Thread: Diesel VS Petrol offroad especially water?

the concept of non electric diesel died in 2000 (rest in peace)

how much work you want to do to recover the engine from water in fuel is easily mooted by the simple fitting of an automated fuel/water detection force shutdown on the engine management or by the fitment of a water seperating return to tank day tank with a staged warning light buzzer and shut down sequence.

ignoring water in fuel..

modern diesels are harder to stop by external water application but once stopped are a lot harder to get going again, petrol engines with traditional spark distribution (regardless of electronic or points ignition) are easy to stop and easy to start. Remoted coil pack petrols are a little harder to stop but typically just as easy to get to restart and the integrated coil and plug cap units can be nearly as hard as the diesels to get restarted.

in all cases prevention is worth more than the cure.

You would have to admit that a 1/4" gap in your fuel tank is not the normal situation.

The issue that you avoid with a diesel is that of the high voltage breakdown due to the water getting to the spark plug leads, distributor etc.

With your modern diesel there are electrics that will stop you if you get them wet, just ask why people relocate the ECU to somewhere up higher in their TD5.

I don't know for sure but I'd thought that the filters in the fuel line should catch the water, most have an actual water trap. So for you to have got the water down to the injectors you either did not have a water detector or you ignored the warning that there was too much water in the water trap.

I do think that you are pretty well correct about the mechanical diesel injection systems, they are a little easier to crack a line and purge the lines. The fuel efficiency has been surpassed by the modern ultra high pressure small injector fine atomization jobbies so there will be no going back. Hold on to your old oiler if you don't want to have to deal with the modern world. Good luck.

"automated fuel/water detection force shutdown on the engine management"
That sounds pretty good.

Well a fella did say he could sell me a better filter. He said mine was not that good. Maybe it was finer and could separate the water better? Who knows.

If I had to chose between a V8 and Td5 (say in a D2), to put underwater, I'd take the V8, at least then you can pull it all apart and make it work again.

When i drowned my Tdi D1 it went home on the trailer, when dad drowned his RRC he drove it home after pulling the plugs and squirting the water out and changing the oil. Neither car ended up having permanant damage, just failed to proceed due to rather high humidity in the intakes.... haha

If you drowned a modern diesel its a write-off. And water in common rail systems often sees big $$$$.

Catch twenty two really

Diesels are a lot better in water , but water damages them a lot more than petrol engines

Where as petrol engines don't like water. Rover v8's have always had the reputation that they can smell water 10 k's away and start coughing and spluttering

For all my major off roading in mud and water in the past I have had a diesel. But the first thing up must put on a diesel is a snorkel. And check it is sealed.

Noting worse than half way through some deep water and the petrol engine cough and spluttering to a stop. But same with the diesel and it sucking up water. They will hydro lock and send a piston rod through the side of the block. Seen Tdi's do it many times.

When I had my D1 V8 I drove in water that went to the top of the windscreen (was only really bonnet level) and drove out I only had a ram pod on

But if I had to do it over and over I'll take a 200tdi anytime

Adam

you can still get water into a petrol engine, hydraulic lock on a petrol will cause just as much damage as in a diesel engine.

Water dosent compress. it dosent know what type of engine its going into.

Its just that the crappy electrics on most typically underprepared 4x4's will stop the petrol engine before they get close to sucking in the water.

my advice, walk the crossing and tarp up before you enter and you shouldn't have any trouble in a well prepared rig.

Found my v8 d2 to be a lot better in water than my dizzy d1...stands to reason given the type of ignition and placement of coils etc.

Cheers