Ok, I am new to the full size truck thing and in my previous post someone mentioned that short drives (less than 10 min.) are killers for diesels. I would like to know why that is and what is happening when I do it. My commute to work is less than 10 min., but I do alot of driving on the weekends and on vacations. Thanks for the input.<br>Todd

 

short trips that don't get an engine up to full operating temp is killer on any engine, gas or diesel ............<br><br>so it's a good idea to make sure it's warmed up before you shut it down .............<br><br><br>I don't know where you get the don't idle for more than 2 minutes smokin ..............sometimes it take 3-4 minutes for my egt's to come down after a long hi-speed trip on the hioghway<br><br>when I talked to the tech at cummins mid canada I was told the engine should not be idled for long periods of time, and he said long periods was like 2-3 hours......

 

It's the low operating temperature. <br><br>A ten minute trip after the engine is warm does no harm. UPS trucks see this type of duty every day, as do skid loaders, forklifts, etc. <br><br>Most of the wear an engine suffers occurs on cold startup.

 

Short trips donot allow the engine to reach operating temps in cold weather (start, drive, shutoff) its better to allow the engine to warm up before driving to prevent Cly wash down which scores the Cly walls...this is the short answer

 

Not to mention condensation! When mixed with the sulfur from your fuel (which isn't much these days) creates sulfuric acid ... not good on your prized motor

 

so how much does this short driving stuff cut off the life of the engine?

 

[quote author=undecided link=board=8;threadid=10759;start=0#102983 date=1044908152]<br>so how much does this short driving stuff cut off the life of the engine?<br>[/quote]<br><br>To give you that answer I would need to see the future<br><br>But undecided if you will volunteer to test the theory with your truck and give us a running report....hehehe ;D ;D

 

Most of the above described problems/symptoms are what degrade the motor lube oil, which is the main concern.<br><br>Use a high quality synthetic motor oil with by-pass filtration to remove as many contaminants as possible and I'll bet your diesel will last a long time with those short trips. JMO and NOT attempting to initiate an oil war. Regards.

 

Not too long ago I worked for an Ambulance company. All of our units were Fords equipped with the PSD. Often we went from not running the rigs for several hours then jumping in and going full throttle in just a matter of minutes. Often idling for long periods of time. When we did return to our post we just turned the thing off. I can’t remember any of our units having major problems and a lot of them had close to 200,000 miles before they were replaced, due to contract guidelines not breakdowns. <br><br>Now I am a proud owner of a Dodge and it’s a totally different then what I was used to. Don’t let it idle, let it warm up real good before you put your foot into it, let it cool down before you turn it off, plug in or not to plug in – my head is spinning.<br><br>Don’t take me wrong. I love my truck and plan on keeping it for years to come. I am a real stickler for maintenance and service and I usually put less then 10k miles a year on my vehicles. I can’t imagine ever driving my Dodge like those Fords, no need to.<br><br>What’s a guy to think.<br><br>

 

[quote author=T.Clark link=board=8;threadid=10759;start=0#103640 date=1045028932]I can’t remember any of our units having major problems and a lot of them had close to 200,000 miles before they were replaced, due to contract guidelines not breakdowns.[/quote]<br><br>Nice thing about diesels is that they can handle that kinda abuse for that kind of timeframe.<br><br>I think the main idea here is to try to make the engines last as long as possible. Also, I would guess that the oil in those PSD ambulances were changed regularly.

 

Take a look in the back of any operators manual and check at any dealer does not matter the brand and you will discover that the manufacturer will state in the warranty clause &quot;not applicable to emergency vehicles and tow trucks&quot;. Your units also probably were plugged into a land line emergency ejection system maintaining 70-100 degrees F in the block, city driving can produce temperatures damaging to turbos under high load, and outside temperatures depending on geographical location is a factor. Your department was lucky as most will experience failures before 100k, driver experience and style will make a difference. Important difference is you payed for the one in your driveway and looking at some posts on &quot;coking&quot; will help you understand the the cool down issue. The long idle issue I dont agree with as the average winter temp her every morning is below 0 F and I like a warm truck to go to work in and have never had a failure due to &quot;excessive&quot; idling, however realizing that a running engine is creating wear and using fuel. Cummins here will tell you the same thing as everywhere else but know that all the customers here high idle to keep the trucks warm daily from B-X engines. There is no proof that high idling causes any more engine &quot;failures&quot; unless there is another problem mechanically when monitored and done correctly. PK

 

I never worrie abotu letting my truck warm up or cool down. When I get in it on a cold day I let the oil pressure come up and off I go. I only let the truck cool down If I have been pulling hard or have been doing some other street raceing. Other than that I just stop sit for a sec and turn the truck off.<br>I put aroung 30k to 50k on my truck a year driveing back and forth to college and running to diesel events like muncie and some others.<br>Got 130k on the ticker and still going strong.<br>DM01