Re: Diesel vs. Gasoline

Posted by B.C. on October 20, 1999 at 18:42:09 from (209.190.32.6):

In Reply to: Diesel vs. Gasoline posted by John Baxter on October 20, 1999 at 14:11:15:

If it doesn't get too cold (like much below +30F) and if you've wrenched diesels before then go for it. Otherwise, I think that you'll find your typical tractor carb to be whole bunch simpler and cheaper to rebuild than your basic vintage fuel injection system.

There are a variety of stories about trying to get diesels to fire when they're cold. One of them involves people heating the intake manifold with cutting torches or the like to get the inlet air warm enough to compress at a temperature high enough to get fuel to light off. Others have mentioned kerosene or #1 fuel oil. As far as I know there are still manufactureres who make add-on ether kits so all you have to do is pull a cable to help loosen your head bolts.

Another thing: if a cold diesel gets started, the lube requirements are still pretty much what they would be if it was warm out. So unless you go synthetic, that crankcase oil is gonna be nice and thick and may not flow all that great into the pump, at least at first. Going to 5W-30 probably is not an option, at least with conventional oil.

Better have a real big battery and a real healthy starter.

I like diesels, I really do, but for the part timer I say gas makes more sense.

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup