Is there a way to encourage the engine to warm up faster and stay warmer while idling in the cold weather? The weather here has been only in the 40's to 60's but I have trouble keeping the engine warm. My drive to work is about 10 miles and the truck is barely to 200 by the time I arrive. If I let it idle, it can not keep up its temp. It falls to 150-160 or so. If I start it and let it idle in the morning, it shows no signs of warming up until it's driven. Is there anything that will make these run a little warmer in the winter?

I am concerned about the truck running cold too much and the consequences for the engine.

 

how warm do you want it??

 

You might try putting some load on the engine.
Cummins tests their engines by using a large motor / generator to create a load on the motor.
I believe this creates heat.

 

You can activate the "high idle" feature. There are numerous threads on this as well as being able to either go to the dealership and have them turn it on or do it with a programmer like SMARTY or Bully Dog

 

You will get the quickest warm up from using a exhaust brake.

 

the exhaust brake helps tremendously, but i think the high idle works far better. i am not sure if he has an exhaust brake (i know not factory) on his 5.9, but if so the unbeatable combo is the high idle with exhasut brake on!

 

Your thermstat could be stuck open. Maybe your fan clutch is stuck on.

 

I use the high idle (enabled at the dealer) but it doesn't help much. I just want it to warm up. I mean it will idle for 20 minutes in the morning on high idle and never reach operating temp. If I drive for a while and get it up to temp, then park it and idle somewhere, the temp will start dropping, even with high idle on. That just doesn't sound right to me. It is only in the 50's here. I didn't think about the thermostat being stuck open.

 

High idle plus the exhuast brake still causes the temp to swing when it's cold out...it will just warm up alot quicker. Then, the jake shuts off because the "warm" temperature has been reached. It doesn't take long before it will cool off again though, and the jake will kick on again.

It sounds like you could benefit from a winter radiator cover to me.

--Eric

 

Do they make those for these trucks or will I have to fabricate something myself? I am still going to check the thermostat.

I do idle the truck sometimes and I don't want to cause problems with the engine from idling cold.

 

If you're talking about the winter front, yes they're available specifically for our trucks. Mopar makes a nice one, as does Cabella's, etc. Use the search function...it's been discussed extensively here.

--Eric

 

Yeah the mopar winter front cover would be your cheapest best friend right now.

 

Being in Northern Canada I can tell you that I too have problems getting the diesel up to temperature on my way to work. It's is just a simple fact of diesels that shows how amazingly efficient diesel is over a gas engine. Diesels don't have much "waste" heat.

Here, when it is -10 deg. C (or worse) my truck cab doesn't warm up, unless I make the truck work or use the high idle feature when warming up...you set it using the cruise control while in park, no programmer needed. My brother has a brake contoller and that works really really well he said. But it of course is a more expensive option.

A grill cover helps a lot, as does a block heater. I'm getting one installed on Friday since I bought my truck in Florida and thus the truck didn't come with one.

I looked into another option call "Blue Heat": http://www.webastoshowroom.com/blueh...heat_works.htm

The blue heat system is an diesel burner (plumbed from your tank) that heats either your coolant system & cab interior, just your cab interior, or just your coolant system. Super nice system but super expensive. I was quoted $2800 CAD installed for the full meal deal. Installation takes a lot of labour since the system is plummed into the interior cab venting system. They had another $800 system that you (or any mechanic) could install and it just heat up only the coolant.

Either way, I am going with the block heater so I can plug my truck in at home and at work. Should only cost about $200 installed.

 

If you just have that short trip, I would yank the fan. If it still wont heat up, then replace the t-stat.

 

do the redneck thing like I do to keep heat in the motor during the winter. A piece of cardboard between the radiator and intercooler. You will have to cut about an 18" square in the center of the cardboard or it will get too hot. High Idle will not work since it is turning the fan faster and there is no load on the motor. I have watched mine with high idle enabled still drop to the 150-160 range due to NO load. You don't have a t-stat problem since it is still heating up to nearly 200 degrees with a 10 mile drive.