Original
article on the Internet Archive
BIG TRUCKS AND OUR ENVIRONMENT
Major changes in
diesel technologies are making the air we breathe cleaner
(Note: The Eureka Reporter changed the title of this to "Big
Changes in Diesel" but misspelled the word "Diesel")
By Robert
Reed
October 30, 2005
It was about 15
years ago, and you were following that big logging truck up a mountain
grade here behind the Redwood Curtain. Remember how mad you got
over the air you had to breath in the wake of that thing? The black
smoke was spewing into the air like a James Bond smoke screen, and you
had to breathe that stuff. "They need to outlaw those things",
you said to yourself. How can polluters like that be legal when
my car has to have clean exhaust coming out of it? You
accelerated and passed the smoke bellowing contraption and it was clear
sailing ahead. "Wow, that was horrible", you said, and took a
deep breath just to experience the sweetness of good air.
On the long
strange technology trip through the years, we have arrived at a time
when those kinds of close encounters are much less common. The
clean air regulations we've all been hearing about over the past 20
years are one reason for this, but there are other reasons too.
Technology is catching up to the task, making it possible to command or
"taylor" the way diesel engines run. Fuel prices are another
reason. Lets look at what has happened since we breathe so much
of the air that is affected by these vehicles.
Up until 1983 or
so, diesel truck engines had strictly mechanical fuel delivery systems
that responded only to the driver's foot. The driver pushed the
pedal down, and the fuel delivery system immediately pumped fuel into
the engine. The engine can't use fuel that fast, so the unburned
portion is emitted as black smoke. That's bad, and it's ugly too. The
early clean air regulations of the late 70's and early 80's changed
that.
They added a
little device to slow down fuel delivery to the engine until the engine
got "revved up" to speed. It was like a delayed delivery, a
little more controlled. The air was a little cleaner and our
lungs were happier. The mechanism that made this possible is
still in wide use today and is being phased out in favor of what came
along in about 1991.
Clean air
regulations became tighter, and at about the same time computer
technology came of age. Engine manufacturers turned to the computer and
gave us electronically controlled fuel injection. Electronics
allowed very precise control of things not controllable before.
The cleaned up engine exhausts amazed wrench twisters like me. We
loved the fact that we could actually breathe in the shop when we
started one up. What a concept!
Computer
controlled diesel technologies made "tamper proof" engines
possible. Before computers, any driver or mechanic could increase
an engine's power by simple fuel system modifications. When older
engines were tampered with, they blew out even more black smoke than
they normally did. A "fueled up" engine such as this was not a
pretty sight.
As diesel techs,
we get to punctuate hours of wrench twisting, impact gunning, and heavy
lifting work with hours of wireless laptops, brief cases and cell
phones. These new computer diesel fuel systems can be modified to
make more power, but only when the mechanic is network connected to the
engine computer with a laptop, and the laptop has to be internet
connected to the engine manufacturer's information technology system
website. Engine operation is carefully tailored using software
files. Any allowable changes to the engine are password locked.
The tech's laptop is in the middle, between the truck engine computer
and the engine factory system. Any change to the engine is possible
only by getting a password over the internet from the factory and then
passing it to the engine computer, which then allows the change to
happen. Changes and who made the changes are recorded by the
factory and the records are accessible on their website by - you
guessed it..the Air Resources Board.
As a tech, if I
am caught making an unapproved change to an engine that can affect the
exhaust emissions, it will be me, not the shop I work for, that will be
fined ten thousand dollars per infraction. That gets my
attention. I will keep the air clean, thanks.
In today's
tekkie world, a truck mechanic like myself carries a laptop, cell phone
and brief case. The trucking industry is working hard for cleaner
air. Remember that. There are some older trucks on the road
still, but things have gotten much better and will improve that much
more very soon.
(Robert Reed is a
columnist for The Eureka Reporter. Views and opinions expressed in this
column do not necessarily represent those of The Eureka Reporter, its
management or staff.)
