Diesel engines

[Steve Holland]

There are not too many light diesels around that would be perfect for a hovercraft. There is a diesel developed for use by the army in a modified Kawasaki Kl650  http://www.dieselbike.net/militaryproduction/militaryproduction.htm. I've found this link to an actual real life diesel motor http://www.dair.co.uk/ Price is probably high, I'll be fitting a Japanese or German diesel car engine to the Prospector I hope to build after the Surveyor, partly because I'll be able to afford it  .

[Philip]

The Diesel Air site seems a bit dated, nothing new for several years, here's another engine : http://www.deltahawkengines.com/

[Gordon McDill]

Heres a link to an automotive diesel engine aircraft conversion presently available and in use on  homebuilt aircraft. It should be entirely suitable for a hovercraft and indeed had I not got sidetracked into buying a K100 engine is what I would have been pursuing.  The 1.4 engine is alloy where as the 1.6 variant has a cast iron block.
 
Most references to this conversion are in French but the conversion parts are available commercially so should not be too onerous to do.  Finding one in UK might be a task though as I cant see many UK car buyers being too attracted to a 1.4 non turbo diesel car?  that  engine was used in many car types, not just the Pugs. As for weight well who knows, but has anyone actually weighed a K100 engine! its certainly no light weight.
 
There has been many many references to diesels in aircraft and microlights over the years due to the cost advantage of JetA1 fuel over the Aviation Gasoline 'Avgas'.  There have been some noteable sucesses nearly always followed by notable business failures.  So I would not hold my breath for an readily available 'microlight' aircraft diesel engine being commonly available anytime soon, but hey what do I know!!
 
http://www.automotto.com/entry/diyer-builds-peugeot-ax-106-engine-powered-wooden-aircraft/
 
http://gazaile2.free.fr/englishInformations.pdf
 
Gordon

[Al]

There are not too many light diesels around that would be perfect for a hovercraft. There is a diesel developed for use by the army in a modified Kawasaki Kl650  http://www.dieselbike.net/militaryproduction/militaryproduction.htm. I've found this link to an actual real life diesel motor http://www.dair.co.uk/ Price is probably high, I'll be fitting a Japanese or German diesel car engine to the Prospector I hope to build after the Surveyor, partly because I'll be able to afford it  .

 
I was considering a VW Derv for an explorer.  Just buy complete VW van and scrap what wasn't needed afterwards.  You can pick up some cheap vans on ebay & gumtree.  Weight maybe a bit of a penalty but with something the size of an explorer it shouldn't be too much of a burden.

[gavin parson]

You can buy my Touran. 140 horses of total diesel reliability. It'll be 8 years old this year and is almost like a new car.

[joncurtis]

I was considering a VW Derv for an explorer.  Just buy complete VW van and scrap what wasn't needed afterwards.  You can pick up some cheap vans on ebay & gumtree.  Weight maybe a bit of a penalty but with something the size of an explorer it shouldn't be too much of a burden.

vans might be  cheaper in your part of the world, but down hear a van engine is like rocking horse poo! i have done considerable research into van engines ( as i have a 1.9 t4 with a knackered engine)
the 1.9 tdi from 1995 to 1999 VW golf/vento/passat are for the most part all the same engine, and will funnily enough fit on the gear box of my van.

but with regards a hover, you might be better off with a old golf, cheaper, and i can point in direction of lots of stuff, with regards wiring etc.

in a golf/passat etc the engine sits vertical, in a van it inclines backwards 30deg ish, due to the space f the rad. so the fitting of the golf engine would be better, you cant run the van engine vertical due to the weird shaped sump.

also going back to the 1.9tdi, they come out of golfs and passats depending on year at approx 90hp, which can with just some simple fiddling of the ecu be put upto 100, to 120hp the egr valve block off can add 5hp ish. but you will need to find somewhere to mount the induction cooler. the engines are also fly by wire.

i would advise against using the 2.5tdi out of a newer t4 van too, 5 cylinder heavy and extremly complicated engine, compared to the 1.9tdi.

[gavin parson]

I've fancied a VW Lupo 1.2 TDi but I think they were only available in Europe and really hard to find.


Here's the spec.


The 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine under the hood is the first diesel engine from Volkswagen (and the first diesel direct injector) to have not only its cylinder head but also its cylinder block in aluminum. At just 220 lbs. the three-cylinder TDI engine is one of the lightest diesel power units for passenger cars period.Because of inherent design issues with a three cylinder design, Volkswagen used a balancer shaft to qwell vibrations and the result is an extremely smooth engine. Injection is via pumpe duse high-pressure unit injector elements arranged in the cylinder head and driven by the camshaft. The higher pressure permits a more efficient burn with improved performance and economy.The 1.2l TDI also utilizes a Garrett turbocharger with variable-vane turbine geometry. At high revs and high load, the duct directing the exhaust gas against the turbine blades forces the variable-vane blades open to increase flow. Correspondingly at low-rpm's the vanes close to produce a smaller surface area with virtually no lag - it is almost like having two turbos in one package.The 1.2-liter TDI has an output of 61hp and a maximum torque of 140 Nm (103 lb-ft) is available between 1,800 and 2,400 rpm.

[Derek Sweetman]

How about the PSA engines?
http://www.peugeot-citroen-moteurs.fr/cache/docs_public/6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9/5_en-gb_main_data_sheet.pdf
 
Perhaps worth a try?
 
Kind regards
Derek

[Trev]

The 1.2tdi engine is also fitted in the small skoda I think
I have a 99 1.9 tdi sport passat and it is chipped to 150bhp, have had the car for 10 years now ,it returns 42 mpg and just keeps on going.  Its the vibration from a derv engine that will be the problem in a hover it could make the hull resonate if not fitted with the proper mountings

[John Robertson]

Loads of nice diesels out there but they are still on the heavy side (an equivalent weight petrol engine will develop twice the power).  If using a car-based version of any engine (as opposed to an industrial version) I would only design to use about 50% of the rated power - that should be safe for continuous use.

Whilst on the weight subject, diesel fuel is about 30% heavier than petrol which goes some way towards negating any fuel economy advantage.  For commercial use, diesel is the obvious choice (red) on simple cost grounds but, for recreational use (non-red) then it's not quite so clear cut IMHO (especially for weight-concious hovercraft).

The other little anomaly that favours diesel is that per kW of energy that it can generate, diesel is about 20% cheaper than petrol.  If loads of people changed to diesel, guess what would happen to the price  .  Diesel is probably safer as it's not a "gaseous" liquid like petrol.  Downside is that if it does burn it isn't easy to extinguish!

It's all swings and roundabouts like most things.

[Iain Smart]

How do the HMRC rules work on using red diesel in a hovercraft (or any other diesel engined machine that isn't a road vehicle)?

[John Robertson]

If hovercraft as classed as boats (and they seem to be) then:

From 1 November 2008, fuel purchased for propelling private pleasure craft can no longer benefit from a reduced rate of duty but is subject to duty at the full rate.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_029598&propertyType=document#P44_3404


... however Nick's diesel heater will be exempt 

[Iain Smart]

So we build self propelled diesel heaters!

[Steve Holland]

Jon, I may take you up on that offer when the time comes. I like the VW diesels although the Toyota ones seem good too. Some parts can be removed from the car engine to make it a little lighter but diesel at least at the moment is for larger craft. The 1.4 triple diesel in Dawns VW is tiny and pulls like a train but she won't let me have it. I was caught eying it up one day to be told 'don't even think about it'. Are some women psychic or are we just too obvious!!!!!!!

[Eric Yeoman]

Hi,what's the diff. between red & non-red diesel fuel? Diesel in Oz is just pale yellow-ish & only comes in one flavour. Also the reference to A1Jet fuel,,is this called Avtur over there? Surely this is too dry for diesel engines. As an ex RAAFie aircraft re-fueler I've pumped millions of gallons of this stuff & Avgas as well. As an aside, don't let anyone tell you that Avgas will harm a road going engine,,they run great!  ,,so I'm told,