| Author | Message | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Rating: N/A |
I will be driving my bus wed,thurs, fri, sat,and sunday in a realy cold climate. how long can I safely leave it Idle without hurting it and how much fuel will I burn Idleing? I just don'ty want to risk it not starting and missing any gigs before I head south on sunday night or monday morning. | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
Rating: N/A |
See this thread. | ||
| Don/TX
Rating: N/A |
Shame on you Chuck, after reading all our arguements on that thread he will REALLY nead an answer. | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
Rating: N/A |
That was one of my earliest posts on BNO. I fondly remember those days of blissful bus-virginity.  And FEAR! LOL | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
I have known truck drivers isolated by a snow storm to leave their trucks idle for a week or longer. Although it may not be good for them, it was the practice in the older days to never turn one off. The small amount of cost for the diesel you use will be peanuts to the cost of having to have someone come out and get you started. When I was having trouble with my Webasto, I let my 8V92 idle for several nights. I was of course driving it during the day. but it never got shut off for about ten days. My advice, leave it running till you get to warmer climes. Richard | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
lots of people don't realize...in a big truck...if it's 20 outside it's 20 inside if your engine isn't running..also...some of the weird places we have to sleep...not a good idea to sleep with the windows down in the summer.....so....a/c......your bus.......if it's below 30 at night & you are worried about it starting in the morning...let it idle... | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Rating: N/A |
I'm gonna let it idle. Thanks guys | ||
| Leslie Robinson (Lesrmc9)
Rating: N/A |
when idleing an engine it should be enough revs to bring the oil pressure up to near full oil pressure to make sure oil gets to the cam lobs and all the top end stuff. you know what metal on metal does and sounds like????? | ||
| bowlingshoegiverouter Rating: N/A |
I got a feelin' you are going to tell us | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
IF you HAVE to hi idle for long , change the oil when you get home. Run the engine hard when driving to attempt to reseat the rings and get rid of the gunk that will be behind the rings. Not great for ANY engine , but if its an emergency , its an EMERGENCY! FAST FRED | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
Rating: N/A |
I'd say, turn off that big DD. Then, use a block heater powered by the genny to pre-heat your engine for a few hours prior to starting. If you're relying on coach heat for heat when parked, it won't stay hot for long. I've read that a stopped DD retains more heat than an idling one. And idling is clearly damaging to them, according to DD and most other reliable 2-stroke sources. Now, if it's a short-term, one-time thing... sure you can do it. But, human nature is to turn a bad practice into a bad habit because they got away with it once. Before you know it, you got no compression, smokin' like a chimney, needing a rebuild... and cryin' about it *grin*. Now, if you do let it idle and idle, you'll have a HUGE puddle of oil under the rig from the slobber tubes, so it'd be considerate to clean up after yourself. BB | ||
| Brian (Bigbusguy)
Rating: N/A |
You could shut it off and start it up every 4 hours or so and warm it up. Brian 4905 Klamath Falls Oregon | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Rating: N/A |
Yeah sure, then I have to get out of bed on to a cold floor walk all the way to the front of the bus stub my toe on something, kick over a half emty beer can, start the engine walk back and slip in the spilt beer, crack my head on the counter top edge and do this 3 or 4 times in the night I'll just use my space heater for about an hour while I have breakfast. | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Brian, it is almost impossible to warm up a DD after it is shut off for a few hours. In fact when I stopped for the night I had to keep a piece of cardboard over the radiator to just keep it up to 100 degrees. Richard | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
Rating: N/A |
I believe DML's experience is in line with what DD tells us: you can't "warm up" a DD by just starting it/ idling it. You have to drive it down the road to get it up to temp. CR, just stop for the night, turn off that big Detroit. When you awake, use the genset to run a block heater while you eat breakfast, and you'll be good to go. No idle, no puddles, no worries. BB | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
With no block heater the "Space blanket" used as big cover works fine, if temps are going below 30F or so. Above 30F it should fire easily , if you have 2 real batterys. FAST FRED | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
With no block heater the "Space blanket" used as big cover works fine, if temps are going below 30F or so. Above 30F it should fire easily , if you have 2 real batterys. Ideling is about a gallon an hour for slow destruction. FAST FRED | ||
| Johnny Rating: N/A |
Below 30, a healthy DD should start. I started a 6-71N this winter & last winter in sub-zero temps without a heater or ether. Smoked like crazy, but it started. Batteries were 2 Interstate group 31's. | ||
| linda alexander (Noopdoggy)
Rating: N/A |
Having lived in Vermont for 10 years, my husband worked for the state garages, as you know the winters there can be below 0 for a month, thier snowplows and other various diesel equipment were Never shut down except for servicing. Yes they ran all night every night for weeks.We had occasion to witness a church bus from down south come up in january and shut the bus off, tank heaters don't work at 20 below w/wind chills. That bus had all the fuel just jellied up and it had to be towed to a heated garage and sat for 3 days before it would fire....I being a school bus driver there for years, Our diesels just ran and ran, we took ours home at night there so you wouldn't get stuck trying to get to work to pick the bus up, and I just left my running down by the shed all night. Had the same bus 3 years, and it was running fine when I moved away..Just my 2 cents..Lin | ||
| gusc Rating: N/A |
I can't see anywhere that his question was actually answered. If so I missed it. Does anyone here actually KNOW for sure that a DD suffers any more than a four stroke from long idles? So far I have read a lot of opinions but not many facts. My experience coincides with Linda's but only with 4-S Cummins, I have no experience with 2 stroke DDs. | ||
| niles steckbauer (Niles500)
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Gusc - I believe the consensus is that other than idling for a few minutes for cooling down the turbo - Idling it for prolonged periods especially in cold weather can cause cylinder washdown, wet stacking, and cause the production of sulfuric acid. That being said, there are times when it may be necessary to high idle for long periods and in a half million mile mill it may in fact shorten its life - but when its absolutely necessary ??????? - you weren't really planning on going the full 500k were you? - Niles | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
I remember running the Eagle from 3am barn departure until the 11pm return, three days in a row, all winter.... every winter, three years in a row. Wazza problem here? Rumor? Innuendo? Diesels were made to be run. You got a fast idle? Use it. | ||
| Johnny Rating: N/A |
Linda: I got a well-worn (almost 900,000 miles on the IFO) 6V71N (and about a dozen Ford PowerStrokes, and my truck) lit off several times in -15 weather. The fact the fuel was about 20-25% K-1 might have helped. The only diesel I've seen cold start better than a Detroit is an International DT466. |