Diesel And Gas Prices

Over the years, the prices of both gas and diesel have experienced some drastic changes. Many years ago, the price of gas was around a dollar or a little more, nothing like it is today. Back then, gas wasn't high in price although the demand for vehicles wasn't what it is today either.

As the demand for vehicles grew, the demand for fuel grew as well. Other actions and events have played into the equation as well, resulting in the rising costs of fuel. Fuel is something we all need to run our vehicles, as we wouldn't be able to go anywhere without it.

As you may know, a majority of the gas we get at local gas stations comes from overseas, primarily the Middle East. Therefore, we have to pay taxes and such on the gas we use, which pays for the gas as well as the shipping. If we got our gas from within the United States, one can't help but wonder whether or not the prices would indeed be lower.

Diesel on the other hand, has always managed to keep a price lower than gas. Diesel comes from within the United States, so the prices are of course going to be lower. The only problem associated with diesel fuel is locating it, as many gas stations don't sell it.

When it comes to the choice between the two, diesel fuel is obviously cheaper to buy. Gas is in supply more, which means that you can find it almost anywhere. If you own a gasoline vehicle, you obviously don't want to put diesel in it. If you own a diesel vehicle, then you of course wouldn't want to put gas in it either.

Diesel Fuel Quality

The designs of diesel engines striving to increase performance have made a lot of advancements in engine fuel delivery to the combustion chamber. The diesel engines of today are much quieter, smoother, and also more powerful. The quality of diesel fuel on the other hand has not advanced at the same rate as the improvements of engines.

As soon as it is produced, diesel fuel begins to deteriorate. Less than 30 days of refining, all diesel fuel, regardless of the brand, goes through a natural process called oxidation. This process forms varnishes and gums in the fuel by causing the molecules of the fuel to lengthen and start bonding together.

Now, these components will drop to the bottom of the fuel tank and form diesel sludge. The fuel will begin to turn very dark in color, smell bad, and cause the engine to smoke. The engine starts to smoke as some of these clusters are small enough to pass through the engine filtration and on to the combustion chamber.

As the clusters begin to increase in size, only a small amount of the molecules will get burned, as the rest will go out the exhaust as unburned fuel and smoke.

Its estimated that eight out of every ten diesel engine failures are directly related to poor quality and contaminated fuel. The build up of contamination in the fuel systems and storage tanks can clog filters, thereby causing the engine to shut down, and damage to the engine to occur.

The number one reason for bad fuel is due to the increasing popularity of diesel power and the accompanying increased demand for more diesel fuel. Long ago, diesel fuel remained in the refinery storage tanks long enough to naturally seperate and begin to settle, allowing the clean fuel to be drawn apart. Now, with the demand getting higher than ever, the fuel is never stationary long enough to settle, and the suspended water and solids are passed on to the person buying the fuel - you.

The changes in refinery techniques is also a problem. In order to get more products, diesel fuel is being refined for more marginal portions of the crude barrel. This results in a lower grade product that is thicker and also contains a lot more contamination.

As time continues to pass and technology gets better and better, one can only hope that the quality of diesel fuel improves. As it stands now, the quality isn't good at all. If you run diesel fuel, all you can basically hope for is that the fuel you are getting isn't contaminated.

Diesel Engines And Well Known Gas

In passenger cars, the diesel engine has never really caught on. During the middle to late 70s, diesel engines in passenger cars did notice a surge in sales due to the OPEC oil embargo, although that is the only real significant penetration that diesel engines have made in the market.

Although diesel engines are more efficient, there are eight historical problems that may have held them back.

1. Due to the higher compression ratios, diesel engines tend be heavier than the equivalent
   gasoline engine.
2. Diesel vehicles and diesel engines tend to be more expensive than gas.
3. Because of their weight and compression ratio, diesel engines tend to have lower RPM ranges than gas engines. This gives diesel engines more torque rather than higher horsepower, and this tends to make diesel vehicles slower in terms of acceleration.
4. Diesel engines have to be fuel injected, and in the past fuel injection was very expensive and less reliable.
5. Diesel engines tend to produce more smoke and smell very funny when compared to gasoline engines.
6. They are harder to start in cold weather and if they contain glow plugs, the diesel engines
   may require you to wait before you start the engine so that the glow plugs can heat up.
7. Diesel engines are much noisier than gas engines and tend to vibrate quite a bit.
8. Diesel fuel is less available than gas.

Although one or two of these disadvantages would be acceptable, a group of them is a big turn away for many people.

Even though the list above are reasons in the past as to why diesel never really took off, you can
expect these reasons to get corrected and improved in the future, meaning that you will see more and more diesel vehicles on the road.

Advantages Of Diesel Engines

If you've owned a diesel powered vehicle in the past or if you own one now, you no doubt appreciate the qualities this engine provides you with. More torque, better fuel economy, and easier maintenance are but a few of the attributes of owning diesel powered vehicles.

However, there are some motorists that still complain about the engine's weak power, especially when accelerating from a full stop. What you may not be aware of is the fact that a diesel engine can be tweaked to give more power without harming the fuel economy.

Diesel engines use air compression to create combustion versus the fuel/air mixture that is required by gas engines. This attribute means that diesel engines don't require spark plugs and therefore don't need to be tuned up.

Diesel fuel has a much high fuel density than gas, which results in fuel economy increases of 20 - 30% over gasoline powered vehicles.

Diesel engines are also cheaper to maintain as they have less parts than that of a gasoline powered engine. The life span of a diesel engine is also much longer.

If you're looking for torque, for pulling a boat or other equipment, then the diesel engine has the supreme advantage. Diesel engines are surely slower, especially when starting from a dead stop, although when you climb hills or go over bridges, the diesel engine is surely up to the task.

With trucks, diesel is normally the leader over gas engines in terms of performance and miles per gallon. Diesel trucks will get more miles than gas trucks, and the price for diesel is a bit cheaper than gas these days. And with gas prices on the rise, diesel will continue to dominate for a long time to come.