Is there a attack on Diesel? I've seen more and more negative articles about Diesel. There was a big article on the front page of the newspaper today about Diesel and cholesterol, so i searched for a link but couldn't find it but La times had something similar.....

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/...la-home-center

 

I can feel my arteries clogging right now.

 

Oh crud. First eggs, then butter, then red meat, now diesel. Is there anything out there that doesn't cause heart attacks?

 

I don't buy it, if true, most truckers would be falling over dead before 50 due to heart attacks

 

Makes me wanna prove them wrong by pulling up a bar stool and eating steak & egg on my tail gate every morning while the truck warms up...
Now that I think about it... Can you think of a better way to start a day??

OG

 

So does this mean that I can no longer substitue Diesel Fuel in the place of PAM cooking spray in my kitchen?

There go all my "secret" recipies.

 

Hate to be a spoil sport gentlemen but the articles are true. If you operated large bore diesel you would have been aware of this for years.

The snap idle test for example was introduced quite a few years ago. It's purpose was to determine the condition worn or pumped up of your engine. If the engine did not clean up within the specified time frame it was producing too much smoke and particulate matter.

Particulate matter is the real bad guy. I have preached to the idiots I work with for years - turn the DARN thing off! But some guys are dense and refuse to learn. I argued: The Surgeon General is worried about some little old lady 10 miles away from the highway breathing in too many parts per million (Diesel Particulate Matter) and here we sit with 30 trucks idling for an hour.

Some of us will be dying from cancer, I just hope I am not one. All of the new regulations placed upon diesels are designed to combat the release of particulate matter. The ships in Long Beach and San Pedro Harbors (Southern Calif.) are now being required to go to shore power during loading/unloading and turning off their gen sets and main engines.

They just made a big deal about two new ultra low emission state of the art locomotives for the harbor. There are about twenty more on order

Strict idling regulations are being implemented. In Calif. in the near future APU (Auxilliary Power Units) will be banned on large trucks.

The 2007 regs that added $7,000 to $10,000 to the purchase price of a large tractor/truck were aimed at reducing particulate matter. The 2010 regs which are now on the horizon are supposed to make the exhaust of a large truck almost cleaner than the 'clean' air the engine drew in.

Some truck stops are beginning to offer 'shore power'. A trucker can plug in his tractor for electricity and place an A/C - Heater hose in his window.

There are a number of electric/battery A/C and heater units on the market all designed to end idling and significantly impact particulate matter.

I've seen idiots in pickups stop at a 7-11 and leave the engine running. Why? Oh, it won't hurt it. Yes it will! Diesels are thermal efficient. They tend to give up heat when they idle (After all that is why you idle down, for 3 minutes, after a hard run). A diesel running cold is worse than an engine running hot. Being compression fired, when cold, the engine is unable to completely burn all of the fuel injected. Raw fuel washes down the cylinder walls reducing the lubricating film of oil. The rings can score the cylinder walls (This would lead to blow by and pressurization of the crankcase - premature failure). The fuel would continue downward into the oil pan where it would reduce the viscosity of the oil thereby compromising all oil lubricated components in or on the engine - again premature failure.

A cold idling diesel produces higher levels of particulate matter.

People love to latch onto old wive's tales. The arguement behind letting a diesel idle all day came from the past. In the early days of 'large bore diesel' electrical components were not up to the task, namely starters, batteries and charging systems. The early CATS did not have electric starters. They had "Pony Motors". Which were little gas engines that acted as a starter. It was a hassle to get the 'pony' started, warm it up, then engage it into the big diesel until it fired. Once the diesel fired you disengeged the 'pony' and shut it down. Once the diesel warmed up you could go to work. That's a lot of hassle. So guys would leave them running rather than go through all of that 2 or 3 times a day. The myth that it did not hurt the engine was just that a myth. Coincidentally, it also supported their actions.

Bottomline: Particulate matter is bad stuff and does cause serious health problems. Look for more changes in a pickup near you. With the "B" and the Navistar both did exactly what large bore engines did this year: Increased displacement and increased air volume.

 

i happen to have one of those old cats you refer too(1953 d2),my pony actually starts pretty easy,it will almost always start on the first pull.one thing i will say is if i let it set and idle i will get what is refered to as wet-stacking,it will actually spew out small particles of unburnt fuel.i have had this happen twice and both times i ended up looking like i had black measles.i got on the cat site where i read about this.the second time caught me totally off guard.since then i get what i want to do figured out before hand so i can do my work and then shut it down.

 

maybe cooking the eggs and steak on a 6" chrome tip. I don't think i've ever had smoked eggs or steak before, lol

 

i got a better idea just take a take one put in some foil hook it near the pass. side of the engine, take a trip to work then when you get there the heat will cook it

 

I did not mean to imply that starting the 'Pony Motor' was difficult. Rather, the overall procedure required to start a large bore diesel of that era was more work than the average employee was willing to do more than once a day.

As one of my brokers frequently says: :There are owners and there are drivers.....and I like owners." By that he means that an owner CARES! Drivers or employees frequently do not. Look at your own operating procedures. Once you learned about wet-stacking, you took steps to avoid causing it.

That same brokers own drivers are some of the worst 'idlers' I work with. They will let an engine idle for hours. When you suggest shutting it off, their most common response is "_______(Broker's) got plenty money". They just don't get it or care.