Why is this significant on the CTD. I pull 8-10K worth of 5th wheel in the summer should I gauge this?

Thanks,
Don

 

Yes!!!!!! Have you ever heard of liquid metal---(almost to that extent). Well you get the picture.

 

Yes it is important for many reasons especially while towing. There are two critical temps to be aware of.
1 You should not shut down until your exhaust temps are below 300 degf. This is to protect the oil still in the turbo. If it is above this temp it can cause coking of the oil, which will lead to clogged oil passages and a slow death to your turbo. You will be surprised how long it can take things to cool down after a long tow in the summer.
2 High limit, do not exceed temps above 1300 degf for very long. You can force a down shift in your auto too help this and get off the go pedal. This is hard on everything.
I noticed you have an auto (slush box). This is another critical thing to watch the temps on. They can really put out the heat when towing in stop and go traffic, climbing hills, coming out of tunnels e.g.… And you will be surprised how fast the temp will rise when backing up the camper. I don’t like to shut mine down below 160 degf and don’t let it get above 200 degf for long. Here is a link from an earlier post one of our guys put up about this. If you doubt what I say read this.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ght=fluid+temp
What we don’t know can hurt our trucks. We might get away with it for a while but it will catch up with us sooner or later. Of course it will be a cold wet rainy/snowy night in the middle of nowhere when it does.
Hope this helps.

 

In a stock truck, I don't think the EGT's are much of a concern as long as you don't lug the engine under a hard pull. Just down shift and let the engine rev.

The one thing I would watch is the tranny fluid temp. If you don't have a gauge on your tranny temp. I would say that it wouldn't hurt to change out your tranny fluid on a more frequent time schedule then the manual calls for.

 

I've had my truck up to 1200* pre turbo on a hill(actually it was a big over pass but you take what you get in Houston ) before. And that's with a BHAF and a 4" straight piped exhaust and nothing else. This was also unloaded.

 

Be advised that a STOCK ETH truck can easily hit 1300 PRE-turbo. If towing at altitude, you can easily hit that danger zone over extended loading.

Monitoring EGT is a good idea on ANY and EVERY diesel.



Keep in mind that the EGT limit of 1350 is maximum SUSTAINED temp. Cummins says the engine can handle 1350 all day forever. Momentary flashes to much higher values (1400-1500) will not melt your pistons.

Justin

 

So priority would be keeping tabs on EGT's and tranny temps when towing , can you give me some idea where the thermowell would be on these two?

Thanks BillG for the explaination and the link.

 

This is where most folks install the thermocouple for pre-turbo temps on trucks up until 2002. It's a lttle different on the newer trucks (03 & up) because of a different manifold.
(Thanks to BillG for his photo,,,,, And NO,,,,,,,, I didn't draw on the one in your gallery Bill. )

 

Related thread -- Click Here

This is the way I hooked mine up or you can use an earlier model year transmission line which can be purchased from a dealer for around $100. BillG is using that type line and has a picture in his photo Gallery.

This photo is mine using the compression fittings and "T" from NAPA and I installed it in the hot line just before the fluid goes into the Heat exchanger which is mounted to the side of the motor under the exhaust manifold.

 

Hey RATTLINRAM
You have my permission if you want to. That was a good idea. I thought of that but haven’t had time to play with it. Have too many projects going at the same time.
See you at the meeting.

 

Thank you Dennis for the pics, they are printed off and I'm on my way out to have a look see.

A guy I work with had his Chevy truck burn up after the trans puked ATF out the dip stick tube and it caught fire! This need not happen 780 miles from home with wife and kids on board.

Thanks all,

Don