i am just wondering what you other folks out there do with your trucks. when i fuel up or stop at the store real quick while plowing i leave my truck running in the winter months. what do you guys do?

 

it takes more diesel to start it back up than it does to leave it running lol... plus it keeps it warm inside the cabin.

if im not mistaken though, most engine wear occurs during start up.

 

I leave mine on. Its just a habit for me since we always leave our tractors/ big rigs or other heavy duty equipment idling. When I worked road construction a few years ago, we'd let dump trucks idle all day even in the heat of summer. The only thing it does is consume a little fuel. Its not the 70's anymore, wet slacking shouldn't be a problem.

This topic has been brought up in great discussion in the general diesel forum. It seems to be preferance.

The only problem i could see is if you have a 6.0 with the vv turbo on it. They say not to idle those things to long as sulfur builds up and prevents the vanes to move.

 

I like to let mine run at fuel stops, especially after pulling. Any time I leave the truck it gets turned off. Too many people would drive off in your truck given the opportunity!

 

i lock the doors when i leave it running and in the store or something, i always carry a spare in my wallet for that exact reason, i dont want to come out and find my baby gone

 

I let it run. Spare key on a separate key ring. Besides, as was said before, most engine wear is on startup. And depending on how it was driven prior to shutdown, the engine needs some idling to cool the turbo to reduce oil coking on the turbo. Driven hard or pulling then you need up to 5 minutes to cool the turbo. Or take the guessing out and get a turbo temp gauge (pre-turbo) installed and then you know the temp.

 

I agree with grinch, if you look in your diesel manual page 11 "it is recommended that a hot engine be allowed to operate at low idle for 7-10 minutes which would allow sufficient time for the turbocharged engine to cool down." Lots of good stuff in the manual. One interesting thing is it says both cold and warm start to wait 15 seconds and then drive away normally. One thing when in construction our mechanic said to leave equipment idling no lower than 1000 rpm to keep the oil pressure up. May be folk lore, I don't know.

 

if i have the time i always let my truck warm up before i drive off, cold weather start or not, its just a good habit.

 

I let mine run also. Carry the spare key to lock it up. Not a folk lure bkcowboss about leaving equipment idle at 1000 rpm. Run equipment for a living. If it's going to idle for a bit crack the throttle a little.

 

I NEVER take the single key out of my ignition. My keyring with my keys ( house, work, truck ) are in my pocket and that is where they go back as soon as I unlock the running truck. I have been know to run into Wally me Dolly store for a half an hour or so with the truck running, esp durring cold months.

 

for those of you with key fob's you can cut the brown wire to the brain right by the throttle pedal and this will allow you to unlock and lock the doors with the fob while its running. dont forget you did it though if you ever need to reprogram a fob. if not it will not work.just wire it back up and re program.

 

I run a 140 mile delivery route with 72 stops each Monday. Each stop is about 1-2 minutes. I have measured fuel use with stopping engine each time and with leaving it running. Stopping the engine each time saves about 15% fuel. This makes sense when you think how many revs there are in 1-2 minutes and how many revs it takes to start the engine.

It may put a little more wear and tear on the engine but it does save a lot of fuel by shutting it down for all stops.

 

It is true about 1000 rpm for prolonged idle periods. If one doesn't have a AIC, would it cause damage to let it run at idle for prolonged periods?

We never idle our equipment up though, never seem any damage from the lower oil pressure.

 

I drove big truck for 15 years over the road and I was always told to idle up so that the fuel didn't wash the cylinder walls clean of oil and wipe out the rings. With the old turned up mechanical pumps and oversized injectors this was a real problem but with our fuel systems I don't believe it should be a problem.

Dave