Posted by Paul Cook on Monday, February 02, 2004 at 3:21PM :
In Reply to: Lead/No-Lead Fuel posted by dave horvath on Monday, February 02, 2004 at 1:02PM :
Adding to what Mike C. says... It's hard to apply this question to diesel engines. They are built stictly for power and for reliability. In my Cummins, lubricating oil is sprayed up into the underside of the pistons, both for lubrication and for cooling. That's just one example of the difference in engineering.
Gasoline engines are built for high profit applications to suit the corporate bean counters. The manufacturers count on owners trading up because of the vehicle style going out of date and not because of the vehicle's mileage. They do not feel that it's important for a gasoline engine to go 200,000 miles, even though some do with proper care.
Consider the actual number of parts in my 12 valve Cummins and in my POWER WAGON - both in-line sixes. Not a big difference in the basic design - six pistons, six rods, 12 valves, one crankshaft, one camshaft, etc. Then add all the features for strength, exceptional lubrication, and self protection. That's where the high cost for the diesel comes in. And those are also the features that make them last longer.
If you are interested in the lead - nolead issue, you are three clicks away from that subject. Click on the Kempner POWER WAGON Museum link, scroll down the Museum main page and click on Technical Support. Scroll down the Tech Support page and click on Gasoline.
Don't forget to always check the other POWER WAGON enthusiast web sites for information. We all try to avoid duplicating content to save everyone bandwidth.