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Diesel that doesn’t leave you out in the cold
An engineer friend of mine recently came by for a visit. He works for xStrata in the remote regions of Northern Quebec.
See: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=61.667493,-73.301018&z=14&t=h&hl=fr
Here are the coordinates (61.667493,-73.301018) for Donaldson airport where they arrive by plane. Then they get into a truck and drive 80 km to the nickel mine.
My friend knows I’m interested in modern diesel engines, so he told me a story that might interest you. In January 2009 his service truck, a Chevrolet Silverado with a turbocharged Duramax diesel engine (very similar to the TDI with a particulate filter, common rail injection and recirculation of exhaust gases), was parked a whole night outside without a block heater. The temperature went down to -41°C. And these are real degrees, without the wind chill factor.
When he went out the next morning to start it, he thought it would never get going, given his experience with diesel engines using the old technology. But Denis being an optimist at heart tried to get it going anyway. He turned off all the electrical accessories, waited three seconds for the glow plug warning light to go out, and turned the key. Vroooom! The big 6.5 litre V8 started up as if it had just been turned off. No hesitation, ne beating around the bush, just a stable purr with no coughing. A glance at the transmission temperature gauge read -37°C for the transmission fluid, proof that the engine was completely frozen. He told me that they use 0W30 oil in their engines as well as “Arctic fuel” to give them the best chance at start-up. Still, at -37°C, it’s quite a performance.
When he got into gear, he realized then just how hard the cold can be on an engine. The Chevrolet was lurching so much that he looked back to see if some joker hadn’t hooked up the truck to a trailer full of rocks. But there was nothing at all.
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