If it's cold out how long do you let it warm up/idle before you take off? One minute, five minutes????

Is it bad to start up and drive right away?

 

about 20 secs past the time the oil presure gage reads presure, i realize the gage is not real, but if i know I have presure, i give it the xtra 20 to flow through. but thats me. I also run full synthetic, which gives me a warmer fuzzier feeling about my oil flow.

 

If its been pluged in i usually just wait 1-2 mins unless its below like 15* then i let it run a little longer.If not usually at least 5 mins usually by then the trans and motor temps r up around 100* Thats just my thoughts !! As for is it bad i dont think so as long as u have good oil pressure

 

I tend to let mine idle for probably 5 mins or so and then don't take it over 1500 rpm till the coolant needle crosses over the very first line (I think it has a C next to it) thats also just me

 

I'm probably gonna get a little flogging for this, but at least it's the truth, I always make myself let it warm up until I am ready to go.












Oh yeah, that usually ain't very long. I do take it easy on it for a while on cold days. My thinking is, once the oil gets to moving some, so should the truck.

 

When I had a diesel I always let mine warm up for as long as it took to put my seatbelt on. That's usually about 5 seconds. After that I drove it really easy until it warmed up. Idling a cold diesel isn't really good for it, plus it uses up expen$ive fuel.

 

I'm the same way, as soon as it makes oil pressure I am usually on the move regardless of temperature. It warms up a lot faster gently driving than sitting in the driveway.

 

Hmm, maybe I won't get flogged that bad after all.

 

Unless I've got a load hooked to it, I pretty much just go.

 

One thing for sure, if you have one of our diesel running, I promise you, you have oil moving in the engine.

 

On the rig, we had a detroit diesel series 40, and it would automatically idel at 1600, and as soon as the oil pressure would hit, we engage generator to 1800 rpm.

never had any problems, and more hours on it than i could begin to imagine.

The 7.3, i let it warm up a little. It not just the engine, either. You have the steering pump, etc that are all stressed under cold.

I usually let it run for 5-10 minutes depending how cold it is.

If i in a rush, i jump in, start, wait for glow plugs to shut off, then idle(driving) slowly, then rev to 1100-1200, then slowly give her more and more till she warms up.

I think the idea is to not add to much heat to the metal, as its cold and severe different temps can cause metal fatigue.

 

5 minuites fore me, if i dont pluge in. it all depend's on how fast you drive right after startup and how cold it is out.
i onley have a few block's to go befor i hit the hiway at 55 mph.

 

When it's cool I wait until the oil pressure comes up, when it's warm out I wait at least two seconds or however long it takes to get her in gear.
Randy

 

Summer time, until I see the oil pressure gauge is up all the way. winter time I wait until the glow plugs cycle off. I can tell this by watching mine voltmeter.

 

I usually give it about 30 seconds to a minute when it is around 40* or more. If it is colder it gets longer. Although with the fuel priced it is getting shorter. I have about a mile before I hit a highway and it is down hill primarily.