Good evening everyone!
I have a 2000 ex with 115,000 miles. Its the V10 Gas. I'm a kid - 16 - and I only have to drive 5 minutes to school every day. (Too far to walk/bike and my school doesn't have a bus.) I do drive quite a bit on weekends, but thats different. Monday through friday, I usually just go from my house, to school, and then back. My ex lives on the driveway. (Too big for the garage.) Here in Kansas, we have lows around 20˚F. That means that it is very cold in the morning. My truck isn't even warm by the time I get to school. Not only is this uncomfortable, but I know its very hard on the truck. Are there any solutions to this problem? I would like it to warm up quicker so I don't cause so much wear on it. When I fire that thing up in the morning, it keeps the rpm's up wayy high for half my trip. Any ideas?

Thanks,
William

P.S. I forgot to mention...It's KILLING my fuel mileage average. I drive very slowly, shifting at 1750-1900 rpms and coast all the way to a stop sometimes. Still, I'm only averaging 10.4 - 10.9 mpg...

 

You may want to install a block heater on it. Put a timer on the cord so it turns the juice on about 3 hours before you're going to leave. It won't help in the afternoon after school, but will help in the colder mornings.

 

Anyone got one for sale? If not, wheres the best place to buy one? Also, does my 2000 ex 6.8l already have one and all I need is the cord? How can I tell? Thanks,
William

 

Chances are, ur v-10 doesnt have one. Are u the first owner? The reason i ask that is because if their is a previous owner then he could of put on on their. Those higher RPM'S in the morning arent hurting your engine.

 

Bump....anyone know where I can get what I need?

 

qwertmonkey you have tow options. One has been told to you already. I cannot imagine an engine heater is needed for the V10 in the 20's but then again that could be preference. My suggestions would be to allow it to heat up in the morning. I have alwasy been a strong believer that you shold aloow you engine a good 5 - 10 minutes to warm up prior to driving during cold months. Another idea could be to get a remote start. That way it is warm when ever.

 

I would say that 10.6 MPG is on the good side of avg for winter blend gas on the V10. I am afraid you will have to live with the MPG's that you are seeing not much can been done about that. I get 8 on avg here in WI during the crappy forced use of winter blend and ethanol gas - stupid tree hugging government! (summer blends aren't much better)

 

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Its just letting A gas truck idle for 10 minutes hurts me in the wallet and state of mind. That's a lot of wasted fuel. I think I'll use the ideas I've gathered from here and come up with a solution. Thanks for all the help.

 

On cold mornings, I use my remote start. It hurts mileage, but on really cold days it's a nice luxury.

On any other day...I turn the key...and in the time it take to play with the radio, etc...I'm ready to drive. In my thinking, there's no reason to let the vehicle idle a long time before driving. I wouldn't go full throttle right away...but gentle driving (in my thinking) is fine.

 

Idling for 5-10 minutes is practically nothing in gas.

Starting it up in the morning and driving sensibly (no WOT, no high revs, heavy towing, etc.) for the first few minutes is all it takes.

With both trucks I've had I've started them, let them idle until the idle fell to 1000 rpm or below, then driven away, taking it easy for the first few minutes until the truck had warmed completely up.

Running without the truck warmed up in open loop may make your emissions higher and the truck suck more gas, but it's not hard on the engine as long as you're not running the revs high, and giving it suitable time to oil itself up nicely before driving away.

EDIT: What Matt M. said is spot on. The most important thing to get before you drive away is oil pressure...the engine needs to be happily doused in oil, then it pretty much doesn't care about normal driving.

My father drove a '92 GMC Sierra with the 350 and auto for 210K. He was one of those people who would be putting it in drive and driving away before the starter could stop spinning. When we pulled the engine at 230K to swap in a 454...the engine looked fine inside and out, than a minor oil leak in the driver's valve cover, faint crosshatch patterns still in the cylinder.

These engines will take most everything you can throw at them. Start it up, give it 30 seconds or so to run oil all over the engine, drive it sensibly until it's warm, and don't worry about it too much.

 

Just take the long way to school ... at least 10 miles.

 

Buy a Viper alarm with remote start. I think they are about $200.

 

I can say on a cold day if I forgot to plug my 7.3 in that night before and had the heater on for a few hurs I need to let my truck warm up for 2 - 3 minutes. Otherwise I go n o where without getting on it. Matt is also correct about the oil. Oil is key. I have sen many many people who do nothing to their vehicels on time except oil changes and they run a very long time. As for the gas being used for the warm up it is minimal. I cannot imagine that much is used during idleing. Otherwise it would be very difficult for anyone to sit in traffic. Good luck qwert