[Vwdiesel] Injection basics --- for beginners. -( Diesel Management )

[H.Hagar]

There is a good reason why Bosch calls his book "Diesel engine management"

If you meet a totally HAPPY rabbit owner ----- bet it is a DIY ---that reached
critical mass as far as understanding is concerned.

It took me more than  seven years of hard studying to get there. (I am slow).
And I add bits and pieces every day. ----- the benefit ?   troubleshooting when
something goes wrong --- becomes fun and games.

What made me start ?  --  here it is :  I own a really nice looking GM V8 diesel
pickup --light  deep metallic blue with lights on top of cab and fancy phony
wheel hub caps.And canopy.
The best gasser mechanic in town runs a tow truck service for AAA etc.
He towed me home --- and I knew he had towed PO ---. As luck has it his
brother was an old friend of mine so we got to talk a-bit at my place.
He asked me a couple of questions ---like does it start ?. I said yes.
He sad start her up---I started it at idle. A very loud knocking (very big marble)
He said give her some gas ---marble became cannon ball.
Before he left he told me it was likely a rod bearing a holed piston and lots more.

He had me pulling the pan and all kinds of stupid things (only to find no problems).-- so I put in a spare engine.
And took off for the LIBRARY and got every book they had on DIESELS.
Best move I ever did.  Long time and many books later I discovered that is
was only stuck open pencil injector. If I had known what I know now ---all 
I had to do to limp home was remove the line from that injector. How would
I know which one out of 8 ?  Use a stick pressed against ear and injector. The
one that sounds different is the one to disconnect. I had tow truck nightmares
for a long time. Lots of towtrucks following me every where at 60 dollars a pop.

Fooling around with diesels ----is a ball of fun for me. All the things I learned   
making transmitters and receivers , making boats and flying machines --comes in
handy ---- adding up to critical mass.

My judgement is that  it is more ART ---intuition--Voodoo --tea leaves--and downright
smarts ---than mechanics --that carry the day. But you need Diesel basics no matter what.

You need to understand the difference between injection point (timing) and ignition point.
Injection point (start of injection) we can control---but ignition point is a slippery worm
it moves all over the place , according to Cetane number and Temperature in cylinder.

Would a VW diesel be greatly improved if it had sparkplug ignition ?  you bet.

Why?   because spark ignition is precise  --compression ignition is NOT precise.

Just think -- all the fuel could be injected after TDC. --that would be a major improvement.
No marbles ---nothing but the sweetest sounding diesel of all time.

 And hows about cold starting ?  ---- piece of cake.

Hagar.

PS:  So do you want to manage that VW diesel ?  --start reading.