Full Size - Small Diesels: why so unpopular?

ChasingOurTrunks

Well-known member
The 3.0 Duramax is the exception to the premium pricing rule for light diesels. The 3.0 Duramax saw a $1,500 price drop for 2021, which split the option price difference between the 5.3 & 6.2. As of 2021 the 3.0 Duramax is $1,045 more than a 5.3/8 speed and $1,450 less than the 6.2/10 speed. At launch, the 3.0 Duramax was priced equivalent to the 6.2, which is GM's top 1/2-ton truck engine.

Ram's EcoDiesel is $2,700 more than a 5.7 Hemi. Ford's 3.0 Powerstroke is no longer available, but when it was, it was $2,400 more than the 3.5 ecoBoost. Even the hybrid PowerBoost was $500 less than the 3.0 Powerstroke, and the PowerBoost makes more horsepower and torque, while offering similar fuel economy ratings.

And one more for the numbers - a Diesel engine in a Jeep product (Gladiator or JL) is a $9100 CAD option above the 3.6L V6 Gasser.
 

toylandcruiser

Expedition Leader
There is no debating the deadly pollutants diesel spew. Governments are merely reacting to the fact diesel fumes are deadly. If manufacturers had a brain beyond their wallets there would be no need for government regulations. I was amazed in India in 2014, ALL the diesels in the region I was touring had converted to CNG, Compressed Natural Gas. There was NO diesel. If a third world country, with 4 times our population can get rid of diesel overnite what is our problem.

They don’t actually pollute more than gas
 

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
Is the biodiesel out of the equation when it comes to the mid size engines ?
I remember our esteemed scientist were saying how promising it was... and it would revolutionize the car industry.

@warwickscout when you got that truck, did it have better mpg before you put it on 35s?
In video reviews some of them get like 28mpg. I guess the are on factory tires...

About the oil pump belt


Driving from PNW to Alaska
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
I briefly considered a diesel when shopping for my current truck but after considering everything I realized that a diesel would offer no advantages and indeed would offer a number of serious potential problems. The biggest one being that as a suburban dweller with a < 10 mile commute to work (which has become a ZERO mile commute to work since March of 2020), for short trips around town I would likely not be running the engine long enough to get it fully warmed up before shutting it off. From what I read, this is a bad thing for the current crop of small diesel engines.

When people wax nostalgic about diesels, they're not talking about modern diesels with sophisticated computers, DEF and ULSD fuel, they're talking about the stone-axe simple diesels of 30+ years ago. No computers, no DEF, no "Regens" and the ability to run on whatever rot-gut, dirt filled cheap fuel they could find.

Of course, those engines were noisy, slow, and put out nasty particulate pollution too.

The reality for most of us in the US and Canada is that the disadvantages of a small diesel are much greater than any perceived advantages.

And those people who COULD benefit from a diesel (i.e. those who pull a heavy load or trailer on a regular basis on long trips) would also likely benefit from a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

So the half-ton diesel is sort of stuck in limbo, neither fish nor fowl, and not really appealing to either the suburbanite like me who can make better use of a gasser, nor the trailer pulling heavy truck user who would be better served with a 3/4t or 1t truck.
 

plainjaneFJC

Deplorable
There is no debating the deadly pollutants diesel spew. Governments are merely reacting to the fact diesel fumes are deadly. If manufacturers had a brain beyond their wallets there would be no need for government regulations. I was amazed in India in 2014, ALL the diesels in the region I was touring had converted to CNG, Compressed Natural Gas. There was NO diesel. If a third world country, with 4 times our population can get rid of diesel overnite what is our problem.
They have open sewers in India- pollution is horrible there.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
They have open sewers in India- pollution is horrible there.
and yet they have addressed diesel particle pollution, diesel engines create up to 100 times more particles than gasoline-powered engines,
yes we have toilets, why can'r we resolve the diesel particulate pollution issue

diesel_3-1-696x522.jpg
 

JaSAn

Grumpy Old Man
That's the 'American Way'. Make a system as convoluted and complicated as possible.
Rube Goldberg is alive and well.
 

Jrgunn5150

Member
Not surprisingly, the most vocal opinions come from people who don't own them lol.

I went from 12.3 mpg in my 8.1 truck, which everyone will tell you is a turd, but I put 277,000 miles on mine trouble free lol, to 24.3 mpg in my new Ram Ecodiesel.

My truck has 164,000 miles on it now, has never had a major or minor repair, averages 24.3 mpg empty, and about 17.5 loaded with a 1700 lb trailer hauling either my 4runner or C10, both weigh about 3800.

It tows, like a half ton. Lots of rpm, lots of downshifting, like any small block 1/2 ton I've ever drove. It get's me where I'm going, and I've since bought a 1997 F250 that sits parked 360 days a year and moves on the 5 days I really need the capacity of a 3/4 ton.

The EGR and DPF are deleted, it has a +40hp tune I daily it on, and a +20hp tune I tow with. It's run primarily B100 bio since the day I bought it.

It's about as quick as a stock Hemi truck, runs fine, dyno'd 275 hp and 525 ft/lbs to the tires, and for something that's empty 99.999% of the time, and I just drive to and from work in, and maybe pick up a Dana 60 or 5.3 on the weekend, it's outstanding. I literally can't say enough nice things about this truck.

I'll replace it with another, no hesitation. 20210926_142114.jpg
 

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
I have a genuine question,

Is it possible that your engine is exception, a strange anomaly?

The EGR and DPF are deleted
And maybe, the deletion of EGR & DPF has allowed your truck to achieve 277K without too much headache?

The mpg you get is really great... this is why small diesels are so attractive.
 

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