Getting the most out of your Diesel ?

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by steadvex

thanks for that information!

a friend of mine has just bought a diesel and she's found it doesn't start well all the time, normally after its warmed up, she's just come from a 1.0 colt to a 1.9 seat, tends to drive it around 1,000 rev's all the time, makes me cringe as a passenger but as she's used to so little power she feels no need to increase the rev's (and she's not one to argue with!), never thought that could be the issue as there seems to be nothing wrong with the car, battery charges fine, electrics fine, doesn't sound like its struggling when starting from cold.

If a diesel runs well with no smoke, but is difficult to start or cuts out from idle, the most common cause is air entering the fuel filter housing because a lot of garages can't be bothered to change the seals supplied with the fuel filter. There are other reasons, but the fuel filter is the first thing to check.

Most modern diesel cars have the gear shift speeds in the manual, they seem to be based on changing gear at 1500 RPM, which might seem low but is not low in torque terms for a diesel. I use 2000 for gear shifts when max weight towing. Obviously the figures are different with an uphill slope.

If an engine does not start first go, then the starter motor can heat up and even fail if you keep cranking it over without letting it cool off.