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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.24] on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 at 03:10:13 :
In Reply to: Low octane = easy light. posted by Chris Case [76.212.213.227] on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 20:50:47 :
Based on experience with my multifuel diesels, the engine will start on straight diesel with no pre-heater or glow plugs, in ambient temperature down to zero degrees F. With a tank of pure gasoline, it's a bugger to start even at 30 degrees F. So, on compression-ignition, #2 diesel lights much easier than gasoline, even though the gasoline would detonate if a fuel/air mixture were compressed 20:1 like it is in the multifuel diesel.
Furthermore, I don't think the "octane" rating of gasoline tells you much about how easy it is to start cold, because the refiners make summer and winter blends at whatever octane number you want. Propane and natural gas (methane), for example, are more volatile (boil at a lower temperature) than the mixture of hydrocarbons in gasoline, and yet an engine running either of those fuels straight can be built to a higher compression ratio without detonation.