Will a 10 mile commute kill a diesel?
Looking at a 2014 Ram 2500 diesel but will my 10 mile round trip daily commute damage the engine? Should I just get the Hemi?
Forum Discussion
I commute 8 miles each way, each day, with a 7.3 diesel and monitor stuff like temperatures. With temps in the 40s my engine oil temp does not exceed 150 on my morning commute and due to the huge engine oil/coolant heat exchanger my coolant temp is always within a few degrees of the oil temps so no, it doesn't warm up.
I thought I would get smart and use the block heater as mentioned earlier in this thread a couple of times. NO! the block heater does not heat the engine 2/3 of the way, in fact, it only adds 30-40 degrees of temperature. After some research it turns out that this is common on cummins and powerstrokes. Seems 1000 watts of heat can't do much for a 1000# hunk of iron. That said, I plug in anyways because I get cab heat sooner and I believe that I save enough fuel to cover the electrical costs of running the heater.
I commute with my diesel for the huge majority of its miles. This is cheaper than owning a second commuter vehicle. I did the math.
I thought I would get smart and use the block heater as mentioned earlier in this thread a couple of times. NO! the block heater does not heat the engine 2/3 of the way, in fact, it only adds 30-40 degrees of temperature. After some research it turns out that this is common on cummins and powerstrokes. Seems 1000 watts of heat can't do much for a 1000# hunk of iron. That said, I plug in anyways because I get cab heat sooner and I believe that I save enough fuel to cover the electrical costs of running the heater.
I commute with my diesel for the huge majority of its miles. This is cheaper than owning a second commuter vehicle. I did the math.
