Another reason for disliking the IDI

[War Wagon]

Do all factory engines have the bad seals? Is this something I need to attend to on my '94 to prolong its life?

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

That shop owner probably doesn't like them for that reason because he's probably just like the idiot that did the work on my brown trucks heads. I had the "best diesel machine shop in town" regrind my valves, install bronze valve guides, and deck the heads. He decided to ream the guides to the tight side of the tolerance, and also put the positive seals on every valve, exactly what I told him NOT to do. 75 miles on my brand new engine I spent so long putting together and BANG! CLANK CLANK CLANK! Its a sound that just makes your heart drop into your stomach.
I have the BEST of luck with these super duper great professional high end shops. Had bad experiences with pretty much every one of them in my area at this point. God I love my life.

 

[RANOVRU]

Around here most older folks know what engines under the hood in my truck and are envious. People more my age that do know about the engine dont like them mainly because theyre not "power houses" and you cant make easy power like the more modern elect DITs. And then of course theres the majority that just think its a PS (which doesnt get many complaints around here).

Funny with how big dragracing is here and pretty much everybody runs and preffers "old outdated" carb'd set ups rather than EFI engines, but when it comes to diesels its exactly the other way around.

 

[gdhillon]

cummins dont have glow plugs?

 

[fuzzy1626]

IIRC, they use a grid heater in the intake.

 

[Kevin 007]

Thats right, grid heater in the intake tract. Its debatable if it actually does anything, its supposed to help reduce smoke on cold starts.

 

[gdhillon]

hmmm never knew that b4, dmax and psds still use gps though dont they?....i guess cummins uses the blow dryer in front of intake snorkel idea

 

[rjjp]

hmmm never knew that b4, dmax and psds still use gps though dont they?....i guess cummins uses the blow dryer in front of intake snorkel idea

Sort of, it's actually just before the intake plenum, Never seen one on a big cummins, just in the dodge's so I believe it's for emissions. Plus I still haven't seen anyone with cold start issues with out it, besides Justin.

 

[Diesel JD]

Maybe lot of these people that hate IDIs have never seen a good one. When I was looking for mine, I ran across dozens of POS trucks that would barely start and were really overpriced. I took a huge leap of faith and bought one from a member here that I didn't even know that well, but I had the truck checked by someone I knew a little better (online anyway) and when it got here, man was I amazed and grinning from ear to ear. Easy start, good power for what it was, etc. Now I had the luxury of learning this engine while still living at home and not the sole breadwinner of a family or working every day. It would really suck to have had to untangle some of the issues I had to if I were trying to make a living that depended on this truck getting me to work on time everyday and having no other options to get there. The bottom line is that they have quirks like all other engines, and some people like them, others never will. That's how it is. It helps to know their quirks, to know when you are practicing safe, proven techniques and when you are out there on your own so to speak.

 

[BigRigTech]

The Cummins 12V had the grid heater in 5 tons too, it really doesn't work all that well....I hear good and bad about IDI's around here too....Mine will start in really cold weather for fun....Good Beru GP's, manual controls and a smidge of timing....Piece of cake.

 

[Rot Box]

Good info in this thread I don't believe everything I hear, but I thought the seizing valve issue was sorta interesting. I think the majority of people who dislike the IDI's around here have either A. only driven ran into the ground neglected work trucks or B. they are dumbs$#t kids who's diesel truck replaced the rice rocket they used to drive back when they were a fad. A kid was picking apart my crew cab once and I asked him why IDI's are junk and he said "you'll never get 800hp out of that pos". I guess thats the difference between a good truck and a bad one .


Both of my last Cummins trucks (92 and 01 Dodges) didn't start for crap without the grid heater. I tried it many times without and with the heater made all the difference in the cold. Maybe it was just the condition my trucks were in I don't know--there are many people out there that say the heaters are worthless.

 

[Kevin 007]

 

[War Wagon]

Funny with how big dragracing is here and pretty much everybody runs and preffers "old outdated" carb'd set ups rather than EFI engines, but when it comes to diesels its exactly the other way around.

Exactly. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? I personal prefer the opposite. Mechanical diesels and EFI gas engines, but what do I know?

I am still concerned a little about the seizing valve issue. I have never heard of this until this thread popped up. Is this something I need to address?

 

[snicklas]

I know that Trav had the grid heater unhooked on the Nanny Goat. The only day it did not start was a below 0 like -10 or -15 morning, no grid heater, not plugged in. Went out after it had warmed up a bit (like around 0) and it fired up..... was PO'ed about it, but it started.

 

[Black dawg]

I know that Trav had the grid heater unhooked on the Nanny Goat. The only day it did not start was a below 0 like -10 or -15 morning, no grid heater, not plugged in. Went out after it had warmed up a bit (like around 0) and it fired up..... was PO'ed about it, but it started.

It seems like I work on a few cummins motors every week, some start effortlessly without the man heater and some start very hard without it. I have worked on a few that were well taken care of and in good shape that would not start at 30 deg without the man heater.