Why do diesel engines seem to outlast gasoline engines? Shouldn’t they be built with the same stress safety factors built in and fail at around the same rate?

Question

Edit: Specifically referring to passenger vehicles and consumer trucks, not commercial vehicles that i assume would be built to go much longer anyway.

In: Technology

Answer 1

They actually operate at higher pressures and stresses. In some ways, this contributes to reliability because weak parts can’t be used. It also makes them heavier. The reduced complexity of not having spark plugs and spark timing eliminates one set of failure modes.