Edward W. Thompson wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:10:36 +0000, Bruce wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
Because they have such a long service life, many London black cabs have
pretty crude engines of an old design. Although new ones should be better.

http://www.lti.co.uk/tx4/engine/

With direct injection, the VM diesels are notoriously noisy. A relative
runs two "black cabs" and much prefers the previous Nissan engine. He
lives in an upmarket residential area and when working early mornings,
his neighbours aren't pleased to hear his VM Motori R 425 DOHC start up.
;-)

There are diesel engines without 'direct' injection? Please tell.

Yes.

There is a separate chamber outside of the piston/cylinder, usually with
the glo plugs as well.

The 'bang' happens there and is transfereed more slowly to the main
piston cylinder area.

There are also injection systems that fire a series of small pulses of
fuel rather than a big one..these reduce low throttle 'clatter'


This is a good article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_injection