Best books for Diesel mechanic, technician, engineer and researcher
Diesel engine - Generalities

Best books for Diesel mechanic, technician, engineer and researcher

I would like to share with you the best thirteen books that help me to build knowledge on Diesel engines. These books contain basic pieces of information, useful for beginners and technicians, or advanced specific knowledge for engineers and professionals or sometimes both. Only with a set of these books, you can build a good theoretical background to face practical and engineering issues in the field.

To clarify, how I selected these books among the huge number of the available books, I would like to go back to my academic journey. When I started my PhD, I had actually no prior knowledge on Diesel engines. I was a control engineer, who his thesis subject was to propose solutions for the detection and isolation of faults on marine Diesel engines. So at that time, I needed mainly to know

  • how does a diesel engine work,
  • what’s the difference between a Diesel engine and the other types of engines,
  • what are the differences between the diesel engines themselves and how to classify them,
  • what are the components and sub-systems of a Diesel engine and their role,
  • what are the faults that the Diesel engines are subjected to,
  • what are the symptoms of the faults,
  • how to detect the faults,
  • how to differentiate between the faults, if the symptoms are similar

Then at an advanced stage of my thesis, I had to make some simulations, to validate the hypothesis, which we could not perform on the test bench. This led me to check the available models in the literature and try to use them for my subject.

This selection of books helped me to build my knowledge. It doesn’t mean that there are not other good books on the subject. But if you have similar questions like those that I had, you will find in these books, all the needed answers.

For each book, I affected four tags, so that you can recognize, if the book, in question, fits to your expectations:

  1. to which people the book is recommended
  2. type of the book (troubleshooting or engineering)
  3. subject extent (diesel, IC engines, vehicle, …)
  4. application (automotive, marine, railroad, industrial)

Contents

Marine Diesel engine : maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair

by N. Calder

Marine Diesel engine : maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair by Nigel Calder

This book is dedicated for Marine Diesel engines. Marine Diesel engines gives you all the basic pieces of information you need about Diesel engines. This book is highly recommended for beginners and also for technicians. The operation principal, the different systems and organs are covered in a nice way and illustrated by a variety of pictures. In addition to that, you will be introduced to fault troubleshooting. The book is structured in short chapters, which encourages reading more and more. At the exception of some special topics related to the marine application, the rest of the book can be also used for every possible application.

Troubleshooting Marine Diesels

by P. Compton

Troubleshooting Marine Diesels by Peter Compton

Troubleshooting Marine Diesels is centered on maintenance and troubleshooting of faults on marine Diesel engines. This book does not dive into theoretical equations and describes the components and the systems in a general way. The book describes the fundamentals of the Diesel engine systems and shows precisely the maintenance schedule and the steps to perform when troubleshooting faults. It is structured in a nice way and illustrated with nice drawings. This book is made for ship-owners, as stated in the book introduction, but can be highly recommended for beginners and also technicians, who want to learn the principals and build knowledge on Diesel engines.

Troubleshooting & repairing Diesel engines

By P. Dempsey

Troubleshooting & repairing Diesel engines by Paul Dempsey

This book “Troubleshooting and repairing Diesel engines” can be ranked to the same category as the book of N. Calder. It is written for technicians to keep them up to date about the new changes. The book can be additionally recommended for beginners and for those looking for practical experience in repairing Diesel engines. The book starts from the basics and leads you to some specific design examples made by particular manufacturers. The book is very good illustrated with pictures and it shows in detail the operations you should perform while repairing your engine. The book contains many useful pieces of information, which are unfortunately not structured in an optimal way. The logic between the succession of chapters, sections and subsections are not easy to perceive.

Advanced automotive fault diagnosis

by T. Denton

Advanced automotive fault diagnosis by Tom Denton

This Book “Advanced automotive fault diagnosis” deals with diagnosis in general. The fundamentals of diagnosis are described and the means needed to perform the diagnosis tasks are listed in it. The book does not only cover the Diesel engine but it extends to mainly all the other systems that can be met on a car. The book is written in a nice colored way, and illustrated with nice pictures, which facilitate the understanding. This book is ideal for beginners and technicians dealing with troubleshooting of the various faults on the automotive field.

Automotive technology, a system approach

By J. Erjavec

Automotive technology, a system approach by jack Erjavec and Rob Thompson

This book “Automotive technology, a system approach” is a guide for maintenance and repair of automotive systems. It was written for technicians to help them to be successful in their jobs. Hence, it includes the details of assembling and disassembling of all the engine organs and shows how to check if an element is faulty. The book covers mainly all the car systems and not only the engine. The book is well illustrated with figures. This book is a good reference for a technician and for beginners who wants some practical knowledge.

Automotive Engines: Diagnosis, Repair and Rebuilding

By T. Gilles

Automotive Engines: Diagnosis, Repair and Rebuilding by Tim Gilles

The “Automotive engines diagnosis, repair and rebuilding” book is about repairing, disassembling and assembling engines. It shows in details, how to disassemble an engine and how to check the different elements. The procedures are written in clear way and are illustrated with nice pictures that help understanding. It includes mainly all the mechanical parts of an engine. The book is not dedicated to Diesel engines and treats also gasoline engines. The electronic control was however not discussed deeply. The book is pleasant to read and can be recommended for beginners, machinists and technicians.

Pounder’s marine Diesel engines and gas turbines

By D. Woodyard

Pounder’s marine Diesel engines and gas turbines by Doug Woodyard

The book “Pounder’s marine diesel engines and gas turbines” is as stated in the title about marine Diesel engines and it includes a chapter about gas Turbines. The book make the junction between the development stones made over time, on marine Diesel engines, up to the current era. The book is illustrated with many manufacturer design examples like Wärtsilä and Man B&W. It gives a good overview and also many details about the marine application and the systems used in marine Diesel engines, while explaining their purpose and their operation modes. The book is recommended for marine engineers, technicians, ship owners and also beginners who want to acquire knowledge about Diesel engines, ship propulsion and the marine application and its influence on the Diesel engine design.

Light and heavy vehicle technology

By M. J. Nunney

Light and heavy vehicle technology by M J Nunney

Light and heavy vehicle technology deals with various automotive systems. The propulsive part is discussed in the first eleven chapters. These chapters do not focus on Diesel engines and includes as well other engine types. The author did not bring up the diagnosis subject and made more effort on listing the various, old and new, design used in the automotive field. Since the aim of the book is to make the bridge between the basics and the advanced knowledge, the book does not contain complicated equations. The book is written for technicians but can be highly recommended for beginners and students who want to understand the basics and to know the purpose of the used design.

Diesel engine reference book

by B. Challen and R. Baranescu

Diesel engine reference book by B. Challen and R. Baranescu

If you already acquired the fundamental knowledge on Diesel engines and you want to go one level more, the Diesel engine reference book is for you. This is also true, if you are an engineer and you want to get access to the mathematical models, so you can you them for simulation or control purpose, for example. It covers mainly all the subsystems and elements of the engine, the combustion process, the thermodynamic process, the mechanics, the noise and vibration emissions, the lubrication, the heat transfer, the electronic control, the exhaust emission, the different types of application and more.

Internal combustion engines

By V. Ganesan

Internal combustion engines by V Ganesan

The book is written for students and engineers. The focus of “Internal combustion engines” was made on the theoretical part of the engines. It covers many aspects like for example the thermodynamics, the thermal, the mechanics, the combustions and the control of the injection. The Book is well illustrated with figures and equations and we can feel that the author has made an effort to write the book in a way to facilitate reading. This Book can be recommended for students, seeking to build theoretical knowledge on engines and also for engineers and researchers, looking for specific pieces of information.

Internal combustion engine fundamental

By J. B. Heywood

Internal combustion engine fundamental by John B Heywood

This book “Internal combustion engine fundamentals” written by J. B. Heywood is known as the reference of the references. It includes advanced models of the engine systems and also the processes happening inside internal combustion engines (gasoline and Diesel). The book covers the thermodynamics, the mechanics, the heat exchange, the lubrication, the combustion and the emissions. This book does not however treat the new electronic systems used in the modern engines. The book is illustrated with figures and graphics and chapters can be used independently from others. This Book can be used as a reference for professionals, engineers, researchers and also anyone who looks for particular subjects or advanced pieces of information.

Handbook of Diesel engines

By K. Mollenhauer and H. Tschöke

Handbook of Diesel engines By Klaus Mollenhauer and Helmut Tschöke

The Handbook of Diesel engines traces the evolution of the Diesel engine to end up by the latest trends currently in use on the market. The Book covers all the subsystems of Diesel engines, many variants of the components and the aspects related to their operation like sound, heat, pollution, materials… It does not however deal with assembly, disassembly, fault troubleshooting and repairing. The book is written in very nice way and illustrated with nice graphics. If you are an engineer or researcher who deals with simulation, you should get this book. The book explains the various phenomena with theoretical equations in a comprehensive way. Hence, the book can also be recommended for students or engineers, seeking to strengthen their knowledge, or professionals dealing with Diesel engines.

Diesel Engine Transient Operation : Principles of Operation
and Simulation Analysis

By C. D. Rakopoulos and E. G. Giakoumis

Diesel Engine Transient Operation : Principles of Operation
and Simulation Analysis By Constantine D. Rakopoulos and Evangelos G. Giakoumis

If you are an engineer or a researcher and you are dealing with themes related to transient behaviors in Diesel engine, the “Diesel engine transient operation” book is highly recommended for you. The Book makes a good state of art of the models in use and their characteristics. In addition to that, it gives the details, with equations, of the effect of transient behaviors on the vital functions of the engine like for example the combustion and the air charging. The book lists also solutions to enhance the performance during transient behaviors. The book is written in an easy and comprehensive language and takes care of explaining the transitions between demonstrations.

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