Forum Discussion
P_Kennedy
Oct 27, 2014Explorer
The single biggest reason a diesel won't warm up idling is the operator turns the heater on to highest temp and fastest fan speed sucking any combustion generated heat away from the engine block. Outside temp plays a major role in the amount of time it takes to generate block heat. "Wet" stacking is due to excessive idling time with a cold engine causing unburned fuel to be blown out the stack. New engines with egr and dpf units must be high idled at increased rpms to help combustion and plugging of the components as temperatures outside get colder. Pushing a cold turbocharged engine under load will cause damage due to the components which have not expanded to their correct operating dimensions. Cylinder scoring, bent push rods and camshaft damage can result. It's unfortunate that diesels are noisy when started cold but the actual cost of the fuel and inconvenience is of little comfort when a 18-50k engine goes south. Motorhomes with diesels have one of the highest failure rates due to cold stress and hot shutdowns. Units with automatic transmissions are easier to warm up driving moderately than manuals. I know the barrage of it never happened to me is right around the corner but the forums her are also full of "I can't afford".
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