Facts about diesel ideling

avvidclif1 wrote:
You forget one thing about idling big rigs in cold weather. When the temps drop below low teens and especially below zero that oil gets very thick when the engine is off. Park in a truck stop in 0 degrees weather and shut it down and you probably can't start it the next morning. It flat will not turn over. It may not be warm the next morning but it at least will be running.

That's why they make thinner oil. If the weather is going to be that cold switch to a lower viscosity.

NJ also has the no idle law. Signs are all over in shopping centers and convenience store parking lots.
The youngsters let their diesels idle the same reason they have to extend their Ram mirrors on a SRW truck.:R

You Ram guys need to remember if you must leave it idling put it in neutral with the e brake on. Check your manual if its a 07 and a half or newer but from the 48RE back the trans does not circulate fluid in park. There are valve body mods out there to correct this but stock you can burn it up with excessive idling.

leggy wrote:
One thing I always think about when this subject comes up, what about traffic delays? Are you supposed to shut down if sitting in a traffic jam? By some people's comments, they would shut down at a long red light!

Auto shut down is coming your way!
Just had a rental car in Ireland that had this "feature"!

One thing I always think about when this subject comes up, what about traffic delays? Are you supposed to shut down if sitting in a traffic jam? By some people's comments, they would shut down at a long red light!

avvidclif1 wrote:
You forget one thing about idling big rigs in cold weather. When the temps drop below low teens and especially below zero that oil gets very thick when the engine is off. Park in a truck stop in 0 degrees weather and shut it down and you probably can't start it the next morning. It flat will not turn over. It may not be warm the next morning but it at least will be running.

Isn't that why truck stops have an outlet for a engine heater?

You forget one thing about idling big rigs in cold weather. When the temps drop below low teens and especially below zero that oil gets very thick when the engine is off. Park in a truck stop in 0 degrees weather and shut it down and you probably can't start it the next morning. It flat will not turn over. It may not be warm the next morning but it at least will be running.

GrumpyandGrandma wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:

Makes me wonder about law enforcement in California? Don't have anything better to do than sit there with a stop watch, timing how long a truck is sitting there idle? Seems like they could be "out there" catching real criminals!

Not just California. If you look at many of the newer truck stops in many states they have duct systems set up with heat & air. The ductwork adapter goes in the semi's window.

Not just Heat and AC but also LAN connection, TV connection and radio at some.

The fee is way less than the costs of idling overnight if you still could.

1320Fastback wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
If all these facts are so well known, why do so many leave their diesel pickup idle, for example, the entire time they're setting up or breaking camp, half an hour, maybe more? When are all diesel going to come with an automatic shutdown on idle?

These are people that either are living in the past, what we call Bro Dozers or just simply uniformed. EGT gives a good indication of turbo temperature and that is usually the last thing to cool down once parked. I like to see under 200 degrees before I shut down and with a old engine I get there within 30-60 seconds. Newer trucks with all the black magic under the hood take longer but can't imagine any would need longer than 3-4 minuets to cool down.

In the old days truckers would idle all night long for two main reasons. Heat was one as there was no other source of not freezing while you slept and also you just didn't know if your truck would start again.

Actually, in really cold weather, idling at low speeds cools the engine down. I remember many nights having to run the rpm's up to get any heat out of my old Detroit in northern Ontario winters.

If it's cold out, I start my truck, put it in high idle, turn on the exhaust brake, and in ten minutes, it's toasty warm and off I go. That's at home. Don't camp in the winter. When breaking camp, I let it warm up for about 5 minutes, but that's it. Hitch up and shut down. Then finish breaking camp and packing.

Not sure why this is special to diesels. I don't like my gasser idling much either.