Sorry, "big rig engines" (as you call them) don't have cylinder heaters, glow plugs, or any thing like that. What they do use on occasion is either assist on the intake.
Direct injection diesels don't as a rule have a problem starting cold.
sIt's a fairly useful definition. Real diesels don't have precombustion chambers and therefore don't NEED any glow plugs. The precombustion chamber makes for a quieter engine. And Gawd knows we wouldn't want to hear the engine running nowadays.
s
...
I don't know what it's of use for is the deal. Torque, hp, fuel consumption, etc., are useful categorizations but I don't see the deal on some artificial "real" vis a vis "not real".
And, certainly, after 12-14 hour days on tractor or combine in the field, any more diesel noise than mandatory is certainly not anything I count as a blessing...
--
My model airplane has one.
High compression diesels (19:1>) don't need help from glow plugs.
But it did back then. Those were the early days and my statement, 'except for starting', was accurate. The ones I referred to were built in the 30s and 40s. I don't know if the TD series continued that wierd starting system into the 50s.
I _really_ learned about how high comprression was on diesels the morning I grabbed the crank on the TD6 and almost drove my ankles into the ground. It was like hitting a solid block of iron. The decompression link had come adrift.
Harry K
Kinda like trying to pull my john deere through without opening the compression relief's.
s
Spark-converted diesels do. This is a diesel engine burning natural or other fuel gas. The mixture is so lean it withstands the typical diesel heat of compression and doesn't ignite until sparked. Or they can leave the oil injection system in place and inject a small amount as a pilot to trigger combustion. In the latter case such engines are often designed to be able to up the amount of liquid fuel injected to normal levels while the gaseous fuel is turned off in which case it's known as a dual fuel engine.
Purists will maintain that if a spark ignition system replaces the fuel injection system then it's no longer a diesel. The problem with that is that words mean what the majority says they mean. I can say that a single "D" power cell is never by itself a "battery" but it's a lost cause.
Further, the definition of diesel as being an engine using the heat of compression for ignition has not always been the case either. There was a time when folks thought "Diesel" (it was usually capitalized in those days) referred to an compression-ignition engine using high pressure air for injection. Engines using "solid injection" as came to be standard were known as "oil engines." You'll see pictures of some early Diesel locomotives which say on their sides, "OIL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE." Gradually it was recognized that Dr. Diesel's big innovation was compression ignition, not how fuel injection was done (or even what was injected...his first experiment used coal dust!). My point here is simply that the definition has been and is flexible. With that in mind, yes, sometimes diesels have spark plugs.
You should have learned not to say 'always' or 'never'. Back in the early days, the McCormick Deering (later International) all had spark plugs for starting. They started on gas to warm up then changed over to diesel. You can google International TD6 (for one) or Mc Deering T20 for another. Those were in the 30s and 40s which is when I was referring to.
Yes, before you go off on a tangent, the plugs were in the same cylinders. There was a compression release that had to be set as part of the starting procedure.
Technology moved on using first glow plugs and then nothign at all in many cases.
Harry K
Always remember never to say 'always' or 'never'.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.