Info on medium duty diesels for trucks/SUVs.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I found this over on TDM. I'll bet one of these in a Durango would be capable of 35+mpg on a long cruise at 55mph.

And I definitely can't wait for some nitwit to wreck one of these. Get a big old domestic station wagon, give it the aero treatment, and drop one of these in. 45-50+mpg@55mph would be very nice for a big family car.

[lovemysan]

Cummins using glow plugs? yuck! I think I'll stick to the tried and true B series. These new engines are efficient,powerful and complex. The problem with electronically controlled diesel is that they can die for no apparent reason. I've witnessed this personally on the IDI 7.3 powerstrokes.
My old cummins 6bt puked the injection pump and still drove home. You could run the engine with only one wire hooked to 12v power. The simpler the better I say. I guess I'm old fashioned and behind the times anymore.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I'd think that's more an issue with Ford as opposed to anything with glow plugs per say. The only time I've had trouble with mine is when rain water got into a relay and the fuse blew, which is on a 25 year old bucket of bolts...
Otoh, I'm surprised you're not running a magneto on your Saturn...

[Brock]

Sounds like your trying to make a Passat TDI wagon

[lovemysan]

I've used both glow plugs and grid heaters. The glow plugs were always more trouble especially on the fords. I don't understand why cummins would go to the glow plugs after a long production using grid heaters. Like I said I guess I'm biased. To my knowledge GM went to grid heaters on the dmax's not long ago.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

They might have moved away from grid heaters because of the need for a lower CR to help out with efficiency. And as for wagons, the Passat is o.k. but I'd like something that could see those mileage numbers and can seat 8/tow 4000-6000lbs, essentially a trimmer/aero Durango.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

From what I've gathered, higher CR is good for cold starts but not so good for efficiency, a lower CR otoh makes cold starting harder but is better for efficiency, there's a range for each engine. Grid heaters are more reliable as long as the compression ratio is high enough to allow for starting with just the warm air, but if the CR is dropped, glow plugs may be needed as they heat the cylinder better.