Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
Forum Discussion
Jaraxle, it's more an issue of the emissions system on diesel trucks screwing up the diesel engine than the engine itself.
AFAIK, the only problem diesel engines have that gasoline engines don't, the emissions system, aside, is that diesel engines are more massive and so need longer to warm up. This is not a problem for UPS delivery trucks as those are on all day. It can be a problem for diesel trucks used for daily commuting if the commute is short enough, and mine is - 25 minutes one-way, which is barely enough time for a diesel engine to properly warm up. That's why I should not use a diesel-engine pickup as my commute vehicle.
But the emissions control system is THE big problem with diesel-engine pickups, because the emissions systems are designed to meet federal tests, and those tests involve pickups used for hauling heavy loads long distances, as opposed to stop & go local deliveries of light loads. So the emissions control systems of heavy-duty diesel-engine pickup trucks are optimized to reduce emissions when towing heavy loads long distances, i.e., they work best when given diesel emissions composed mostly of fully burned fuel aka hot soot.
Diesel pickup emissions systems work badly, with lots of expensive maintenance problems for themselves and more for what they do to the diesel engines, when given a significant proportion of diesel emissions composed of unburned fuel aka tarry gunk, and that's what they get from trucks driven without adequate warmup time, or in constant stop & go traffic.
UPS/Fed-Ex delivery trucks with diesel engines, by contrast, have emissions systems optimized to reduce emissions when carrying light loads short distances in constant stop & go motion, i.e., they work best when given diesel emissions with a much greater proportion of unburned fuel aka tarry gunk.
This makes it useless to compare the reliability of UPS trucks in making stop & go deliveries to pickup trucks. Their different diesel emissions systems are optimized to do different things.
AFAIK, the only problem diesel engines have that gasoline engines don't, the emissions system, aside, is that diesel engines are more massive and so need longer to warm up. This is not a problem for UPS delivery trucks as those are on all day. It can be a problem for diesel trucks used for daily commuting if the commute is short enough, and mine is - 25 minutes one-way, which is barely enough time for a diesel engine to properly warm up. That's why I should not use a diesel-engine pickup as my commute vehicle.
But the emissions control system is THE big problem with diesel-engine pickups, because the emissions systems are designed to meet federal tests, and those tests involve pickups used for hauling heavy loads long distances, as opposed to stop & go local deliveries of light loads. So the emissions control systems of heavy-duty diesel-engine pickup trucks are optimized to reduce emissions when towing heavy loads long distances, i.e., they work best when given diesel emissions composed mostly of fully burned fuel aka hot soot.
Diesel pickup emissions systems work badly, with lots of expensive maintenance problems for themselves and more for what they do to the diesel engines, when given a significant proportion of diesel emissions composed of unburned fuel aka tarry gunk, and that's what they get from trucks driven without adequate warmup time, or in constant stop & go traffic.
UPS/Fed-Ex delivery trucks with diesel engines, by contrast, have emissions systems optimized to reduce emissions when carrying light loads short distances in constant stop & go motion, i.e., they work best when given diesel emissions with a much greater proportion of unburned fuel aka tarry gunk.
This makes it useless to compare the reliability of UPS trucks in making stop & go deliveries to pickup trucks. Their different diesel emissions systems are optimized to do different things.
