<h1 ="entry-title" style="border: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line; clear: both; font-weight: normal; font-family: LeagueGothicRegular, Impact, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb237, 28, 36; line-height: 48px; text-trans: uppercase; font-size: 40px; text-shadow: rgb153, 153, 153 1px 1px 1px;">WHY IS MY DIESEL LESS EFFICIENT WHEN COLD?</h1><div ="entry-" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line; font-family: LeagueGothicRegular, Impact, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb136, 136, 136; font-size: 14px; text-trans: uppercase;">POSTED ON
13 JUN '12BY
ED<div ="entry-" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: line; clear: both; color: rgb51, 51, 51; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">So, it's the summer! Hurrar! Great news forconvertibles,cruisers, nice peaceful drives and getting a sunburn on your driving side. But it's not all fun in the sun. Britain's weather has a terrible way of changing its mind. Hot to cold, hot to cold. It almost feels like Russian
Roulette trying to pick a day that wont piss it down.While doing fuel research online I've came across a lot of people asking the same question regarding the weather:<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">why is my diesel less efficient when cold[/b]?Because these questions were scattered everywhere from Yahoo Answers, Car Forums, Online Communities, Wiki Answers etc, answers seemed scattered and confused. Hopefully here I'll make things a lot more clear!There are, in fact, many reasons to why your diesel might be less efficient in cold weather. All of them being more fact than myth. Truth being told, cold weather has never been great for motorists.Now, a lot of these do relate to the Winter. I fully understand it's no longer the Winter(!), however for the sakes of documenting these problems and helping people out for the forthcoming year, here are a collection ofanswersthat may solve your fuelefficiencyquestions:<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">Summer Diesel Vs Winter Diesel[/b]<em style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">As simple as:[/i]Summer diesel is more dense than Winter diesel, and has more energy per unit volume than Winter diesel. It's common to see a mileage reduction in that season as a result.<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">Getting That Thing Going[/b]When your car has been parked over night in colder weather the internal parts of the engine are at a lower temperature than warm weather. Since diesel's use compression for combustion some of the energy created by combustion goes towards heating engine internals instead of powering your car. If the internals actually reach a low enough temperature you'll be unable to even get the engine to start. Hence the need for block heaters in very cold climates.<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">Keep Rollin'[/b]Driving in the snow increases the roll resistance. Don't believe me? Try to ride your bike in, say, 2cm of snow. You'll notice a huge difference in comparison with dry tarmac.<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">Check That Battery[/b]You might also want to check your battery. At speed your alternator is going to do all the work but when idling your alternator might not as efficient and require some help from the battery. If your battery isn't up to the task of supplying the glow plugs with 12v then that will certainly affect mileage.<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">Hot, Hot Heat[/b]All engines are more efficient when warm because they run on heat. They burn fuel, which gets hot, the heat makes pressure, the pressure turns the motor. The colder it is, the less heat, less pressure, less go.<strong style=": transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line;">
[/b]So, hopefully this has answered a few of your worries and questions about the weather effecting your fuel efficiency. If you have any more theories and suggestions that may help people with similar problems then give us a shout and we'll add it to the article!But for the meantime let's hope it gets a little warmer.
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