The advantages of diesel engines are as well known as their disadvantages. More economical due to increased efficiency, they are more complex and more expensive due to the features of their design. Of course, paying less at gas stations is nice. However, this pot of honey also comes with its own spoonful of tar: if only the diesel starts to fail even a little, the questions immediately arise, is it the injection pump or the injectors...?
Yes, in repair, diesel is not a gift at all. Spare parts are more expensive, so you should be especially careful about the maintenance of diesel engines. However, in a number of cases, alarm at seemingly obvious signs of the need for complex repairs may turn out to be useless. After all, it also happens that a formidable and inevitable problem suddenly finds a simple and affordable solution.
Here, for example, is a typical case. The car's diesel engine somehow suddenly lost responsiveness and sensitivity to the gas pedal, the revs float, and when overgassing, thick and black smoke pours from the car's exhaust pipe. "High pressure fuel injection or injectors," the neighbors speculate in the parking lot. - Yes, unlucky, but what can you do - diesel." However, with such signs, it would seem that the inevitable expensive and difficult repair should not be sad after all. In any case, until the real cause of the obvious engine ailment is not accurately diagnosed, and the methods of eliminating the breakdown are not determined.
In some cases, the cause of diesel engine problems may well be simply dirt. Dirt accumulated where it does not belong at all - in the intake tract of the engine collector. And if such a nuisance occurs, then the diesel engine begins to behave as if it suddenly and clearly prematurely wore down to the limit.
First of all, it is worth understanding the causes of contamination of the intake tract of diesel engines. There are many reasons for this, but it all begins, as you know, with the quality of the fuel. If the cetane number of diesel fuel is reduced, below 50, which is by no means uncommon at our gas stations, then such fuel has an increased tendency to soot formation. This reason is aggravated by the design features of modern diesel engines. The EGR valve, an important component of the exhaust gas recirculation system, must be installed in the intake manifold of most of them.
This system became widespread due to its ability to reduce the percentage of NOx in the composition of diesel exhaust gases. During the operation of the engine with a small load, this valve provides an opportunity to dilute the air supplied to the engine cylinders with exhaust gases - up to 15% from the total mass of the intake. Deprived of oxygen, this portion of exhaust gases acts in the engine cylinders and, similarly to inert gas, slows down the speed of the reaction, lowers the fuel combustion temperature to a level at which NOx does not occur. At the same time, in addition to the direct impact on the environmental characteristics of the engine, the recirculation system solves another extremely important technical problem. Adding an inert component to the air charge supplied to the cylinders eliminates the risk of detonation in modes when the engine is running on a lean mixture. At high and constant loads, the diesel engine works without supplying such a component as exhaust gases to the cylinders. In such modes, the EGR valve is closed, and therefore there is nothing in the intake manifold that could contribute to the formation of soot on its walls. But this mode of operation, when driving on the highway, is far from the most common in the general picture of the operation of a city car. Thus, the formation of soot in the intake manifold is only a matter of time, sooner or later, but the engine of any city car will create such a problem.
In addition to the features of the exhaust gas recirculation system, a breather, which removes the excess pressure of crankcase gases into the intake manifold, also contributes to the formation of dirt in the intake manifold. It is obvious that the oily suspension falling from the engine crankcase into the intake manifold creates all the conditions for increased contamination of all surfaces, including the EGR valve itself. Under conditions of pollution, this valve may fail to perform its normal functions, as a result of which exhaust gases will be in the intake manifold constantly.
But not only exhaust gases and oily suspension can cause the problem of contamination of the diesel intake manifold. The consequence of operating the engine with faulty glow plugs may well be added to these reasons. Starting a cold engine in such conditions is difficult for obvious reasons, and because of this, fuel also enters the collector, which increases the overall picture of pollution. And over time, taking into account all these reasons, it is not surprising that the intake manifold is completely covered with a thick layer of fuel oil-like dirt, the presence of which in this place causes a whole series of problems with the operation of the diesel engine.
Among car service specialists and just advanced users, there is an opinion that the EGR valve is primarily to blame for the problem of soot formation in the intake manifold. Often you can even hear the opinion that, they say, this part in the engine is clearly superfluous and that it can easily be sacrificed, accepting the loss of the engine's environmental performance.
However, it is hardly worth being tempted by the offer to shut off this valve. The fact is that the result of such refinement will be an increase in the risk of engine operation with detonation, and worse, with detonation of such a level that it may well affect the engine parts catastrophically. Yes, of course, modern engine management systems to some extent compensate for such refinements, adapting so that detonation is not detected. But it is unlikely that in this case you can seriously count on the fact that such compensation is effective in all possible modes of diesel operation.
In addition, we should not forget that the increase in NOx in the exhaust has its consequences not only on the human body, which is next to the car. Getting into the engine crankcase, exhaust gases with a high NOx content have an equally harmful effect on the oil, increasing its acid number and contributing to an accelerated decrease in alkalinity. Accelerated and unpredictable oil wear also does not bode well for the reliability and durability of diesel engine operation.
The operation of a diesel engine in our conditions for a number of reasons is also associated with such problems as accelerated wear of the injection pump and periodic clogging of the nozzles. And in the case of modern diesel engines, these problems are compounded by contamination of the EGR valve along with the turbine impeller if the engine is equipped with a turbocharger. As for engines, the exhaust system of which includes a DPF filter, the problems of the intake tract contribute to the fact that even this expensive unit fails.
In the fight for the health of the diesel engine, the market traditionally offers a whole range of various means designed to prevent contamination of the engine's intake tract. For this purpose, owners of diesel cars are offered fuel additives:
- – cleaning of nozzles;
- – neutralization of moisture from fuel;
- – increase in cetane number;
- – reduction of wear and corrosion of fuel equipment;
- – improved combustion to reduce exhaust fumes;
- - anti-depressants that lower the solidification temperature of fuel;
- – universal fuel additives.
The choice is huge. But at the same time, it is not possible to choose the optimal combination of the capabilities of all these tools in order to achieve the maximum efficiency of their use on the market. Therefore, the situation when the car owner, who even takes into account the need for compensatory measures when operating a diesel engine in our conditions, may encounter common problems is quite possible. In view of this circumstance, the Belgian company Xenum offered its solution to the actual problem. Xenum offers a complex of system cleaning of the engine, implemented using the Xenum I-Flux 200, 4 WAY FLUX, DPF FLUSH TOOL.
Xenum's I-Flux technology allows you to carry out the necessary engine cleaning work without disassembling it. Removal of deposits in the intake manifold, formed as a result of pollution due to the operation of the recirculation system, and deposits and soot from the intake valves is carried out by supplying the intake manifold with a chemical composition optimized for these purposes. For this purpose, the built-in compressor of the Xenum I-Flux 200 installation device is connected to the intake system of the engine, the engine (in more detail in the installation instructions) is started and runs for 2 hours.
Xenum recommends carrying out such processing at least once every six months, which provides a diesel engine operated in urban conditions with the ability to maintain its indicators within the norm even in far from optimal operating conditions. Periodic hardware treatment of the engine with a chemical agent based on I-Flux technology protects the engine from deposits in the intake manifold, prevents the need for mechanical cleaning work, but most importantly reduces the risk of failure of expensive systems of a modern diesel car.
The Xenum company has once again shown that its technologies and preventive works effectively solve problems that otherwise have to be eliminated through expensive repairs with the replacement of damaged nodes and mechanisms. Prevention and therapy are better than radical intervention.