One of my reasons for buying a diesel was environmental -- I thought it would damage the planet less. It seems I was mistaken. But could a diesel engine be converted to petrol (gasoline)? Obviously this is not a home project, but as far as I understand it, for a reasonably modern (post-2000) diesel you would need:
- new cylinder head (spark plugs and lower compression)
- new wiring for the spark generation and distribution
- new software in the engine control systems
- (maybe) different cam profiles (not too tricky if you're fitting a new head)
- You might need different gasket/filter materials in the fuel pumps and injectors
... which doesn't sound like too much. The engine would be overweight and thus sub-optimal, but you would avoid the problem of disposing of millions of old diesel vehicles. In general, are there serious problems in converting diesel to petrol?