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Smallest non turbo diesel DI?


mk2
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Been researching different design diesel engines out there over the years out of curiosity...

Is the VAG group SDI lump, the smallest direct injection engine in a modern era car? There are loads of turbo'd diesels from various manufacturers that are DI, but me thinks the 1.7 is the one. There are bigger 1.8/1.9/2.0 litre things. Can't find anything similar or smaller than the 1.7. Indirect injection, there are lots...

anyone?

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From a few mins on google it looks like the 1.7 SDI is the smallest DI engine, the smaller old diesels (1.6, 1.5, 1.3) in the VAG group are indirect injection. Havent looked at the other makes but pretty sure they will be indirect injection.

Edited by Sausage
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  • 4 weeks later...

Fairly sure you could get a Peugeot 306 at one point with a 1.5 diesel engine and no turbo, perhaps I'm confused. Are they IDI or DI? The absolute opposite of **** of a shovel I imagine.

I still miss my SDI. That was the last long term car I owned :( I'm getting through them far too quickly at the moment :(

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Yeah, that one is similar to the indirect used in older Peugeot. The indirect diesel injection engines from Peugeot were (are) very very good. Used in many non automotive applications to this day. Generators, tractors, jcbs, excavators, refrigeration systems, boats... l think the only reason they stopped using them in cars is because the emissions rules changed to Euro 4 and they couldn't get the same efficiency as the direct injection engines.

Getting a small capacity diesel to work with direct injection diesel tech is notoriously difficult. The problem is that it's difficult to throw fuel in without hitting the piston and burning it out. The reason for that wierd doughnut shaped crown.

I don't think there's another direct injection diesel the same size or smaller anywhere on the planet that has such a small capacity and is non turbo.

Our little 1.7 SDI is a bit special.

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3 hours ago, mk2 said:

Yeah, that one is similar to the indirect used in older Peugeot. The indirect diesel injection engines from Peugeot were (are) very very good. Used in many non automotive applications to this day. Generators, tractors, jcbs, excavators, refrigeration systems, boats... l think the only reason they stopped using them in cars is because the emissions rules changed to Euro 4 and they couldn't get the same efficiency as the direct injection engines.

Getting a small capacity diesel to work with direct injection diesel tech is notoriously difficult. The problem is that it's difficult to throw fuel in without hitting the piston and burning it out. The reason for that wierd doughnut shaped crown.

I don't think there's another direct injection diesel the same size or smaller anywhere on the planet that has such a small capacity and is non turbo.

Our little 1.7 SDI is a bit special.

A bit? I would say that's an under statement. They're a wonderful little engine, just too slow for most people. I ran mine on vegetable oil for 60 odd thousand miles with absolutely no ill-effects whatsoever having made zero modifications. Most cars you have to tweak bits and bobs. Just throw it in the SDI, no issues. As far as I'm aware that engine continues to run to this day in another car with over 200k miles on.

God why the hell did I sell that SDI. What a fool I was :( 

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2 hours ago, Skezza said:

A bit? I would say that's an under statement. They're a wonderful little engine, just too slow for most people. I ran mine on vegetable oil for 60 odd thousand miles with absolutely no ill-effects whatsoever having made zero modifications. Most cars you have to tweak bits and bobs. Just throw it in the SDI, no issues. As far as I'm aware that engine continues to run to this day in another car with over 200k miles on.

God why the hell did I sell that SDI. What a fool I was :( 

After going mad for months trying to figure out what the ticking noise on one of my SDIs was (a dodgy but perfectly working injector), i even ended up swapping the engine.... I think I have a pretty good grasp on how the injection system works. In fact they are the same as all previous non common rail vdub systems, so yeah, i can believe that they will run on just about any viscous oil based 'stuff'. But my only concern besides filtering is the cam and injection advance mechanism inside the pump. Everything else will always have a film of fluid between moving surfaces. 

The injection pump has a bunch of rollers that follow a circular track, without any bearings. Just rods through fat metal discs. So there is quite a bit of wear in there. I should have taken some pics when i stripped down and rebuilt one of my diesel pumps. I'm convinced from the lubricity numbers (how effective the fluid works as a slippery lubricant), straight veggie isn't very good. In fact the glycerol (water soluble) portion causes cavitation on the roller surface increasing the rate of wear... other than that, i think veggie oil (SVO) is great as a fuel. Yeah, I'm convinced our little SDI engines (or most older distribution pump based vdub engines) can run fine for years on the stuff. The roller wear is automatically compensated for by the servo pickup mechanism- you can give the pump new life by doing 'the hammer mod' adjustment.

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3 hours ago, Rich said:

Seat 1w engine, that's the code for what I was on about.

I think i just found a 3 cyl non turbo 1.4 DI used in a polo for a year in 1991 but that was before I was around... got any more info? What car was the engine you're thinking of in? 

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You sending me on a wild goose chase...? I can't find anything about the engine in that thing. Pics yeah... the pump is driven through the camshaft, at the wrong end of the engine! How wierd is that?! Ever worked on one? Trying to find a pic of the cylinder head or an injector... it looks like an experimental engine, not a production thing!

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If you were all knowing then surely that should involve g40 tuning and therefore this thing should be well known.

Next you'll be saying that you know nothing of the dirty half pushrod lupo engine?

 

Edited by Rich
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Yeah, seen that pic... i've also seen a few hg for sale, all with a swirl chamber redirectors. Me thinks it's an indirect injection lump.

i know nothing as i keep telling everyone. :)

 

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