... EGR, Diesel and Gas

roland3

... We have been suffering this bandaid for about 35 years. Anyone know of it's use before the early Seventies? If we had been measuring the total amount of exhaust gas, especially green house gas, I doubt it would have ever been put in one vehicle.
... For those that don't know it's not a system to take exhaust gas and reintroduce it to the combustion chamber to extract more energy with a more complete combustion. Fifteen percent exhaust gas is the max I know about, is recirculated to contaminate the combustion process and make the reaction (burn) a lower temperature, that creates less NOx.

roland3

... There were (and are) several repercussions from these early Seventies regs. One is that it gave a huge boost to Japan's industry. You see, the cars from Japan had all these: timing retards, EGR's, low compression and attempted carbuerator leaning, but the Japanese cars were smaller, and generally got better fuel economy, and their bandaids usually worked.

roland3

... So how many billions (with a b) of gallons of fuel would have been saved had we measured GHG in the early Seventies ??? This rare concurrence of Gov and Big Business was, imo, not a huge conspiracy but an attempt of the auto companies to protect their huge wharehouse and production assets and CARB and EPA's uneducated measurement, of exhaust gas quality, with almost no consideration of quantity. Remember also, we did not have "just in time" delivery back then.
... What really cleaned (considering the era), the engines, was the implementation of sequential, individual runner, injection. This is all the more vexing because, Cadillac, Cosworth Vega, VW and more had good injection (although maybe not sequential) back then, enabling engines to be tuned as they should (all cylinders close to equal). The thought of a large, American, low compression, EGR'd, timing retarded, remotely (from the end cylinders) carbureted, V~8, tuned to the WORST cylinder is DISGUSTING.

roland3

... So some of you LL's are probably thinking, yeah that's decades late quarterbacking. Not exactly. I was nowhere near THE coach, but I did have this opinion that the injection would be better, but there was no internet and I definitely was not quarterbacking for one of the big three.
... Of course the Diesel always had the problem handled, IE it's comparatively easy to get an even amount of air to all cylinders, but fuel wants to fall out of aeration and puddle in various areas of the manifold. The diesel puts a precise amount of fuel in each cylinder and the modern manifolds (gas and Diesel) are doing a better job of balancing the airflow.

roland3

... So I have to wonder what were these petrochemical engineers thinking circa 1970 ??? Of course it's God's cruel joke that heat and pressure that gives us economy and performance creates more NOx than cooler and contaminated combustion. We could inject water, naw have to worry about cold climes and another owner fill up. Inject argon or helium, naw too expensive. Run the cooling jacket 130 F. instead of 190 F. naw imcomplete combustion, (increased HC).
... So somebody(s) dreams up recirculating 15 percent of the exhaust gas. There was probably none or almost no consideration of the Diesel industry. A gas engine does not produce soot and this is probably the worst of Diesel related problems with EGR. The soot that has left the combustion chamber is (partially) brought back into the chamber and contaminates the process and wears upper cylinder components.

roland3

... There might be some hope on the horizon. It appears that the new VW and Honda Diesels will not need urea injection, to be Euro V and USA 50 state compliant. This might be directly related to the small engines. I think we need more incentives to get these vehicles over the 50 MPG barrier. EGR should be the first to go. Why should these cars have the same controls as something getting 5 or 6 MPG (big trucks and buses). This is obvious when volume of GHG is considered.

bobbye1

Does any one know if four gallons of gasoline mixed with about fithteen gallons of diesel will harm my cummins diesel engine?

Dave

KCRam

In a word, yes. You had about 20% gasoline in there. The newer the engine, the worse it will be. The old fully mechanical 12-valve engine (used until Jan 1998) will survive if you can get the whole thing flushed and there was no residual damage in the cylinders, but the electronic engines - especially the common-rail versions - could need some serious and expensive repair.

kcram - Pickups Host

bobbye1

It is the new 2007,if I drain the tank do you think i will be okay?It has about a half tank with the four gallons of gas.The engine seems to run okay with no problems.

KCRam

Don't turn that key again until it's drained. Running on that mixture can void your warranty. Have the truck towed if you don't have the facilities to do it at home. Once it's drained, use plenty of diesel treatment - I would recommend Power Service Diesel Kleen - for at least the next 4 tanks.

kcram - Pickups Host

bobbye1

Thanks for the info,I drained the tank & put in the Power Service Diesel Kleen.
Do you think I will have any side effects from running the gas that was in the tank?

bobbye1

Thanks for the info,I drained the tank & put in the Power Service Diesel Kleen.
Do you think I will have any side effects from running the gas that was in the tank?

KCRam

Hopefully not. Gasoline can be downright dangerous in a diesel engine.

kcram - Pickups Host

hgivens1

i have a problem with my 2005 ford powerstroke blowing out solid white smoke. Every time it starts doing it, it feels like its bogging down TOTAL power loss....EGR valve?? any sugg.?