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Old 02-29-2008, 01:52 PM
DieselAddict DieselAddict is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Reno/Sparks, NV
Posts: 3,063
Quote:
Originally Posted by vstech View Post
on the diesel, they may opt to just leave it running, at idle, there is almost no fuel consumed. of course, they could easily start it with that 80 or so HP electric motor hanging off the back... engine would only start when the car is moving above like 35 or so, kinda like tow starting with onboard motor... don't forget, the newer diesels with DI start MUCH quicker than our old IDI ones do... plus they don't usually need a glow. heat element in the air intake usually does it.
I think I asked a similar question last year when the diesel hybrids were discussed.
Diesel engines still consume considerable amounts of fuel when idling. Ever done a diesel purge? You are correct that the newer engines with DI usually don't need a glow, but I'm not aware of any heat element in the intake. They do have glow plugs which at least on the TDI become useful when starting the engine cold at 45F or below. Above that the air in a DI engine is warm enough to cause the fuel to ignite because unlike in an IDI engine there are no prechambers that soak up the heat.
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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

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