CharlesinGA wrote:
Matt_Colie wrote:
Jack,
You say "Using all the horspower" like it is a bad thing. If you bought it, it is yours to use, so use it. The diesel is governor controlled (they all are), so don't be afraid to use it.
By the way, if this is your first diesel, be aware that they don't warm up much idling and that there is little engine braking to be had. That is why they are good on fuel.
Matt
Not sure where this comes from. With a 20 something to one compression, they provide lots of engine braking. I have descended 8% grades and geared down and barely had to touch the brakes. For such a tiny engine I figure its pretty darn good.
Charles
Diesel engines in general don't have a whole lot of engine braking without the addition of an exhaust brake or compression brake or similar. The high compression ratio doesn't matter much here because the energy expended in the compression stroke is released back in the power stroke; the air acts mostly as a spring, not as a damper. The engine braking in a gas engine is largely due to the intake stroke against the closed throttle valve (there's atmospheric pressure, or something like it, on one side of the piston and a vacuum on the other). Since a diesel lacks a throttle valve, there is less natural engine braking by nature.
Adding the exhaust brake or the compression (jake) brake changes things significantly, of course; then the engine is acting basically as an air compressor (on either the exhaust or the compression strokes).