storx

i was driving from california to north carolina and i had my tire blow in the rear on a long back country road and i couldnt get any light to see what i could do to change the tire and it was really cold outside like 20-30 degrees so i left the truck idling for 9 1/2 hours while i slept with the heat on inside the truck....

wadecool

I've started it up on a Friday, ran up to northern Ontario to get a Fema camper, and left it running til I got back to KY on Sunday. It was so cold -20F, we just slept all night in the cab.

dj_souvlaki

coupel of hours. kept it at a higher idle.

usually i'll jam my snowbrush in between the seat and the throttle to keep the idle up.

mx684

ill flip my high idle switch up to 1200 and leave it for a couple hours when its cold....temp stays right at 190 just as if i was driving the whole time..

91rangerturbo

This is a great informative article.
http://busbuilding.com/bus-conversio...etroit-diesel/

1BAD4X4

My buddy was just telling me about a thread on dieselplace were a guy had a truck with something like only 40k miles but had over 10k hours on the engine. He'd leave his truck idling for a week at a time while he was down in the mines.

stickler

At work we had a standard policy where we were not allowed to shut our old 6.2 GM's down if the temperature was -35°C or below. They often wouldn't start even when plugged in, and the company got tired of all the starting problems. And we often went for over 2 months in those temps. Those trucks routinely made 500,000km before replacement, and some are still going strong today.

My own 6.2 I once idled for 5 days when I was waylaid in a huge blizzard in Kansas and couldn't find an outside outlet in the entire town to plug it in.

My current Dodge, I've only owned less than a year, but the longest for me was around an hour at 1200rpm when it was -44°C. Even after that, it still took over 100 miles at highway speed before the engine temp gauge even moved off cold, and another 100 miles before it was warm enough in the cab to take my gloves off.

I'll be springing for an Espar as soon as I can afford it.

ShooterMagavin

The issue with extended idling is fuel build up in what is know as dead space in the cylinder. It is the space on top of the first ring between the piston and the liner (in your case the cylinder wall). At an idle injection pressures are low and the fuel does not atomize very well. This is even worse with the larger injectors some of you are running. So if you are gonna idle kick it up on high and make it spray a little harder. Just got done with an overhaul class put on by a former Detroit Diesel engineer and he showed us several varnished liners from guys sleeping in their trucks and letting them run all night. He claims that anything over 5 min is actually doing damage to you engine.

JonnyThrottle

so after reading the thread and the linked article, am have come to 2 conclusions....
1. If you are going to be idling, the general school of thought is that you must keep the motor at operational temps to keep the fuel burning properly
and
2. the best ways to do this are high idle or an engine brake

Did I read this correctly?

gandalf1g

Yep. Thats the ticket. 1000 to 1200 rpms will usually keep enough turbulance in the combustion chamber for a complete burn and enough engine temp to keep the oil from varnishing on the valve stems. The 5.9 is a real diesel. the only diff between it and a 855 is the fact that the 5.9 is not wet sleeved. This was done to make the block more rigid.

aaronedwards82

My worktruck runs 12-14 hrs everyday without turning off. It really doesn't like starting in cold weather for some reason.(04/5600)
But my personal truck runs and starts like a champ, longest it'll run is 15-30 mins.(99/47re)

But some of our generators we have that have cummins and waukeshas and cat's on em run all year long. They usually get shut down just long enough for valve adjustment and oil/filter change.

Krob

Just curious when i start my truck i put the transfer in neutral and put the tranny into 1st or 2nd so that it is turning over. My idea behind this is it is starting to warm up the tranny and get the fluids moving. Opinions?

cm979

Well I Work in the oilfield Contract pumper as they call it. I start My morning at 4:30 truck is on while I get ready to go I usually get home around 5. I would have to say 6 am till 4 pm 7 days a week rain sun or shine, it is sitting here at idle, been doin this for 4 yrs in the same truck no problems what so ever. Just hope it stays that way.

CODODGE2500MAN

do you warm up in P, N, or....?

THis past week I've been letting the truck warm up with the parking brake set firm and in drive. It seems to load the engine a little and warm up rather than just idle.....

I need a new trans soon, but is this bad for the trans? If so, I'll stop when I get a new one.

Thanks....

P.S. longest ive idled is about 1 hour....at Idle (750)

bullfrog5.9

i had mine run for 4 days during when i use to clear drive ways in the winter it was so cold that when u left it on idel the heat goes down to 1/4 lol so high idel was needed. but most weekends i go to my home hour for the weekend or a night i dont uselly turn it off i drive up friday night go to party and pass out in the truck just in case some one does something to me while im passed out lol so i in my truck doors looked and heat on lol come sat afternoon back is sore lol floor is hard and all the rumbleing from the motor lol but probly once a month the truck runs for over 24hours in one shot lol