Fuel comparison charts

I understand diesel price parity in EC is basically mandated by the government and the consumers are hosed by the government in extremely high fuel taxes. That's why the more efficient diesel engines are in such high usage. Normal market forces and lower taxes in the US give much less advantage. Diesel engines cost more and fuel costs more here.

I was surprised as hell to find (7) only ....in California

But then..we only allow 4 cycle outboards on boats in most waters these days

A guy at work has one. It has not cost him a penny for the emissions related repairs, but they keep his trucks for days at a time trying to figure out the problems. He finally traded it for a gas model.

The third problem I had with mine, was a faulty "diesel emission fluid" pump. The dealership mechanics were clueless and needed help from techs at Mercedes, which took five days. I'm afraid that they are just too complicated and no longer reliable.

Same old deal. Every time something new comes out it is too complicated for the dealer mechanics to repair. I bought a new car in 1972. Same basic car as a 1969. The 69 ran fine for about 30,000 and someone ran a stop sign on me. I then bought a 72 and it had all the smog stuff on it. The never could fix the electronic system so it would start. That thing left me sitting about 5 times and I had to have it towed to the dealer. Ran the battery down several other times, but as it was a manual transmission, I was sble to push it off. Finally traded it with about 15000 miles on it.

The stuff usually works great unless there is a problem, then you beter trade it off as it probably will not be fixed or if it is, it may take a month.

Wait... wait... you bought a Mercedes and you are surprised that it is too complicated and "no longer" reliable?

I think Mercedes invented the whole philosophy of "never use one part when you can use ten," or maybe that was Bosch....

This is not a new thing.... Mercedes has been doing this for nearly a hundred years now.

--scott

Sounds like a by product of government regulation.

A guy at work has one. It has not cost him a penny for the emissions related repairs, but they keep his trucks for days at a time trying to figure out the problems. He finally traded it for a gas model.

I think this stuff is just the only successful technology currently available that meets the EPA standards for diesels. It doesn't matter who the manufacturer is, all diesel trucks in the U.S. made after 2010 have the same stuff strapped on to them.

The truck in question is an '86 GMC w/305 V8/700R4 trans and 2.72 rear axle ratio . No adaptive anything , it's got a quadrajet carb and a distibutor . That axle ratio might be just fine for flatland high speed runnin' , but I need something lower up here in the woods . Got feelers out for a 3.42 , which should have me near the torque peak in high/OD at around

The same over here. Diesel fuel used to be cheap but now is more than petrol. And the cars cost more. The MPG is not that much different now except about town where diesels score better.

There isn't enough used cooking oil to make a dent in the amount of fuel burnt in diesel engines.

That carb and distributor probably are the reasons you're getting such bad mileage with E10. There's a lot of research on this, and I haven't tried to round it up, but overall, E10 wants about 3 degrees more spark advance at full throttle. And atomization with a carburetor and E10 probably is not as good as it is with straight gasoline. I do remember some higher figures for loss of economy with carbs and E10 some decades ago, but I can't find it right now.

There could be other issues, but those *probably* explain it.

"Michael A. Terrell" on Fri, 28 Jun 2013

Biodeisel - used cooking oil, only skipping the food portion.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

The cooking oil sounds good, except that I doubt that there is enough in an average town to power a tenth of a percent of the cars,

Biodiesel, though, makes more sense than using ethanol. It is much easier to produce not requiring fermentation or distillation and glycerine biproduct is more useful.

In the far South where temperatures stay above freezing, used cooking oil can be used directly. I heard Willie Nelson uses it in his tour bus. Extra benefit is cooking smell of exhaust masks the smell of pot.

Did not know if taxed differently but could be pure market forces. Higher prices in EC still might favor diesel. Guess it depends on how much you drive. Retired, myself, and not driving that much, I would not get a more expensive diesel or hybrid vehicle just to save money on fuel.

That was my point. OTOH, you could render enough fat from the shiftless slobs to power at least one percent. ;-)

True. "Bio-diesel" can be made form any oil or fat, even the stuff not edible.

So, if you smell fried chicken and lots of sage - it means there's a Willi Nelson concert nearby?

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

"Michael A. Terrell" on Fri, 28 Jun 2013

Hmm, there's a new "energy source".

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."