How can I improve my diesel engine performance?

Owning a diesel is great: they offer superior power and torque that make them perfect for towing, they’re usually more economic on fuel consumption than their petrol counterparts, and they offer a fun and responsive driving experience. Often more expensive than petrol cars, buying a diesel can be considered an investment, so it makes sense that you would want to get the most out of it.

Diesel upgrades and performance enhancements come in many forms: part upgrades and modifications, aftermarket products, and engine tuning. With so many options to choose from, it can be confusing to select an upgrade option that will deliver the greatest results.

Here are five ways to boost the performance of your diesel engine…

#5 – Upgrade Your Exhaust System

Exhaust systems are crucial to any engine, but not many car owners realise how much of an impact the right exhaust system can make to the performance of your engine. Upgrading to a performance exhaust system will allow your engine to perform better, resulting in more power and torque.

One of the most important elements a diesel engine needs to perform well is airflow. Most factory-standard exhausts contain distinct bent sections of pipe, which decrease the diameter of the exhaust and can inhibit exhausts gases passing through.

Performance exhaust systems maintain a constant diameter to ensure as much consistent airflow as possible. The amount of air your engine receives has a direct impact on its power outputs, which is why aftermarket exhaust systems improve power. Aftermarket systems help free up power in the engine, giving you the added boost and torque you are looking for.

Read More: Top Three Reasons to Upgrade Your Exhaust System

#4 – Fuelling the Power with Quality Injectors

From a performance perspective, it’s easy to understand why power and performance enthusiasts choose ‘bigger’ upgrades as a means of increasing outputs from their engine more quickly. But don’t underestimate what replacing the stock fuel injectors on your car can do for your performance:

• Improved fuel supply to the engine
• Reduced issues with the turbo
• Fewer implications caused by heat soak
• Increased resistance to fuel pressure
• Improved fuel economy
• Reduced risk of mechanical failure and breakdown
• Reduced emission levels

When your engine is receiving a boost from the turbo at higher rpms, it will need all the fuel it can get to function properly. If your injectors are blocked, dirty, or otherwise restricted, the fuel mixture can become uneven and result in premature detonation as well as higher exhaust temperatures – and even turbo failure.

Read More: Benefits of Upgrading Your Common Rail Diesel Fuel Injectors

#3 – Choose a Performance Turbocharger

The main reason to upgrade your standard turbo is for the huge power increase potential. Turbochargers produce more power with every stroke of your engine’s pistons, and an upgraded turbo will produce more power within the same engine, making it an effective performance upgrade. Turbochargers also increase torque, particularly at low revs, as well as reduce emissions.

Upgrading your turbocharger also offers great fuel economy benefits. Diesel engines are already considerably efficient – more so than petrol engines – and a turbocharger amplifies this. Matching the right turbocharger upgrade with your engine can help you cut back on fuel costs and see your engine use fuel more efficiently.

Read More: Performance Turbos vs Standard Turbos

#2 – Choose an All-in-One Performance Upgrade Package

One of the best ways to boost your turbo diesel’s power is with a performance upgrade package. This takes a holistic approach to enhancing your vehicle’s engine and utilises all available tools to do so. Additionally, you may upgrade your vehicle’s exhaust and clutch systems, turbo and injectors, or even your airbox and intercooler, which is often recommended to see the greatest improvement in gains for torque and power. Some of these components may be recommended to improve the reliability and safety of your vehicle.

There are various performance packages to choose from at Just Autos. We tailor our performance upgrade packages to suit your needs!

Modern turbocharged diesel engines have an Engine Control Unit (ECU) which contains a processor that receives information from various sensors throughout the engine. The ECU reads information such as engine temperature, oxygen content within exhaust gases, and many other parameters.

Changing the factory ECU settings can bolster your diesel’s performance significantly, offering great benefits you shouldn’t ignore:

•  More torque
• More horsepower
• Remove flat spots
• Smoother driving experience
• Better fuel economy

Read More: Five Reasons to Remap Your ECU

Trust the Diesel Performance Experts

When it comes to making changes to the performance and functionality of your diesel engine, always be sure to entrust it to an experienced and qualified performance enhancement expert. This ensures that all changes still meet industry regulations, gives you peace of mind, and allows you to enjoy the increased power your engine puts out without fear of breakdowns.

Just Autos are the Sunshine Coast’s most trusted and reliable diesel performance experts. Our team has years of experience in working on diesel engines and can not only help you achieve greater performance but also help you ensure your diesel engine is working optimally and healthily! Contact us today for personalised service.

Diesel engines are long lasting and reliable. We use them in heavy machinery and large trucks because diesel engines have the power to maintain these devices and keep them running. However, there may be times when you want to get under the hood, make some adjustments, and get a little more power or fuel efficiency out of your engine. ATL Diesel is here with five popular performance upgrades for diesel engines that can help you increase its horsepower and keep things running well.

1. Replacing or Changing the Engine Control Module (ECM)

In many diesel engines, the engine control module (ECM) serves many valuable functions, from controlling or adjusting your engine’s air-fuel mixture or capping your maximum RPM (revolutions per minute). The ECM works by drawing power from your vehicle’s battery and gathering and analyzing information to ensure that systems are running efficiently.

The ECM is an essential piece of equipment in many modern engines. The electronic monitoring of your engine helps users identify and correct problems before they become more prominent. However, drivers may also install or modify their existing ECM and reprogram it for different functions.

Some of the common reasons to reprogram an ECM are to remove limiters and gain some additional horsepower or increase torque to improve general performance and power in your engine. In addition, when done correctly, adjusting your engine’s ECM may help improve fuel efficiency by adjusting factors like the air-fuel ratio, ignition timing, and manifold pressure. Of course, several other factors outside the ECM can impact fuel economy, but safe and effective reprogramming may save drivers anywhere from 5 to 10 percent at the gas pump.

2. Installing New Fuel Injectors

If you plan to reprogram to adjust your engine’s air-fuel ratio, it’s natural that you may want to install some new fuel injectors. Fuel injectors are electronic components in your engine that spray fuel directly into the engine’s intake manifold. The fuel injectors need to operate at the same RPM as the rest of the engine, so making necessary adjustments is an essential part of the process.

The spray process of your fuel injector delivering the spray of fuel around the intake valve happens in microseconds and has RPMs of around 1,800. Installing new or additional fuel injectors allows for more fuel to reach the engine, which results in more horsepower.

In addition, many advanced fuel injectors have a designated injector nozzle if you’re looking for even more power. The nozzles allow the injector to build up more fuel pressure by atomizing the fuel before releasing the spray. Overall, enhanced atomization results in better engine performance and higher fuel economy.

3. Upgrading the Air Intake

One of the most popular performance upgrades for diesel engines is to enhance or adjust the air intake. Improving the airflow allows more air to get into the engine, which is a surefire and natural way to increase power and help prevent your motor from overheating.

Air intake kits take in outside air and store it in the engine compartment. Air in this compartment goes through a chilling process, resulting in colder air. The colder air holds more oxygen due to its increased density. That dense oxygen becomes part of your engine’s air-fuel ratio, increasing horsepower and making your engine more powerful without needing to increase storage capacity or add extraneous devices. Plus, many air intake systems lower air temperature while protecting your filter from elements that fill it with gunk and grime.

Some of the reasons why air intake upgrades are so popular with enthusiasts are because they are:

• Cost effective
• Easy to install
• Some of the most fun yet effective ways to boost diesel engines

4. Enhancing the Performance Exhaust

Something that every auto enthusiast should remember is that the more you increase your engine’s horsepower, the more you want to ensure that power can safely leave your engine. We’ve talked about devices or modifications that allow more air to enter your engine. Still, if that air doesn’t have anywhere to go, you may wind up creating an imbalance. This could lead to all the steps you took to improve performance creating more extensive damage.

Enhancing your current exhaust system or installing a performance exhaust allows your engine to maintain optimal air levels. When you can maintain these levels, your engine doesn’t need to use excess fuel to try to keep things balanced.

While a performance exhaust system may not have the more extreme gains in fuel efficiency that we see with some of the other upgrades, drivers can still appreciate the benefits. A proper performance exhaust system allows your engine to safely expel exhaust without disrupting your engine consumption and also saves an extra 1 to 2 percent in annual fuel spending.

5. Putting in a Turbocharger

For drivers looking to get really hands-on with their engines and do everything they can to increase power, a turbocharger is the best way to go. Turbochargers or superchargers can really amp up your engine’s horsepower while installing new hardware on your machine.

Turbochargers gather more air and push more pressurized air into the engine through the intake. Turbocharged air allows for higher power and enhanced fuel efficiency. Basic turbos help increase airflow up to four times more than that of a traditional non-turbo engine. Furthermore, installing a performance turbocharger may improve horsepower up to 10 times that of a conventional engine. Therefore, people looking for the most popular performance enhancement options for a diesel engine can significantly benefit from installing a turbocharger.

If you’re looking for parts and services to improve your diesel engine performance, ATL Diesel is here for you. We have a wide selection of upgrade parts and rebuild kits for several makes and models of diesel engines. We have complete Cat 3406b rebuild kits and upgrades for your truck, car, or heavy machinery. If you’re unsure which parts you need, tell one of our specialists your engine serial number, and we can confirm which parts are right for you. For any additional questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to us anytime, and we’d be happy to help!