Why Diesel???

[twodogs]

Getting slightly off topic, drive a Chevy Silverado 2007 or 2008 model before you decide on a Tundra. The improvement is amazing.

You have got to be kidding me - Chevy vs. Tundra???
Reliability? Safety? Fit? Finish? TUNDRA!

 

[RollingsFarms]

You have got to be kidding me - Chevy vs. Tundra???
Reliability? Safety? Fit? Finish? TUNDRA!

the new Tundra's have had more then their fare share of first year problems from what i've read. owners claim of numerous problems from the 6-speed auto tranny, interier fit and finish not up to par and showing premature wear, not so wonderful gas mileage. check out the tundra truck forums on the internet, you'll read many complaints of a not so comparable truck compared to GM's newest version of the Silverado.

 

[Renze]

You mean the same "Bosch" that makes the injectors on the Duramax diesel that have failed by the hundreds of thousands? Those Bosch injectors?

jb

Isnt the Duramax built by Isuzu ? and doesnt Isuzu use Nippon Denso injection, like most Japanese brands ??

 

[Z-Michigan]

You have got to be kidding me - Chevy vs. Tundra???
Reliability? Safety? Fit? Finish? TUNDRA!

You're right, I am kidding. No way Toyota can catch up with GM.

Seriously, though, GM quality has improved by leaps and bounds. I have owned two Hondas and a Toyota. None was perfect; one Accord, a 2001 purchased brand new, was actually pretty bad in terms of problems (driver seat broke and had to be replaced at 12k miles, and the transmission failed, disabled the car and had to be replaced at 25k problems, and there were a number of minor issues too). Hond had so many transmission failures with Accords that year they had to extend the transmission warranty to 100k miles. The Toyota Corolla I had was a 1992 and was fairly reliable for what it was, but was absurdly under-engineered with tiny, tiny tires, poor brakes, sloppy suspension (worse than an 80's Buick), no real safety features, steel wheels that peeled their paint and then rusted, bad seat belt location, and a few other minor things. It was reliable basic transportation, but it definitely wasn't the best car ever made.

I just bought a Chevy Suburban (literally last night) and the quality and design is really, really impressive. If you haven't looked at what GM is making these days, you should. Their products are highly competitive.

My dad owns a first gen Toyota Tundra. It has been pretty good, but far from perfect. The brakes have been worked on by the dealer 3 times while it was still under warranty, and I understand brake problems were common with the first gen Tundra. He also had the 4wd mode switch fail, which was also replaced under warranty. Stock suspension was very soft, though my dad put in better shocks when the originals wore out. No one close to me owns the 2008 Tundra but I certainly have read enough about problems with them. Plus my dad liked gen 1 because it was 90% size and very convenient. Gen 2 is 101% size and not so convenient.

 

[Rara Avis]

Gee Toyota has joined the Big Three in lobbying Congress to raise
CAFE numbers...Who would have thought it so...
Toyota joins Detroit 3 in CAFE fight - AutoWeek

 

[Kendrick]

I have noticed only 1 mention of this point so far. B100 or svo will kick a gasser any day! The average cpg of B100 if you make it is 60-70 cents! If you pay uncle sam jr for road repairs it goes up to about 1.5 to 2$ depending on the local fuel taxes. you then can apply for 3-5k? of tax rebates from the feds and possibly as much from state for going green. with svo it is about 5 cents or less due to the need for the first and last mile to be on diesel if you use B100 insed it drops.

as for the running of them the diesel kills a gasser for the heavy duty jobs. you can also get a mini diesel monkey with gears till you get it right and the mpg goes way up for a compactish car.

as for the comment that you pay it back in oil/repairs. like any purchace you MUST!!!!!!!! know what you are getting before hand other wise you get sawdust in the tranny and a green complexion for the brilliance. we spend probably 10X the work most people do before getting something. if we chose it 99.9% of the time no matter how old it is we still have it, in use and have no regrets other then not getting two of them or going for the delux model...

in 3 years time I will be all B100 the only thing on the farm that wont be will be my trimmer and the 2 motercycles that came with the property. we will toy with them and see what we can do about building somthing usefull from the parts...

 

[Rara Avis]

Biodiesel

What is a biodiesel blend?
In most cases, biodiesel is mixed with conventional diesel because of the higher cost of biodiesel, engine compatibility issues, and cold weather operating concerns. Common blends are B20, or 20% biodiesel and B2, or 2% biodiesel. The environmental benefits of using biodiesel scales with the percent of biodiesel contained in the blend.

B100 100% biodiesel offers the most overall environmental benefits. Use of B100 may require engine or fuel system component modification and can cause operating problems, especially in cold weather.
B20 20% biodiesel offers about one fifth of the environmental benefits of B100, but can be more broadly applied to existing engines with little or no modification.
B2 2% biodiesel offers little environmental or petroleum dependence benefit and could be potentially used an environmental marketing tool.

What are the main issues when switching from conventional diesel to biodiesel?

The main operating issues are cold weather operability, engine and fuel system compatibility, and the solvency properties of biodiesel. B100 does not flow as well as petroleum diesel in cold temperatures, and requires special additives or fuel heating systems to operate in colder climates. B100 may cause rubber seals and gaskets from engines older than 1994 to wear faster or fail. Biodiesel also acts as a solvent, which can dissolve sediments in diesel fuel tanks and clog fuel filters during an initial transition from petroleum diesel. Despite these issues, some fleets are successfully using B100. Berkeley, California is successfully running 100% biodiesel in 90% of their public diesel fleet vehicles including fire trucks.1 Using B20 minimizes or eliminates most of the concerns with B100 and is therefore more widely used.

 

[Kendrick]

you missed the lubricity issue on a nice summary of Bio. The lubricity if Bio is immensly higher then dino diesel. there was a nice study listed in the diesel additive thread before it got roudy

The seals on your tractor are valid if they are natural rubber i believe. there was reports of the fuel pumps being pitted and destroyed by bio. I had never heard if a definitive study had been done or not. the general fealing I had heard was that was a rumor, it did how ever do a good job of wearing the seals on them if they had rubber parts. I will be doing some tests this winter about B100 and additives and plan to post when done. DP's fuel additives are rated for both dino and bio. PS needs like 3x as much when using B20+

 

[john_bud]

isn't that a bit of a stretch of the imagination

This was in regard to my comment about "hundreds of thousands" of Bosch injectors failing.


Actually, it's a modest number.

200,000 injectors is 25,000 sets.

Duramax's with the injector issues have been the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 models. There have been 7 years of operation for the first ones.

25,000 / 7 = 3572 vehicles per year with the issue. Not at all a super high number. I have spoken to individual techs that have done a 100 sets a year.

The problem was so bad that a couple years ago, GM changed the fuel filter adding a second pleat and reducing the beta from 10 micron to 2 micron. They even gave a "free" filter to ensure you got the new version. Think they are big hearted or trying to stop the bleeding?


Naturally, only GM knows the true number but they are not talking....

jb

 

[twodogs]

You're right, I am kidding. No way Toyota can catch up with GM.

Seriously, though, GM quality has improved by leaps and bounds. I have owned two Hondas and a Toyota. None was perfect; one Accord, a 2001 purchased brand new, was actually pretty bad in terms of problems (driver seat broke and had to be replaced at 12k miles, and the transmission failed, disabled the car and had to be replaced at 25k problems, and there were a number of minor issues too). Hond had so many transmission failures with Accords that year they had to extend the transmission warranty to 100k miles. The Toyota Corolla I had was a 1992 and was fairly reliable for what it was, but was absurdly under-engineered with tiny, tiny tires, poor brakes, sloppy suspension (worse than an 80's Buick), no real safety features, steel wheels that peeled their paint and then rusted, bad seat belt location, and a few other minor things. It was reliable basic transportation, but it definitely wasn't the best car ever made.

I just bought a Chevy Suburban (literally last night) and the quality and design is really, really impressive. If you haven't looked at what GM is making these days, you should. Their products are highly competitive.

My dad owns a first gen Toyota Tundra. It has been pretty good, but far from perfect. The brakes have been worked on by the dealer 3 times while it was still under warranty, and I understand brake problems were common with the first gen Tundra. He also had the 4wd mode switch fail, which was also replaced under warranty. Stock suspension was very soft, though my dad put in better shocks when the originals wore out. No one close to me owns the 2008 Tundra but I certainly have read enough about problems with them. Plus my dad liked gen 1 because it was 90% size and very convenient. Gen 2 is 101% size and not so convenient.

Pick up a Consumer Reports & compare the reliability & used cars to avoid for GM vs. Toyota...

My 95 Blazer made 30 trips to the dealer in 30K miles - NO LIE. From spontaneous shutdowns while driving 60mph, failing to start, & 10K mile brakes, to name a few. Every person that I knew that had that vehicle had major problems with it & Chevy turned a blind eye to them. At least Toyota will back & fix a problem that they discover - at least from the experience that I have had & the owners that I have spoken with. They fixed my AC on my Tacoma with 90K miles on it. I now own an '06 Tundra. GM - General Mess. Maybe in 10 years I will buy one, but not yet... Toyota will be number 1 in the world soon, & it isn't by accident.