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Who drives diesel?

Catbuster

Catbuster

Aug 25, 2010
1,551
538
Louisville, KY.
#1
Well, seeing as the injectors just ate it on my 7.3, I had a lot of time to sit in a shop. And when I sit in a shop other than my own, I often wonder random things. Like, "I wonder if The Drills and Dorje are ever going to tour the U.S?'" Or "Man, I need to restring my Jazz."

This time, it got me thinking as to who drives a diesel powered vehicle? Not necessarily my '02 Powerstroke, but any diesel engined vehicle, be it a Cat 330, Volkswagen Golf or a diesel pickup.

So... Who does drive diesel and well... What makes us do it? For me it was definitely the power and longevity, but a bunch of TDIs get 50 MPG. Which is impressive.
 
#5
Unrepresented said:
My work vehicles are frequently diesel powered.
Click to expand...



ForumRunner_20121111_215047.png

Me too..
 
#13
I've owned several Dodges with the Cummins for over 13 years as my daily drivers. For the last 10yrs I had two: a '95 2wd thats modded to 520hp at the wheels and gets 23-26mpg. I just sold off my twin-turbo '98 4wd Ram a few days ago, I stopped counting the dyno runs when it hit 700hp as I felt I would blow it up again, and got tired of throwing money at that truck! I work at a performance and repair shop for diesel pickups.
Back when I bought them, diesel was the way to go: lasted longer and got way better mileage than their gas counterparts. Today, no so...the regulations on the DPF equipment killed the mileage and reliability of turbos. Of course yeah, the delete stuff for them exists, but still....

As far as the Fords go, the 7.3 is the golden one to keep. Far less goes wrong with them than the later ones. Injectors do happen, but the under-valve cover wiring that feeds the injectors and glow plugs has been a bigger culprit.
 
#14
I have a Jetta TDI Sportwagen that I really like. It has almost as much cargo carrying capacity as my Toyota Venza and I, also, routinely get a legitimate 40 - 42 mpg per tank with mixed driving and 45 - 50 mpg highway ( or higher on leisurely trips such as on the way home from late night gigs). While it is by no means a sports car, when driving in the sport shift mode it is really fun to drive on winding country roads. It really reminds me a bit of my old BMW 2002. Note that the new Jetta sedan has been redesigned while, currently, the Sportwagen is the older, and in my opinion, nicer design. I have owned a fair number of VWs including bugs, a Rabbit, Jetta, Golf and Passat. I did get over 200K on both the Golf and Passat, but it wasn't painless with the Passat. I am hoping to get at least 300K out of the diesel. VW does not have the same reliability record as say Toyota or Honda, but I just find them much more enjoyable to drive.
 
#16
I had an 87 E350 with a 6.9L International diesel. Got it with 90K and junked it at 230K eight years later mostly due to overwhelming roof rust and leaks from having never been garaged. The transmission was showing early signs of trouble that I improved with some sort of fluid additive. I had to do the injectors once as well however it was found later that a small air leak in the fuel line was as much the problem as old injectors. In its day it was a great vehicle and got 15-16 mpg. It had no turbo, so accelerated really sluggishly, but it had excellent torque and would grind up hills so smoothly. The only real trouble was that even with a valve adjustment, it would cough out too much black exhaust when under hard throttle, especially at altitudes above 5K ft.

I have a 92 E350 gasoline Windsor 351 powered van now, and it is worse in every way from the older diesel. Every component is just cheaper, door handles weak and prone to breaking, etc. Even the carpet and upholstery are worse. And it only gets 12 mpg, if I 'hyper-mile' it as much as possible. Not suitable as a daily driver except for a tradesman with heavy gear.
 
#17
When I bought my Diesel Volkswagen Beetle in 2000 diesel was really cheap. 202,000 miles later the car is still running like a champ. It gets 40 miles to the gallon. Original clutch and exhaust system. Never had a breakdown. It's been years since I had to make a car payment. Love my diesel Beetle!
 

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