PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Why do diesels sound different than gasoline engines.

psfred · #3 09-30-2002, 10:35 PM

The clatter is a result of ignition of the fuel lagging behind injection -- this is most evident in direct injection low compression engines. Quite a bit of fuel is injected before it starts burning and it goes "snap" when it does light. Diesels inject fuel over a rather long period under power, but only a tiny spritz of short duration at idle, so the entire charge can explosively burn at once. Gasoline engines are set up so that the fuel/air mix is over rich for explosion, so it just burns fast rather that making a bang.

On top of that, the air charge in a diesel is just about as high as it gets -- the ability of the air to completely fill the combustion chamber goes down as the speed of the engine goes up. Hence a very lean condtion, also very hot. Gasoline engines are throttled -- remember, the intake has substantial vacuum at idle, and it is this thin air that is compressed. The result is a very small amount of air and low pressure at idle (the cause of most air pollution from gas cars). Nothing to make a bang with.

Diesels move large amounts of air all the time -- max flow is about 1000 rpm on a non-turbo -- and turbo models move tremendous amounts under load. This means there is a lot more air moving through the exhaust, too. Most diesels are very quiet even with open pipes, much to the dismay of teenagers who want noisy exhaust. Only when you get the engine under full load do you get much noise -- some list members can attest to this, after finding out their downpipes were broken and not knowing it!

Gas engines have higher peak pressures as the fuel burns, and waste more heat out the exhaust -- more noise, but different than a diesel.

As far as it goes, it is hard to tell my 300D is a diesel when it is fully warm -- just a bit more rumble and vibration than a gas engine. The Volvo, on the other hand, rattles something fierce.

Peter