Rampage1967

The big reason they do it is, as stated, for heat, ac & electric power.
The reason APU are getting more popular is that the EPA & many municipalities are getting very down on extended idling because of the noise & pollution factors.

xtoyz17

I don't let it warm up much more than 30 seconds during the summer, and I let the high idle run for ~5 minutes in the winter. Won't be commuting with the truck soon, so it'll be a moot point. My commute went from 7 miles (20 mins) to 1/8 mile so I bought a neon to keep the cold start/stop wear and tear off the truck.

Tray

In the summer I let mine idle for maybe 30 seconds and I'm off, sometimes. If it's too hot in the truck I'll kick on the AC and it might idle 10 minutes before I go back to it. In the winter, usually 30-45 minutes at idle every morning. The truck doesn't get too warm, but it does get warm enough to defrost the windows. I just go out, fire the truck up and come back in to a nice cup of coffee.

I've heard from tons and tons of people though (including dodge mechanics) that it is indeed not good to let the 3rd gens idle. Actually too much idle time on one will void your warranty according to one dodge mech. (It's a lot of idle though, 20%) but from what I can gather excessive idle is a big part in the injector problems the newer trucks have.

Haulin_in_Dixie

What a waste of money.... My generator heats the condo cab for about 20 hours on 3 gallons of gas. Cools it for about 13 hours on the same 3 gallons. Add it up its a real waste.

levigarrett76

After idling all night.....have yall seen the raw fuel coming out of the exhaust from the wet stacking....?

does yours not get the runny black stuff coming out of the exhaust RENOPKER?


I screwed up and fell asleep with our new holland 3930 (3 cylinder) idling outside...woke up the next morning and it was smoking like crazy and black nasty liquid was seeping out every crevice in the exhaust.....


I dont think there is ANY good thing about idling a diesel more than 10 mins.....new or old

renopker

No never had any thing (fuel) run out the tail pipe I did put a high idle system on it,it doesn't like to idle when its cold below 0. I seem to park next to the big rigs and there running to.

renopker

I dont think it burns much idling and theres no room for a generator in my truck.5-6 hours is about the time spent sleeping.

Tray

I know mine doesn't burn much idling. I've left mine running all night before while catching a nap and running the heat. If I leave it idle for 8 hours I might burn about 1/8th of a tank. A lot of times at work I don't shut it off either. If it's not going to sit there for at least 20-30 mins before I'm jumping in it again I'm gonna leave mine running.

SundayMoney

I fire it up,let the gauges settle and drive away. Its never more than 30 seconds or so.

Some guys won't beat on it until the water temp reaches normal level.

I wait to hammer on it until the oil comes up to temp.


For as much whining goes on about fuel prices,there sure are alot of guys wasting fuel with all the extended idling.

My neighbor is one of those guys. He lets his Cummins idle for 20 minutes every morning. Doesn't matter if its 20* or 70*,it idles for 20 minutes.

wcbcruzer

Jeez, 20 minutes. He's wasting both his money AND time.

DBLR

I don't think they understand how much $$$ they could save on fuel if the did not let it run for 20-30 or more doing nothing. If they feel the need to let it run I hope they least bump up the engine speed to 1100-1500 rpm's.

xtoyz17

Been watching a lot of ice road truckers lately, if you think idling over night is bad these guys leave their trucks idling for days on end. During the ice-road season it's so cold if they start the truck the oil thickens up so much the trucks won't turn back over.