I think the dryness might refer to the lubricating properties of the diesel
that are needed to keep the injection pump in good working order?

Bradley Flubacher
State College, PA
'82 VW diesel westy
'84 GL wasserboxer

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Andrew Grebneff
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 5:44 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: LPG diesels, anyone?

>I asked the list about that last year, I think.
>
>The consensus was that it wouldn't work - because the gas is too dry - or
>something similar.
>
>I don't really understand that, but I've never ran a diesel or lpg, either.
>
>What I've been wondering lately is why in America, where diesel fuel is
>often more expensive than regular fuel, people don't run regular fuel in
>their diesels instead.
>
>There must be a good reason.

Well, it is working in Australia... and how can dryness affect a diesel
more than a gasoline engine, which is basically identical in design?

I guess a diesel COULD be made to run on gasoline (I've thought about this
also, very briefly), but compression ratio would need to be dropped way
down. But it may be that the compression-ignition point is inevitably too
soon, causing loss of power and premature preignition damage. In diesels,
of course, the timing of ignition is entirely a function of the compression
ratio and flashpoint of the fuel used. EFI injection-timing will not alter
ignition timing in a diesel.

Do the late (A4) VW diesels use a centrifugal oilfilter?

Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin, New Zealand
ph   64 (3) 473-8863
fax 64 (3) 479-7527
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
www.goingplatinum.com/member/vw1
www.highyieldcrusaders.ws/ref.html?ref=vw
VW & Toyota vans, Toyota diesels and Macintoshes rule