I think you are on to something Mike.
Next time I want to know something, I'll login as a Newbie and say something like "Hi - just bought my first diesel. My buddy's uncles 2'nd cousin told me to empty the rad and fill it with half ATF and half vinegar - says that cleans 'er out real good, so I'm going to do that service first". When I want some fast answers ! :laughing:
I think we'd all mostly agree, TBN is way cleaner in this respect than most sites. But, nobody likes getting piled up on...
Physics, the grandaddy of all the sciences, and my personal favourite ! You have at least had those 3 courses under your belt, and you are paying attention to what is going on here. What about the bulk of the population with effectively no general science knowledge ?
It is interesting to read the writing done in the 1970's and earlier. The common thinking was "Diesel is the more efficient engine, so it should prevail over gasoline ones". And, for a lot of the world, that is the case for light vehicles.
So, what happened in America ? One issue even Rudolf Diesel identified was "Initial purchase cost is often more important than ongoing operating costs".
Today, there is much more to it than that (front end cost is still a big factor though). I've heard that refiners here would much prefer to sell gas than diesel. I don't really get that, as refiners all over the world likely still make plenty of money selling predominantly diesel, and from a net energy standpoint I'm thinking more refining (done to gas) takes more input energy than diesel. But, I have no real idea how a refinery or cracking tower works, so that was just a guess.
I brought this up here because we (North America) have the strange situation where the most efficient IC engine design, along with the most energy laden fuel, is effectively being legislated out of the light vehicle market. Are we concerned about Energy Security, or Not ?
The government departments (and the lobbyists that control them) should be asked these questions, and more.
Rgds, D.
Next time I want to know something, I'll login as a Newbie and say something like "Hi - just bought my first diesel. My buddy's uncles 2'nd cousin told me to empty the rad and fill it with half ATF and half vinegar - says that cleans 'er out real good, so I'm going to do that service first". When I want some fast answers ! :laughing:
I think we'd all mostly agree, TBN is way cleaner in this respect than most sites. But, nobody likes getting piled up on...
Physics, the grandaddy of all the sciences, and my personal favourite ! You have at least had those 3 courses under your belt, and you are paying attention to what is going on here. What about the bulk of the population with effectively no general science knowledge ?
It is interesting to read the writing done in the 1970's and earlier. The common thinking was "Diesel is the more efficient engine, so it should prevail over gasoline ones". And, for a lot of the world, that is the case for light vehicles.
So, what happened in America ? One issue even Rudolf Diesel identified was "Initial purchase cost is often more important than ongoing operating costs".
Today, there is much more to it than that (front end cost is still a big factor though). I've heard that refiners here would much prefer to sell gas than diesel. I don't really get that, as refiners all over the world likely still make plenty of money selling predominantly diesel, and from a net energy standpoint I'm thinking more refining (done to gas) takes more input energy than diesel. But, I have no real idea how a refinery or cracking tower works, so that was just a guess.
I brought this up here because we (North America) have the strange situation where the most efficient IC engine design, along with the most energy laden fuel, is effectively being legislated out of the light vehicle market. Are we concerned about Energy Security, or Not ?
The government departments (and the lobbyists that control them) should be asked these questions, and more.
Rgds, D.
