Hi all<br> First time diesel owner have a couple of questions.<br> 1st- when shutting engine down it shudders before completly stopping, is this normal?<br> 2nd- when shampooing the engine is there anything i should be careful not to get wet, only thing i can see to be covered might be the alternator. I drive the highway 5 nights a week and it is starting to look a little salty under there.

 

Welcome, Roadrat. The answer to question number 1 is yes, they often shudder a little when sut down. I believe this is due to the compression ratio a diesel uses to ignite fuel. I don't know about question number two, since we rarely have any salting of the roads here in Texas. One thing I WOULD be careful of is to NEVER clean it unless it is completely cooled down to atmospheric temperature - if you sprayed it with a hose while at normal operating temperature it could crack the block (same as a gasser). Be sure it has a chance to dry out some before starting just to be sure no water gets sucked into the intake/turbo.

 

Welcome RoadRat.<br>Also keep the high pressure spray away for the electrical connectors.<br>I spray the cool engine with Simple Green, let it set about 5 min. the rinse off.<br><br><br>Mucho rotating mass inside that big 'ole Cummins block.....a little shudder is normal.<br><br>Ed

 

[quote author=roadrat link=board=4;threadid=10983;start=0#104744 date=1045256492]<br>Hi all<br> First time diesel owner have a couple of questions.<br> 1st- when shutting engine down it shudders before completly stopping, is this normal?<br>[/quote]<br><br>A good practice to get in the habit of, is making sure your doors are shut when shutting off.<br>The shuddering or shaking tends to make short use of the hinges, and you'll find your doors sagging after a while.<br><br><br>Welcome and Enjoy your truck<br><br>phox

 

After every other wash, I wash under the hood and splash the left over water (in the bucket) on the engine then spray it off. Engine compartment looks brand new ;D

 

All excellent advice so far. <br>I would add that you should avoid any harsh chemical cleaners, or degreasers. They can make short life of the clear coat on many engine parts .<br>As suggested, Simple Green works quite well.<br><br>Welcome

 

BigK, is that what you did to the clear coat on my valve cover? &gt; Learned your lesson then you sell me the damaged truck.

 

[quote author=NAIL BENDER link=board=4;threadid=10983;start=0#105050 date=1045333287]<br>BigK, is that what you did to the clear coat on my valve cover? &gt; Learned your lesson then you sell me the damaged truck. <br>[/quote]<br><br>That is cold!

 

I cannot tell a lie, at least not very convincingly .<br><br>The truth hurts, but the best lessons are sometimes learned the hard way.<br><br>I'm sure that I'll be reminded of it again this summer when both of our trucks are sitting in my shop in a state of partial disassembly, waiting for some slight &quot;modification&quot; to be applied to certain items. Some of which have been clear coat damaged. ;D

 

Thanks for all the tips and sugestions everyone, i will probably have a lot more questions about this truck as time goes by,only had it a few weeks now, so a lot of things are kinda new to me. Thanks again folks.<br><br>

 

If you haven't checked it yet, look at the Tech Facts section at the top of the website page.<br>Lot's o good info there.<br>Also www.dodgeram.org Dave Fritz's site is a great place to browze for Dodge and Cummins info and modifications to improve your Ram.

 

As far as temp goes, you will not harm anything that is participating in the cooling system since as long as it has collant in it, it cannot get hot enough to be damaged by cold water. This goes for the block, head, etc. Things that are not part of the cooling system, and are made of cast iron/aluminum, should be of concern though. They can rise to higher temeratures and cold water from a hose can cause them to crack if they are very hot at the time the cold water hits them. The exhaust manifold is a prime culprit of this sort of thing. The turbo housing is another possibility, but I haven't heard of anyone cracking either side.<br><br>Chris