idling
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Colorado Springs, CO
idling
Haven't gotten my truck yet, but figured I'd start asking some questions. I always have heard you can let a diesel idle forever, but the other day I read in a thread that it was bad for the 6.0. Why is that. Also, why is it so bad to take short trips with them as well?
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Florida
Short trips are bad because the engine never gets hot enough to "clean" the condensation out of the oil. BTW I read today that idling for an hour uses the same amount of fuel as driving 33 miles. So it's like 2 gallons per hour at idle. (there was a thread on this a while ago, and we were all guessing.)
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From: Dallas
Idling is O.K as long as you test your oil regularly. Blackstone indicates that if you idle this engine extensively you may have a higher fuel content than normal.
I idle mine for hours on end as I use it as a mobile office on construction sites. I have my oil tested at each change to see if I have any fuel problems developing. Check my Gallery for a Blackstone oil test report.
I idle mine for hours on end as I use it as a mobile office on construction sites. I have my oil tested at each change to see if I have any fuel problems developing. Check my Gallery for a Blackstone oil test report.
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From: Dallas
Originally Posted by Hjudge49
Short trips are bad because the engine never gets hot enough to "clean" the condensation out of the oil. BTW I read today that idling for an hour uses the same amount of fuel as driving 33 miles. So it's like 2 gallons per hour at idle. (there was a thread on this a while ago, and we were all guessing.)
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My 550 is now just cresting 4000 hours and I've owned it just shy of a year now. It reads 23,255 on the odometer. Doing some simple math that's either mean I was driving at about 6 mph the whole time or I was idling about 10 hours a day. CAT performs the analysis on my oil which is changed every 250 HRS. Roughly monthly. Fuel parts per million have yet to be unacceptable.
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From: Dallas
Originally Posted by 04F250CC60
My 550 is now just cresting 4000 hours and I've owned it just shy of a year now. It reads 23,255 on the odometer. Doing some simple math that's either mean I was driving at about 6 mph the whole time or I was idling about 10 hours a day. CAT performs the analysis on my oil which is changed every 250 HRS. Roughly monthly. Fuel parts per million have yet to be unacceptable.
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From: 3rd Rock
Originally Posted by 04F250CC60
My 550 is now just cresting 4000 hours and I've owned it just shy of a year now. It reads 23,255 on the odometer. Doing some simple math that's either mean I was driving at about 6 mph the whole time or I was idling about 10 hours a day. CAT performs the analysis on my oil which is changed every 250 HRS. Roughly monthly. Fuel parts per million have yet to be unacceptable.
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From: Durham, NC
"Wet Stacking" is the build up of resin on the exhaust valves from poor quality fuel and/or low operating temperatures due to extended idling. I was concerned about this with my Mercedes diesel, and the Mercedes technical people said it wasn't a problem with their diesel. I have noticed in Europe, the taxi drivers never shut their engines off (all manufacturers of diesels). The only exlaination I can think of, the compression ratios of non-turbo diesels are higher, so the combustion temperatures at idle will be higher, when compared to a turbo diesel, which has a lower compression ratio.
Here is an article on "Wet Stacking" if interested:
http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/b_smoke9.htm
Here is an article on "Wet Stacking" if interested:
http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/b_smoke9.htm
