My first diesel truck was a 6.9 litre V8. I believe it was a 1985 model. It had a mechanical injection pump. It was chain driven off of the cam I think. I had to remove it and have the pump rebuilt once. The original plastic parts in the injection pump wore out in less than 50,000 miles. When it was rebuilt, the guy who rebuilt it put in what he called an EID kit which was all metal parts. I ran that engine for at least 150,000 more miles before I sold it and never had another problem with it. I am on my 3rd diesel truck since then, my current one is a 2006 model and it is working great, love the turbos on these things. I have gotten a couple of thumbs ups from kids (who thought they had a winner) when I slowed down and let them catch me. My previous one was a 2003 model and it was running a little rough one time so they reprogrammed the computer that controlled it. I put 80,000 miles on that one and it only required the one adjustment. I have no idea how my current and the last diesels injection systems work, mechanical or electronic. I have never had a sudden stopage on any of my diesels, including two German made Mercedes engines I have owned. I love diesels and wish there was a diesel for my KR. I have considered a VW Jetta engine but I am not sure what it may weigh or what could be stripped off of it to lighten it. I bought one of the Jettas when they first came to this country, I think it was around 1980, I could get over 50 mpg on the highway. I loved that engine except once in the mountains in New Mexico. An electronic switch/thermostat failed that caused the engine to overheat. What in the heck is wrong with a regular mechanical thermostat??????I had to get a new engine, had connections, VW gave it to me. All of this information is for aviation research only !! : ) Larry H.
Ray, How exactly you think this disagrees with what I said? I have good reasons to distrust electronics in an engine, unless it is of the solid state, KISS kind. I recently owned a fancy 2.5 liter turbo diesel pickup (Nissan Navarra), and for two years, I kept having sudden stops of the engine. You're on the motorway, cruising, everything is normal, and the next second, the engine quits, with no apparent reason. Don't have to tell you how that would feel in the sky. Not to mention the problem of locating a Nissan dealer ewquipped with the diagnostic computer at the nearest airfield... Incidentally, Nissan never found the fault. They ended up changing al the wires and all the electronic boxes. In my aircraft, I want the Diesel for its reliability and fuel economy. State-of-the-art Diesels are going to give me considerably more fuel economy, but to the expense of less reliability and more difficult maintenance. So, no chips for me, thanks. A good old injection pump will do. Our French homebuilt Diesel expert went the same route. His first aircraft used a 1.4 liter Opel Corsa Turbo Diesel Intercooler. In his next designs, he uses the cheaper and less sophisticated ordinary Diesels. Thinks it was not worth the effort. Serge Vidal
