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How long could a diesel run with a failed alternator?

Well this is just a hypothetical question brought on by a friend of mine telling me he made it 20 minutes after his alternator died on his Lumina... I was thinking, with no spark plugs and much less of an electrical load, how long would a diesel engine run without any alternator?

Seems to me only the ECU would need power (no electric fuel pumps on a diesel right?), lights could be disabled by switching them off and pulling the parking brake up far enough to activate the DTRL shutoff - but not enough to apply the parking brake.

Reply to
Rob Guenther
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It all depends. I would not expect a new electronic injection to do as well as an old mechanical model. The old ones could do hundreds of miles. I don't think they needed electric for anything other than holding the fuel kill switch open.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Not sure about a TDI, but I once was on my way from FL to NY, and my alternator crapped out about 200 miles into a 1100 mile trip...made it the whole way. It was quite without a radio!

Reply to
Tony Bad

Until the battery voltage drops below what the ECU needs to function. Which on most I'm told is around 9.6 volts.

Reply to
Woodchuck

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