OK, and Merry Christmas to everybody.
Ed, that's not what I was not saying.
I was saying that when EPA set the emission standards, the standards must be met by the engine manufacturer in order for the engine to be EPA certified.
The engine must be able to meet the standards whether the truck is configured to burn gasoline, or propane, or configured as a dual fuel unit that can switch between the two fuels at will.
And yes, the OEM can specify that premium gasoline or HD-5 propane be the only approved fuels.
EPA only requires that unleaded gasoline be used in EPA certified engines, EPA is not concerned with octane rating.
It is a violation of Federal law to burn leaded gasoline in an engine that is EPA certified.
Komatsu calls for gasoline of 87 octane minimum and 107 minimum octane propane with K-21/25.
That is not completely correct, the engine manufacturer does get to specify -grades- of fuel, and if you read the operators manual of a K21/K25 dual fuel MCFA product, you will see that as far as grades of gasoline, they specify only a high test 92 octane for running on gasoline and an HD5 for LPG fuel, and if you run regular 86 octane, you will find that it does not always run smoothly (usually the performance complaint is related to idle).Since these were mainly sold to rental houses, I have always wondered how you could possibly get a short term rental user to put only hightest in the truck before returning it.
You also break federal law (as if anyone would notice or enforce it), and end the emissions controls parts somewhat longer warranty by using a fuel of less quality than specified.
As far as I know, MCFA did not make any gasoline -only- tier 2 trucks, nor have I seen anyone else who has a tier 2 gasoline only truck (That does not mean they are not out there, just that I have not run across any).
My take on the emissions requirements is that the emissions standards are aimed at the engine class (specifically, large, off road, spark ignition) as noted on the EPA sticker affixed to the engine.
I don't recall there being any correlation between the type of fuel, or the grade of fuel, resulting in different emission standards.
Or to put it another way, the engine must meet the assigned emission standards for the EPA definition of the engine, regardless of fuel type (gasoline, propane, natural gas) or fuel grade withing the fuel types.
Obviously, fuels which combust more readily and contain fewer "hard to burn" hydrocarbon constituent compounds will make it easier to meet the standards, but EPA does not offer different standards based on fuels for the same engine.
A dual fuel engine capable of running on gasoline or propane must meet the EPA standards while running on either fuel.
Were there any type of fuel requrements for the different tiers? Raytech stated in another thread how mis-understood LP is & I have to agree. Different LP grades give off different emissions.
tier 1, [which was the s15g, which did not require 100% of the fleet, but everyone went along with 100%] was ship dates Jan. 2003 ended dec 31, 2003. tier 2 started Jan 1 2004. tier 3 was jan 1, 2007.
there were about 6 months of a tier 2 (impco spectrum) system 4g63/4g64 engine powered sold before MCFA went to the K21, K25 manufacturing/shipping product in 2004. in Jan 2005, MCFA made a change from a relative pressure sensor to an absolute pressure sensor on the throttle body, that was not a "tier" change, but was made to improve performance of trucks that moved to different altitudes (ran great in the shop in the valley, but about 3000 feet, not so good, and vice vs)
pretty much all brands have to conform to the same emmission changes bb so they all should have been done approximatly at the same time. Its a US mandate issued by our big brother :o)
and he forgot tier IV which started end of last year and earlier this year ;o)
Any input on the other brands?
This is in no way definitive, but rather my approximation. 2001-2002 is Tier I, such as an S-15g fuel system with an O2 sensor (single wire), fuel control solenoid valve, and an ecu, Impco System in an MCFA Forklift. In a Nissan JO2 Tier I has a Feed back solenoid, a MAP sensor, a Nikki Converter, an ecu, and a single wire O2.
2002-2006 Tier 2 Nissan k-21 and k-25, Nikki fuel system, throttle body injection, mass air flow sensor, Electronic Throttle Control, 4 wire heated O2 sensor, an lp pressure sensor, cam and crank sensor, and coil on plug ignition coils, this applies to P and C series Cats and Platinum 1 Nissans. Similar changes to TB-45 6 cylinder Nissan. Changes also made to 4.3 liter GM in larger lifts.
2007 Tier III Platinum 2 Nissans On Board Diagnostics and changes to k-21 and k-25 ETC.
Not sure on Toyota Aisan Systems but I am guessing 7 series and 8 series are different Tiers, with units that have an Electronic Throttle Control being Tier III.
Not sure on the Hyster and Yale changes.