Newer diesel engines

Thanks to each reply. I will not worry about what year the engine was produced.

The new engines are amazing. These things are built to last millions of miles so you are guaranteed to wear out the rest of your coach and chassis before your engine even gets to midlife.

Every year, regulations or not, diesel engines get better and better. Every component is improved with data from the previous generations. Engine blocks, high pressure fuel delivery, turbo charges, absolutely everything gets better every singe year.

The newer your engine, the better it will be. Fuel economy rises every year as well.

With my engine, the air coming out of the exhaust is reported to be (I have no actual evidence of this) cleaner than the air going into it in some cities. I can easily imagine this being true in Long Beach, California. Of course, I'm still producing tons of CO2, but far less particulate matter.

Starting o5 year model they put cats and raised operating temps, cut timing etc.
07 they cut compression and to compensate somewhat enlarged engine size or some of them did. that is when they started the urea injection. It is corrosive.
It's been a bit since I've read the Ford and Cummins diesel engine forums but after awhile they have had some problems with corrosion sensors etc from the urea. All this added as much as ten thousand dollars, depending on who you quote.
They had to retrofit engines on trucks even fork lifts in California. Up to 500hp hp required one unit anything over required two units. Most trucks were running 550hp so guess what. It's been a while since the conversations but it was 15,000.00 or more per unit, I remember.
The new diesels are cleaner. You don't smell them. It is day light to dark behind an older diesel semi and the new ones.

I have friends who own fleets of trucks, and know some diesel mechanics. Most of them don't give a good review of the newer engines as they have been extremely expensive to maintain. Motor homes don't seem to get the bad review. But they don't get near the use as a truck. It makes me wonder how these newer engines are going to behave as they get 7-12 years of use on them.;)

fla-gypsy wrote:

creeper wrote:

Fiesta wrote:
I read the book, don't idle more than 10 mins. .

That is called wet stacking. Idling diesel engines is BAD and leads to excessive engine wear. So for those guys at the campground who crack up their diesels at 5am and let them idle for an hour, you're doing damage to your engine as well as annoying other campers.

A little more to that I think, OTR diesel trucks will sit and idle for hours at a time sometimes with no apparent harm.

Just because you see them idling a company truck doesn't mean it's not doing damage. Wet stacking is not a myth it's a common problem and can cause engine failure. That's why some trucks automatically go into high idle, ford engines do this to prevent wet stacking as well as have an hour meter to see if problems are caused by excessive idling. Wet stacking is mediated by long hauls of heavy loads. Wet stacking can be cumulative and since RVs are not worked like OTR trucks are even more of problem. Don't baby your diesels and a working diesel OTR truck is not used like some retired guy going to florida where the Engine may sit for months on end.

"Problem:
When a diesel engine operates without sufficient load (less than 40% of the rated output), it will not operate at its optimum temperature. This will allow unburned diesel fuel to accumulate in the exhaust system, which can foul the fuel injectors, engine valves, glazed cylinders and exhaust system, including turbochargers, and reduce the engine operating performance. In the industry this is referred to as "wet stacking".
solution:
Periodically use a suitable load bank to exercise the engine and clean the accumulated deposits."

fla gypsy: Modern OTR trucks are not meant to idle. Most come from the factory with a 5 minute idle and then they shut down. Some do have what is called "clean idle".

Moisheh

My notes from the class are on the coach which is in the shop. When I get it back I will post what I have. If my memory is wrong I will retract.

It certainly runs contrary everything I had learned which agrees with what you have said.

xctraveler wrote:
The only other idle recommendation was during storage to bring it up to 1,000 rpm for 15 minutes once a month if we were going to store more than a couple of months. Cummins will void warranty for excessive idle (didn't get a number for that).

Are you suggesting that Cummins recommended starting their engine even if you could not get the OIL up to operating temperature? I find that very hard to believe. Adding condensation to the oil is a really bad idea, and a diesel can not get the OIL up to operating temperature except under load.

Standard advice for any diesel is to not start it unless you can drive a minimum of 25 highway miles-- enough to get the oil up to operating temperature.

If you have a Cummins link to this "start and idle the engine", would very much appreciate it.

In the instruction we got at Camp Freightliner we were told to idle long enough to get the air up. If we needed to extend the idle, to set it up to 1,000 RPM after at least 3 minutes and in general be prepared to drive off in 15 minutes or shut it back down.

The only other idle recommendation was during storage to bring it up to 1,000 rpm for 15 minutes once a month if we were going to store more than a couple of months. Cummins will void warranty for excessive idle (didn't get a number for that).

fla-gypsy wrote:

creeper wrote:

Fiesta wrote:
I read the book, don't idle more than 10 mins. .

That is called wet stacking. Idling diesel engines is BAD and leads to excessive engine wear. So for those guys at the campground who crack up their diesels at 5am and let them idle for an hour, you're doing damage to your engine as well as annoying other campers.

A little more to that I think, OTR diesel trucks will sit and idle for hours at a time sometimes with no apparent harm.

The manual on my 2013 Cummins ISB says not to idle for "extended periods". I once called Cummins and asked for clarification on what an extended period is. I was told not to idle it more than 10 hours or so.

It was important to me at the time because I was boondocking and my generator had quit. I had to run the main engine to keep the batteries charged. I should have asked if it would regenerate if I used the cruise control to elevate the idle while parked.

Idling is not good for engines and I try to avoid it as much as possible except for brief warm up and cool down periods.