Diesels available in the USA

I'm just curious how I'd keep all my cars on the road if we had to conform to MoT inspection requirements. Everything I own seems to have persistent, unfixable leaks. Worst would be the F-150... I've replaced the pan gasket, snugged all the bolts I can find, even so, it still drips from the front lifter cover and I suspect the rear main as well (although it might just be the front leak running back along the pan rail) even the '05 Impala has started marking its territory. I'd so love to have a car that doesn't leak oil...

nate

Oddly enough, the only leak of any note on my 11+ yr old K3500 is a slight drip of coolant from around the block heater, and that only drips when it's really cold out. If you inspect around the engine, transmission, etc. you can see where things leak enough to just leave a slightly moistened, dirt encrusted patch, but never to the point of actually dripping, even parked on concrete for several days.

I don't think I've ever had a car that has leaked enough oil to leave any sort of patch on the road/driveway where I park. That's for cars that I've had in the last 25 years. The oldest car that I've had is my present one which is now 9 year old. I remember when I was little in the 1960 and 70s seeing flat metal drip trays on the garage floors of some of my parents' friends, and some of those trays contained a bit of oil, but I assumed that this problem, along with bodywork that rusts after a few years, is one that had been largely fixed in more recent cars.

Whenever I check my oil, the level is always close to the maximum mark, even as the car approaches the time of its next service, so it seems that it has neither an oil leak nor leaking piston rings. I think I've only ever had to top up its oil level once, apart from obviously the drain and refill at each service.

Having said that, I notice that the driveway where some of my neighbours' cars park has black oil stains - and that will be for modern cars because I think most of my neighbours are the sort who change their cars as soon as the ashtray is full or the windscreen washer bottle is empty ;-)

My experience mirrors yours. But most neighbors don't have leakers either. Except for crank seal leaks decades ago, I've had no leaks except valve cover seepage, which is quickly remedied. My current cars are 19 and 11 years old. Seems the nastiest oil staining I see is in auto parts parking lots. "Convenience stores" probably come in second. I wouldn't drive a car that would foul up the driveways I visit. Wouldn't be prudent. Of course that doesn't mean I couldn't park around the corner if I did drive such a car that for some reason I didn't get fixed.

--Vic

I guess it was about seven years ago I read somewhere on the internet that in D.C.if anybody owns a car that has so much as a dime size spot of rust, the rust has to be removed and car completely repainted.

I received an email today from that woman (married woman) in England.She said her Fiat Grande Punto car is not a diesel. cuhulin

Good point. But the economics in most other countries still steer people toward diesel for automotive use. And there are more raw materials available that can be converted to burn in a diesel engine than in a petrol one.

For a petrol engine, its either crude oil (with the capital costs of the requisite refinery) or ethanol (strictly controlled by the BATF). Propane used to be an option, but that loophole was plugged in the '70s gas crisis.

I can still find lots of things that will run in a diesel.

That's a popular feature of most British engines. It allows you to navigate back home by following the oil trail.

--scott

Well, that plus the fact that even the "good" diesels of yore like the old Benz oil-burners were good for about 40 horsepower. A lot of car buyers haven't realized that modern small diesels like VWs TDi have benefitted from the same engineering that turned diesel pickups from the likes of a mid-80s Chevy 6.2 that smoked like a steam locomotive and was about as speedy, to a modern Cummins/Ram that accelerates like a sports sedan while towing a 5th-wheel full of cattle without a wisp of smoke.

Well, the "stank to high heaven" is part of the reason diesel is so expensive now (or so it is claimed). Producing the ultra low-sulfur diesel that became mandatory in the US last year is often blamed for the higher prices we're seeing now. It sure does burn cleaner, though. Even old diesels (think 1970s Detroit Diesel busses) produce a lot less visible smoke when burning it. Modern common-rail diesels with particulate trap/burners and catalysts barely produce any smoke at all, and don't even produce exhaust that smells like a traditional diesel. When you can smell it at all, it smells a lot like what comes out the catalyst of a gasoline car.

The biggest example I can think of is Texas vs. California. Texas has safety inspections (lights, wipers, brakes, fluid leakage, they're SUPPOSED to check for structural rust or damage, etc. Plus the designated EPA "non-attainment" areas (Austin, Houston, El Paso, D/FW, maybe San Antonio) have emissions tests.

California: No safety test. If it passes an emissions test but has enough rust to see the pavement between your feet, no worries.