Ya ready for diesel yet?

You are too dense to talk to really. Biodiesel has approximately the same heat value as petroleum diesel and therefore mechanical diesels produce approximately the same power on approximately the same fuel flow. There are always slight variations in heat content from batch to batch and therefore a mechanical diesel will vary slightly in peak torque and HP, just as if you are running #1, #2, or whatever. That's why all performance and emissions testing on diesels is done on a fuel of precise specification.

This is all well documented in the link I provided, you just read the first paragraph and decided it didn't agree with what you thought and went off.

If a gasoline engine hydro locks it almost always bends a rod, but then it will run enough the owner will drive off until the bent rod lets go and takes everything out.

Don't suck up water.

environmentally friendly. But is diesel really better for our surroundings? Maybe not. Diesel engines do emit less carbon monoxide than regular gas motors. But diesel engines also produce up to 100 times more soot, and these soot particles are much tinier than the ones in ordinary exhaust. They're so small, in fact, that the natural filters in our noses and airways don't always catch them. The result: Diesel soot often is inhaled deep into our lungs. Now researchers in Europe claim to have discovered that just one hour's exposure to diesel fumes leads to inflammation in the lungs -- the kind experts fear may be related to asthma. Even worse, many investigators suspect that diesel fumes might even cause lung cancer. Until we manage to make diesel less dirty, you might want to avoid breathing fumes from buses and trucks. And drivers, do us a favor: Turn off those idling engines."

Sure, if it sucks water. I meant rather that diesels don't have spark plugs to get wet (although the advantage is rather dimished by the fact they have now acquired a lot more electronics). I didn't realise you were outside the US now, Earle - where are you ?

Are absolutely BRUTAL so waxing your car is a necessity, not a luxury?

Dunno, I clearly wasn't paying attention at the back :-)

I don't drive the Waggy much, and anyhow it runs on propane which is 1/2 the price of petrol

Propane?! You mean it hasn't blown up and killed the whole village or stuck the throttle open and run you into a schoolyard like =DFillschi=DF says it will ?

I'm sorry to hear that, but it wasn't diesel engines that killed him. You should be in favor of European ultra low sulfur diesel fuel because it will mean less smoke and smell though.

Propane?! You mean it hasn't blown up and killed the whole village or stuck the throttle open and run you into a schoolyard like ßillschiß says it will ?

Vitoria-Gasteiz, País Vasco, España. Empiezo a entender la cultura anglosajón, por ojos ajenos. You probably have places like this

in England too.

This place is fantastic. La ciudad es preciosa, y la gente amable. Lo peor es que el dólar no tiene valor. Almuerzo en la plaza, con pan y queso, como vagabundo. Next week I move into a studio, and will be able to prepare my own meals. Where can I find a simple jar of peanut butter?

I bought some petrol here last week, and for the life of me I don't understand how you can drive a Grand Wagoneer at these prices. The good thing about prices in the U.S. is that no one in the family wants to drive my Suburban while I am gone, and they only drive the Jeep when someone else has the Honda.

Qué será, será, si Dios lo dispone.

Earle

That is a good sign. I don't know what we would do in Silverton if the price of propane did what gasoline has done. All of the poor people would have to leave, and the rich people, who have stayed out of politics, would have to take a crack at running the town ourselves. I doubt we would do better than the fools we have now.

Earle

My V10 gets about 12.5 around town, usually about 16 highway. My last towing trip was pulling a 1200# trailer with Cherokee on board. What's a Cherokee, about 4500#? No clue. Anyway, with that load I averaged about

12.5 on the highway. Best I've ever done with it was 18.5 (unloaded of course ) highway through Indiana/Illinois.

Cost of the diesel option was a big factor for me when I bought the super duty, for many of the reasons you mention (break even point). If I were going to be towing a lot of weight a LOT of the time, it would have been a no-brainer. Since it was meant to be an occasional hauler(5 years old with about 34K on it) , the gas guzzler was the way to go.