[Vwdiesel] Diesel octane or why can you run a diesel engine lean?

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

Answer :  You can run a diesel lean  -- because it will not detonate like
a gasser. 

  I STILL contend you can't run a diesel "lean."    ;-)  That's the state 
it's 
supposed to and WANTS to run in.  You can ovefuel with poor timing, 
bad injectors, low compression and setting the pump so that it will 
allow more fuel than can be burned.  When you run more fuel than 
is required at a given load, the engine wants to accelerate.  Less 
fuel will not make it run more lean, it will make it slow down.
  The big point tha Hagar is making but just doesn't seem to click in my 
pointy head, is that you need to get ALL those other parameters correct 
in order to use the least fuel.  Turning the fuel down will simply make 
the engine run slower.  One tends to think of it in terms of lean but it's 
really achieving the best efficiency.  IMO.
    Loren