Buying Diesel Trucks in Portland—Is Diesel Engine Worth It?

Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make when gassing up your vehicle in Portland is pouring in the wrong fuel. If your car has a gasoline engine and you accidentally filled the tank with diesel, you are in a big trouble. Aside from having a stubborn engine that dies in seconds or won’t start at all, you will need to have your vehicle towed to a service center for cleanup.

Thanks to the genius of most car manufacturers, however, cars with gasoline engine have a gas cap that prevents nozzles bigger than the typical unleaded gasoline nozzle from fitting into the tank. In other words, it is almost impossible to mistakenly fill your tank with the wrong fuel because there’s a deterrent element added.

This is actually a common knowledge among most drivers, but why it is a big deal in the first place is interestingly baffling. Have you ever wondered why there are two types of fuel when it can be easier and less confusing if all cars are using the same fuel? Well, it pretty much has to do with the invention of the diesel engine.

Gasoline Engine vs. Diesel Engine

Decades back, all cars had a gasoline engine, which uses a quite simple mechanism—fuel is mixed with air, the piston goes up to compress the mixture, the compressed mixture is ignited through a spark plug, fuel is combusted and transformed into mechanical energy, and the car moves forward. Then a smart guy named Rudolf Diesel came along and said that the process can still be improved to increase efficiency.

He introduced a new engine design, which ignites fuel through compressed air instead of the heat produced by a spark plug. Because it requires high compression ratio to make such ignition, this engine is able to run with high thermal efficiencies, which allows for better fuel economy. This is why the engine is also tolerant of leaded fuel, which actually adds to the efficiency because it evaporates more slowly than gasoline. He called this engine diesel engine and you can guess why.

Why Shift to Diesel Engine

There’s a plethora of reasons why you should be using a diesel engine. For one, it allows you to use leaded fuel, which apart from the above-mentioned benefits also emits smaller amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide, gases that are well-known for their role in global warming. In short, you are helping to save the planet.

It is also capable of producing low-end torque because it has long piston stroke and high cylinder compression, which is quite useful for pulling a heavy trailer or anything that requires more rear strength. The Duramax Diesel engine is one the best examples of this kind of engine. If you have diesel trucks that you use for towing heavy objects on a regular basis, you can be confident about not needing any towing-related repair anytime soon.

So when planning to purchase vehicles, especially those that you will need for heavy-duty loading, pickup models with high-performance diesel engine are your perfect option. Due to the amazing benefits of diesel engine, diesel trucks and cars are in abundant supply in many car dealerships across the country today. Dealerships, such as McLoughlin Chevrolet, even offers used units for buyers who want to save money but experience almost similar perks.

Sources:

Difference between Gasoline and Diesel Engines, NCHEurope.com

How Diesel Engines Work, HowStuffWorks.com

Benefits of a GM Duramax Diesel Engine, GM-diesel-engines.com