/lbs IIRC. They're also saying it will get 28MPG.

The big problem with diesel vehicles in this country seems to be that people think they're dirty and clunky.

Well ... to be honest ... the folk's perceptions about diesel powered vehicles were pretty correct. Until the advent of electronic fuel injection ... diesel engines DID burn fuel in a comparatively haphazard manner. Computer controlled fuel systems have done a LOT to quiet engines down, increase mileage and boost performance ... I expect that we will see more gains in these area as well. I also expect to see the size of diesel engines to continue to get smaller ...

oddshot

 

[merlot566jka]

WMO will produce less power and MPG than diesel in our trucks. There are other threads on here where members reported the exact thing you have described on here. They went to WMO and noticed a reduced amount of power, switching back to diesel and the power returned. I don’t think it is the viscosity. But read further....
For discovering it on your own, you could test your viscosity and you will obviously see that oil is thicker and diesel. no doubt about that. But to get a real idea, try to find the amount of energy that is in motor oil and compare that to the amount of energy in diesel.

Ok so using google,

1 Gal of #2 Fuel Oil = 139,000 Btu’s
A typical gallon of waste motor oil contains 153,000 to 180,000 BTU per gallon

So this says the opposite of what I have said. Maybe I am wrong (first time for everything )
I wonder if the FDC is the culprit here. If someone runs WMO without the FDC we could make an assumption on its hand in the matter.
Perhaps the pumping loss is significant with thicker oil. But to imagine a noticeable difference, even with a fuel that has a higher BTU, would be saying a lot about the pumps efficiency or the fuels thickness.

More thinking... it was described to measure viscosity above using flow time. Even under pressure, flow time will still change with the thickness of the fluid. Maybe, the timing needs to adjust with the fuel change to take advantage of the fuel. It could be that LESS WMO is injected because of the amount of time allotted for the injectors to push out the fuel. ... If that case, wouldn’t that mean you are using less fuel? Maybe you aren’t using enough fuel to make the power needed and its causing the reduction in power.

 

[eagle4g63]

As noted more oil makes it thicker, the FDC notices this and lets you have less pedal(limits the travel) and works against you. I had this very same prob. when I started using oil. I bypassed the FDC and I gained the use of my pedal back and it runs great on the mix. So in this case the viscosity does make a difference, but not in the way you were thinking.

 

[Tanner]

Replace the rubber lines with silicone hose -

'Tanner'

 

[oddshot]

WMO will produce less power and MPG than diesel in our trucks. There are other threads on here where members reported the exact thing you have described on here. They went to WMO and noticed a reduced amount of power, switching back to diesel and the power returned. I don’t think it is the viscosity.

I have been using waste oil of various types for 5,000 miles ... I haven't "switched to or from" anything.

I had noticed a loss of power and the smoke with the most recent batch ... which may have been made up of mostly VERY old motor oil.

I filtered it using the same process I have always used.

When I added a couple gallons of diesel to the tank ... everything went back to "normal".


So ... my thinking is ...

A) this batch had less BTU's of energy in it ... and putting in a bit of diesel "perked it up" a bit ... which I kinda doubt. FWIW ... this is something I don't know how to measure.

or

B) the viscosity was a bit TOO thick. Which would indicate that there is a "bad to good" viscosity range. The Deuce will burn a LOT of different grades of fuel ... but I don't think it will do too well on bunker oil. But I don't KNOW that yet either.

I have the 3 samples suggested above, I can make comparative measurements of the samples.

Also, after I run out the (good) tank of fuel I have ... I'll try a tank of the old (bad) stuff ... and see if I have to "adjust" it again.

oddshot

 

[AndyC]

Make sure you don't get contaminated wvo. I know someone that dumps cleaning acid in his wvo at his resturant.