Idle Fuel Consumption

[FordGuy100]

Worst case scenario....ether.

If I ever found myself in <-20*F weather with no help, I would give it one chance to start on glow plugs....then go right to ether to not kill the batteries.

 

[swervyjoe]

My pickup has been starting a 0F just fine for the last few days. I just cycle the plugs twice and it fires up. It does Idle real rough for the first couple minutes.

 

[Goofyexponent]

I have several cold start videos of my truck flashing up with and without the block heater with ot a single issue.

Just keep GOOD batteries in the truck. If you have your doubts, wire in a battery tender to the block heater. They work.

-28*F NOT plugged in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq3brewIDiQ

+7*F on block heater for 1.5 hours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke4H6bbOnCQ

Not sure the temperature...but: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg5Mx3Q2ku0

Before cleaning the battery connections.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUz6P720IQc

After cleaning them...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jmk8UF53LE

All the above videos were made by me, and are of my truck (ex truck, recently gone)

I guess my point in all this is, the people that have a hard time starting are usualyl the ones with issues in eithe rthe fuel, glow plug or battery systems. Maybe they don't realize it, or don't know about the issues.

But I live in Canada..it gets COLD here at times. I've personally seen it down below -31*F here and although it took two attempts....my truck started just fine without a block heater.

Get a battery tender, check and clean your terminals on teh batteries (even if you don't think they need it) and at the starter. Make sure your O-rings at the caps are good and don't leak at all (should be clean and dry around all 8) and make sure ALL 8 glow plugs are working.

I think you'll do just fine if you use the block heater as added insurance.

I've been workign around diesel engines my whole working career since High School and have only seen ONE engine fail to start. 350 big cam 3, NO glow plugs or grid heater in those engines, and I didn't have ether to give it a kick in the ****.

 

[Silver Burner]

I also wired in a battery tender to my truck and it works awesome! There are times my truck sits for 2 or 3 weeks and I'll just leave the battery tender going and then plug the truck in for a couple hours before I'm ready to go. Truck starts like it's brand new. Not even loud, just a little quick puff of smoke when it first fires. And this is a quarter million mile engine!

 

[icanfixall]

Idleing for an extended time will wash down the cylinders causing the rings to burn the cylinders. They also will cause the rings and the cylinders to get a varnish on them that will not come off till its machined off. thats why when we rebuild these engines they get to work fast hauling a load. Otherwise the cylinder ring breakin takes many thousands of miles. the ruins an engine... Look at any big rig rest stop. See those rigs idleing overnite. Well they get something called wet stacking. Thats when the unburned fuel collects in the stacks. At the last curve in the stacks is a small hole drilled in the elbow to allow the liquid fuel to drain out instead of blowing out the top of the stack. Please do not idle the engine for the time your thinking of. I did idle me oem engine for 7 hours once. My starter burned up when I started it. I felt it turning slower and slower till it fired up. Then the smoke came out from under the closed hood. I was hauling horses from a show some 100 miles from home base. The lady I was working for had way too many things she wanted to be doing as I waited for her to party up and tell everyone how great she was. So I finally grabbed her horse. Walked it to the trailer and loaded it. She was so pissed off becasue she wanted pics with lots of people with a crappy blue ribbon... Sucks to be her. I knew her trainer and told him what the deal was. It was get in now or find another ride home... I'm sure she still hates me to this day but too bad fatso... sucks to be you.... Idle your engine at your own risk.. For me it was a horrible experiance but the engine was run hard after that amount of idleing so I burned off what I did to the rings and cylinders... That engine ran for several hundred thousand miles after that.. The starter was so smelly too. I couldn't stand the smell so it rode in the bed of my other truck to the mom and pop repair shop... they knew wheat I had done before they asked...

 

[firehawk]

I have seen many diesel engines run for hours at an idle. Mine has done so for several hours at a time when needed. I have not done a rebuild on my diesel yet, but I have on many gas engines, and even on ones with lots of idle time, no wear to the cylinder was measured. I am curious if any rebuilds were done on engines where wear was likely caused by idle wash, as in low miles but many hours.

 

[FordGuy100]

Gas engines wont have as much of a problem as their idle cylinder temperatures will be much higher, so cylinder wash shouldnt be nearly as much as a problem.

 

[tanman_2006]

I bought my Dmax from a construction contractor. He admitted to leaving the truck idle while he goes into stores and sits at job sites the truck still runs great but the injectors are suffering from high return rates (causes low rail psi).

Cylinder wash is a real problem in diesels. My Dmax is ok as far as blow by and compression goes so I'm not worried. Alot of idle time obviously has an effect on the fuel system as well.

 

[X-NRCan_IDI]

I haven't had to start in really cold weather yet this winter, but its been chilly enough here. With the block heater and batt blanket plugged in, my truck starts up like its summer time. I would definetly look into magnetic heaters and what not before leaving my truck to idle if I was worried about seriously cold temps. It might cost a bit to get set up, but once you have it, you have it. Burnt fuel is burnt fuel; you'll never get it back. Not to mention the risk (as I have learned from posts here) of washing down the walls. Don't like the sound of that!

Again, its my opinion... not "the only way" to do things.

 

[Goofyexponent]

If I need to idle the big truck at work, I make sure to set it upto about 1300 RPM. And even then, I won't let it idle for more than 10 minutes. No point in wasting fuel, but also a complete rebuild for a 15 liter cummins is like $20 000

 

[X-NRCan_IDI]

If I need to idle the big truck at work, I make sure to set it upto about 1300 RPM. And even then, I won't let it idle for more than 10 minutes. No point in wasting fuel, but also a complete rebuild for a 15 liter cummins is like $20 000

$20k... dayum! Definetly not worth it... I would think that if you're not using the truck for more than 5-10 min. you might as well shut it off. I'm sure its got enough thermal mass to stay pretty warm for a while; certainly much longer than I'd want to let anything idle!

 

[Hyde]

Stepping into this a little late but the 3gph estimate is a little high, on a Powerstroke, maybe. Mechanical engines use less fuel at idle than an electronic. My truck has started every day this year, its got down to about 0° here. That said when I was in college I had a 6.9 that had bad glow plugs, Id plug it in at home but when I got to school it was about -20 that year. I just locked the doors and let it idle through my classes. I've also been known to let it idle all night so I would have heat while Im sleeping outside the bar Havent seen any ill effects. Days at a time though, I would find a better option.

 

[towcat]

here's a real-life experience. I own towtrucks. a few of them. they happen to run all day long, either at idle or full-load. the carrier gets the long distance work and it is able to keep the motors around the longest. avg of 450-650k/mi. the wreckers otoh........if I get 150k to 200k/mi before the blowby is obnoxious, I consider myself lucky. the motors must run due to the need for the PTO to run the hydraulics. bottom line, if you can avoid letting the truck idle, I would do so. you will wash down your cylinders.

 

[WisdomWarlord]

I didn't mention that I will be in the U. P. of Michigan, right on Lake Superior. Trust me, it could get brutally cold. -15 and colder, and winds that can easily be 25mph sustained for more that a day.
I wasn't aware of the washdown concerns.
Maybe I should have been more complete in how it will be used. I won't start the truck and just leave it to idle fire a few weeks. It will get driven at least 30 miles a day. When is not being driven, I want to leave it running instead of sitting it off.

 

[redneckaggie]

plug the block heater in off of a timer set to come on 2 or 3 hours before you plan to fire up. I know there are members here that have started them that cold just fine with no block heater and a fully functional glow plug system, good starter, and good batteries. If you do not have a power source it would be worth it to get a generator to plug it in with than leaving it idle.