Originally Posted By: supton
Why is GDI worse for fuel dilution? I thought it kept fuel closer to the center of the chamber, and since it burns so clean, there should be less raw fuel, no? I know port fuel injection was aimed at the plug but still, I'd thought (part of) the point was to keep air/fuel from those pesky ring lands.
Don't recall diesels having a fuel dilution problem... soot yes, fuel no.
That's because the shape of the piston head is totally different than in gas engines and diesels do not require a separate ignition source, so the injector can sit right at TDC, where the sparkplug would normally sit in gasoline engine. It gives a nice and uniform spray pattern into the combustion chamber. The injectors spray diesel fuel directly into the small chamber that is made in the piston, usually close to when the piston is at TDC and the mixture self ignites. The fuel has little chance of touching the cylinder walls.
In gasoline engines, the fuel is sprayed into the combustion chamber so that it can mix with air and the injector has to be at an angle and off center, because the sparkplug must be seated right at TDC. Since fuel injectors are pretty bad at atomizing fuel, when compared to carburetors, and in DI fuel is directly sprayed into the combustion chamber at high pressures, that spraying action washes off the cylinders and some fuel ends up making it past the rings.
With port injection, the fuel at least has more time to be mixed with air as it makes its way past the intake valve, which usually creates a swirling action as well, plus much less pressure, hence much less fuel dilution.