Facts about diesel ideling

The only time I idle my truck is on mornings where there is frost on the windows. I'll come downstairs before work, start my truck with high idle and the EB, make my coffee, put my shoes on and go. Any other morning I get in, start, put on my seat belt and go. My trip out of the hood has a 25mph speed limit so the truck has ample time to warm up that way.

bpounds wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
...I am not impressed with the sound of your noisy diesel truck.

You should be. It's a 6.0 Powerstroke. It sounds really nice, and when warmed up, smells very pleasant. :)

I ran some biodiesel off and on for a couple years. Truck smelled like french fries driving down the road. Engine was =noticeably= quieter and mileage was fractionally better around town.

Lyle

Veebyes wrote:
...I am not impressed with the sound of your noisy diesel truck.

You should be. It's a 6.0 Powerstroke. It sounds really nice, and when warmed up, smells very pleasant. :)

Diesel generators go from asleep to duty RPM right now.

hotpepperkid wrote:
Its my truck my fuel and my money, if I want to let it idle all day I will. If it is really hot out and it get that way in AZ and I going into a store in is going to be idling with the AC on until I come out and if I lived where it was 0 I would let it idle with the heater on until I come out of the store however long it takes

x2!!! Here in the desert, you'd =never= get cool if you didn't let your truck idle while running errands. I have a remote start, so can let my truck idle and still lock it. My remote also has a cool-down feature that I can set for 5 or 10 minutes, IIRC. Never used it, as I'm usually with my truck and, when stopping, I'm at low speeds once I get off the highway, so cool-down isn't usually that big a deal.

Lyle

I don't understand the need of some to start & let idle for so long. I am not impressed with the sound of your noisy diesel truck. I am annoyed by it.

Start it, do the moving around to hook up right away. All that is at idle or slightly above so really no different than sitting still. Shut it off while final departure preps are done. Gives the little heat generated a chance to spread around the engine some. Start up & head out. By the time you get to CG gate it will be near enough up to temp.

How long do you see construction guys allow their diesels to warm up? It is start, give a minute or so to warm up then throttle up & work.

I have a Scangauge II that I monitor the EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperatures) especially the 1st sensor. I will idle the engine on my 6.7 diesel until that temp gets under 400 degrees then I feel better about shutdown. Reason, Motor oil can and will burn at 400 degrees or so. Allowing that turbo to cool and allowing the oil to keep moving rather than stop pumping on 1000 degree bearings and bushings until most everything is under that threshold makes me more at ease. Just an ole farmer here talking that had nothing but diesel engines grown up.

I have to fight leaving it idle like the military guys. I worked the oilfield in Michigan, and industrial services for my company in Maine. We even started the deck (pump engines) at the district before we left. Nothing was shut down until the job was pumped. The road engines ran till the trucks were parked and plugged.

Today, I might leave it run at the pump if I had a hard pull just before tanking, or if it is crusty snow I leave it run while I eat breakfast. I carry an extra key, so I can lock and eat.

Until we meet on a narrow road.
Happened to me.
Rams mirror snapped right off the arm.
My Silverado got folded back and the mirror itself knocked out of the housing.
I knew we weren't going to both fit on the road and pulled over onto the shoulder and stopped while Ramboy hit the gas instead.
My insurance company collected my deductible off of his insurance company.

Take a head on photo of those mirrors sticking out.

Looks good to me!