Starting the Engine during the Winter

Contrary to the manual I would let it sit until I could go drive the vehicle 30+ minutes.

Running the generator with a load during the winter months is a good thing. As far as diesel engines unless you are going to drive it for 30-60 minutes leave it alone. All you do by starting it for 10-15 minutes is bringing moisture into the engine. Unless you take it out and get the engine and transmission to operating temp it isnt needed or a good idea at all.

Interesting. I just finished running the generator for on load 30 minutes. No problem there. I'm going to leave the engine alone though. It makes sense. With the RV sitting it never would get up to the normal running temp. It only sits for 3 maybe 4 months anyway. I'm sure that some RV's on the dealers lot sit longer that that. I do have it plugged into ground power. I check the house batteries every week and they have stayed at between 12.75 and 12.8 volts.

docsouce wrote:
I spent about 1/2 an hour searching this question. I'm sure it has been talked about before but I couldn't find it. Anyway, the Thor owners manual for my rig says to run the engine for 30 minutes each month while it is in winter storage. I have been doing this but I'm wondering if other folks do this too.. I hope I posted this in the right forum..

My engine is dumb, it doesn't know how many times or when I start it. So I don't tell it. I just jump in and go. I pass any problems on to the next guy wholikes to worry about that.

Would you rather follow advice from amateurs who may or may not know something about engines or the manufacturer? What others do may be wrong, or lucky.

Thousands of farm engines sit unused all winter as farmers have better things to do than crank up a cold engine. Unfortunately my DP has sat since June (have not started it or the generator) but I will start it up on Sunday so I can leave on Monday.

The point of running the engine is to warm and circulate the engine oil to remove water vapor. Unless you plan to drive the unit far enough to bring the oil temp up to at least 180°, then it's better to let it sit. A static run at idle will only release the water vapor into the engine and start the rusting process.

There are kits you can use to seal the engine intake and exhaust to prevent moisture from entering the engine. I've seen aircraft engines pickled in this manner when they are to be left idle over the winter. They also add a pickling oil.

The generator should be run with a load at least once a month to remove moisture from the windings.

In humid areas it makes sense to periodically warm the engine to distill water out of lube oil. In the desert it may prove to be a waste of time.

But Thor or no Thor, to drive contaminants out of crankcase oil means bringing engine OIL temperature up 180 degrees or higher. Forget about radiator coolant temperature - near meaningless.

I cannot answer about a diesel pusher, but for a gas engine, I did the same when I was not full-timing. But, I was told, that unless I ran it through all the gears (R,P,N,D1,D2) I was doing more damage than helping as the oil was not lubricating the gears just letting it run in Park. So, I just started taking it out for a Sunday drive and used then also ran the generator on 1/2 to full load, as well. No matter what the temp was. Once a month was a nice outing, for the motorhome an me, about 50 miles each way.

Just wondering if its on a charger in storage.