diesel gas

Any engine with thousands of hours will start to be problematic, but their is no denying that they are simpler in operation. Yes injection pumps and injectors are expensive and well beyond almost every shade tree mechanic but jeeze, they last for years and years and years. And the whole cold starting thing, well yes they can be tough, but with a good block heater good battery and clean terminals they"ll start, and frankly I have never heard of any starting issues with anything new, but we are talking about "seasoned" beauties here. Don"t forget to condition your fuel too, we know that it can gel which is a downfall, but when you put drygas in your car, put "howes" or "power service" in your diesels.

Diesel engines are by and far superior, plus you get to smell that sweet high speed diesel exhaust and listen to the "mellifluous cetane symphony," as you are pulling hard.

That is my opinion, i don"t mean any offense to anyone, but we do have some paradigm shifts ahead of us, honestly bio-diesel, and ulsd are things that we need to embrace. And i think diesel engines should be offered more readily at the consumer level, not just industrial and marine. I drive a diesel vw tdi, 54 mpg on the highway, high 40"s around town. Why isn"t there a small pickup made like that, or further why doesn"t an american auto maker make a diesel?

Who knows.

We cannot buy new ones in maine, because we are trying to uphold california emissions, which makes no sense if you can buy a new one there.

My neighbor has a 89 Chevy Blazer and a 92 Chevy truck - both with 3.9 turbo-Cummins. It makes plenty of power and both rigs can get close to 30 MPG highway (usually 26-27 MPG). That's pretty good since the same rigs with GM 6.2 diesels got around 21 MPG at best.

Of course i have realized that we have made several diesel vehicles over the years, however i believe that driven largely by the oil companies automakers might have purposely made a subpar offering, to keep americans away from the fuel savings. Most people when asked say they stink, their loud and clunky, or that they never start. I know several people with late model duramax's powerstrokes and cummins that have never had a starting problem.

And of course, i also know that we are playing by another set of regulations with emmisions than the rest of the world is, and to a certain extent this is good, however to ban a car like the vw tdi's and others like it i think is ridiculous. Yes, my emisions are not as good, but 50 plus miles to the gallon cannot be overlooked! (and yes, it was sort of an exageration for the sake of the argument, i have gotten 53.8 mpg, with one particularly good load of fuel on the highway. Normally i get 46/ 50 mpg town/highway summer, and 44/ 48 in the winter)

We have the ability to make great high speed engines, caterpillar and cummins, and now some of our medium and slow speed diesels are getting cleaner.

It just disappoints me that we don't allow, or demand more. Yea, I want that Dodge Cummins, but man what do the people do that pay for them? I have an above average paying job, and i couldn't dream of buying a new one, I suppose you just finance your life away. This of course has nothing to do with the argument.

The clean ones are there, and i think they will be easier than the infrastructure of hydrogen.

Plus, nothing sounds like a 645 series EMD, or a 3406B Caterpillar, or a TM 410 Stork Wartsila, or a screaming 4-53 Detroit, or last but by far not least my own 3-152 Perkins.

I just love em

Now - in the U.S. - the latest gun-ban proposal (not passed yet) will ban all new private ownership of Ruger Minis - 14s or 30s, as well as SKSs, and many others. I'm hoping the day never comes when all this BS becomes retroactive - to people that already own these "dangerous" weapons.

• WIKI 4.5 GM diesel

The Europeans are about 50/50 on gas/diesel production. They have one part of it down right though, over there you don't pay a significant premium for the diesel version of the same vehicle.

Over here the manufacturers have consumers buffaloed into paying 6 to 8 grand more for the same truck, just for the different engine nad equipment groups that go with it. Its no longer worth it, you can't ever break even on it. I drove diesels back when folks would call you stoooopid for doing so. I love 'em!

Last time I traded I went back to gas. I refuse to pay the premium for the engine anymore, but as long as everone else does they'll keep on charging it and going up.... good ol' supply and demand.

Most of the guys I know who are driving the big fancy diesel crew cabs just have them for the sheer road warrior status and rarely pull or haul anyone or anything with them. About the same deal for all the 4x4 guys down here where it rarely ices or snows and they never leave the pavement.

These guys and the soccer moms who have to have a 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban to drop the kids at kindy-garden are the ones who are killing the people who need a tough working truck. Thats when the trucks started going posh and puss with too many gizmos, too much interior and not enough suspension. But the market drives the manufacturer so thats what we get.

I miss the days of the real 4x4.... leaf springs, live axle and lockouts