Torque

["Kathy Myers" <kathy@nvolve.com>]

I was driving around yesterday in my zippy little 2 dr Saturn
and it occured to me I could expand a little on WHY Diesel
engines produce more torque.  Hope someone cares.  ;-)

It's the compression.  A gas engine produces about 8 ft-lbs
per square inch of compression against the pistons.  A diesel
engine produces about 3 times that.  Therefore a smaller diesel
engine can out power a larger gas engine.

And this brought me to another thought.  Remember GM's 1980's
diesel car engines?  Anyone out there get stuck with one?
Thank goodness I was in college (far too many years) and couldn't
afford to think of buying a new car.  When you produce that much
more energy when the fuel ignites the engine block must be able
to take the stress.  Ford and VW, et al, designed a brand new
car-sized engine blocks to take the larger diesel stress loads.
GM modified their gas engine block.

What do you suppose happened when you put 3 times the stress
on a gas designed engine block?  They cracked.  At almost
exactly 24K miles.  And they PAID these engineers???

Maryben, do you remember Pete and M.A. Samuelson?  They had
english setters.  I was driving their GM diesel station wagon
at 23,700+ miles when the engine went "BANG!" and the red
lights came on.  Good thing Pete is a lawyer.  GM finally
agreed to replace the engine, but they just replaced it with
the exact SAME engine.

Hope, for the sake of all you Chevy diesel truck owners out
there, they have mended their ways.

;-)  -  kat myers
in San Mateo, CA. with Magnum the TB ex-racer
and Mr Maajistic... resident Arab.