Gabriel S. wrote:
Poor truckers. I leave my car idling as much as possible just because turning over a diesel seems harder than a gasser.
I don't know...I think a diesel is actually *easier* to start than a gasser once it's warmed up. It's only cold starts that are tough. The most extreme examples of this are the normally-aspirated IDI VW diesels, which, when fully warmed up, will consistently fire on the first compression stroke, even with no glow cycle. I once push-started a friend's VW Dasher by hand after his starter failed, and we got it going by popping the clutch in reverse after I'd rolled it about five feet to build up momentum. Piece of cake.
Idling for long periods is hard on diesels because it cokes up the injectors. The heat problem in sleeper cabs was actually solved long ago, though it requires some capital investment -- Stewart-Warner and several other companies make little diesel-fired furnaces for cab heat. Some of them can even preheat the coolant for cold starts. A/C in hot weather is a tougher problem, of course.
