Diesel Question

I don't own a diesel, never have. I've driven a few (925's, hummv's). I see diesel truck owners stop at a store or business and leave the engine running. Not on particularly cold or hot days, either. Why is that? Is there some reason not to shut the engine off?

Reply to
.boB
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Ego, they mostly want everyone to know they have one. You should let one idel for a few minutes after a hard pull but no need to in town driving.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

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Reply to
BigIronRam

Yeah, that coking oil on turbo bearings is a real ego problem.

Reply to
Max Dodge

It will not cook driving around town. Most turbos used water cooled bearings too. THere is no need at all to let is run while you in the store or during other errands unless you have two reason, one is you want to let evenone know that you have a diesel and the second it you want to make sure you are keeping the emmisions flowing for it too. . I have run some heavy equipment on and off ove rthe years and when I work one hard I may let it idle for a few minutes before I shut it down to stabilize tempaturess but I do with gas equipment too. If turbo diesels were as "fragile" as Max Dodge suggests, there would be a lot of dead ones out there.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

Really?

Reply to
Nosey

Why don't you stick with what you know - which apparently is limited to the gasoline engines of the 60's and 70's.

Only the Duramax uses a water-cooled turbo - both the Powerstroke and the Cummins turbo's are air-cooled.

While you are correct that just light driving around town will not get the turbo hot enough to cook the oil (assuming it's a good-quality oil), coming off the Interstate to a rest stop usually requires at least a couple of minutes of idling to ensure safe turbo temps before shutdown.

Emissions? From an idling diesel? Do you have any idea how much LESS fuel an idling diesel consumes vs. that of an idling gas engine? There's no need to maintain a specific A/F ratio on a diesel... it could be as little as

100:1. Compare that to the 15:1 ratio of a gasoline engine, and you tell me who's polluting more?

So you abused vehicles that you didn't have to pay for... big deal.

It's not like a turbo's going to grenade itself from being shut down hot once. However, over time, premature bearing wear will develop if they're constantly shut down hot. A little preventive action goes a long way to extending the life of a turbo.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Don't the Holset turbos on the Cummins engines have oil cooled bearings? I'm not familiar with the Powerstroke.

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Trivia: The aircraft ECS turbine compressors that I worked on had air bearings. Not air cooled bearings, air bearings. The shafts rotated on pressurized air.

Reply to
Nosey

man, you just won't stop will ya? why don't you just paint a friggin target on yourself?

Reply to
theguy

That depends directly on the load being moved, which is not a given in this discussion.

The suggestion was that turbos (which ARE fairly "fragile" by inherent nature) need some time to spool down. This means that rather than "ego", it may be a matter of conservative maintenance or convenience on the part of the owner.

But hey, feel free to spit vile and crap based on your stupid (yup, its stupid) opinion on the characteristics of diesels.

Reply to
Max Dodge

Did I say air-cooled? Man... I'm out of it today (too much work in the shop).

Sorry 'bout that... yes, they're oil-cooled

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

You guys be carefull going around town with a turbo - Bush might think you're a terrorist.

beekeep

Reply to
beekeep

I leave mine running so the people gassing up next to me can enjoy my ode-de-diesel parfume'. If they are black, I usually rev it up real good before pulling out.

Reply to
MoParMaN

My exhaust smells like ode-de-fried-chicken.

Reply to
Nosey

They should pay you for advertising.

Reply to
MoParMaN

mine too, been getting the b20 from the local shell, works well and less smoke. havent noted any loss of power or mpg either. how's it working out for you ken?

Reply to
Christopher Thompson

Other than the neighborhood dogs following me down the street it's working out great. I haven't noticed any loss of power but my mileage is down slightly on B100. Less smoke and it runs quieter.

Ken

Reply to
Nosey

where are you getting b100? are you brewing yourself? any stability problems? how much did you loose on the 100?

the only station selling bio in this area, is actually in centerville and sells b20 along with regular petrol. i havent noticed a reduction in noise on the liberty or the ram with the b20, maybe its not diluted enough to quieten them much. my only other problem is im spending more at KFC.

im glad to hear that people are running the bio, ive been a long time proponet of bio fuels, the infastucture is already in place to dist.

Reply to
Christopher Thompson

Try this:

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White oil company sells it here. I bought a tank of B100 from themto see how my truck would run on it before I started making my own. Ilost about 1.5 mpg on that tank. So far I've made 60 gallons but Ihaven't burned any of that yet. There shouldn't be any stabilityproblems with it in warm weather. B100 starts to jell somewhere around40=B0F. I'm going to have to experiment with different blends in thefreezer this fall. It rarely goes below 20=B0F here in the winter so I'mgoing to shoot for a blend good down to 15=B0F in the colder months.--=20 Ken

Reply to
Nosey

Try this:

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White oil company sells it here. I bought a tank of B100 from themto see how my truck would run on it before I started making my own. Ilost about 1.5 mpg on that tank. So far I've made 60 gallons but Ihaven't burned any of that yet. There shouldn't be any stabilityproblems with it in warm weather. B100 starts to jell somewhere around40°F. I'm going to have to experiment with different blends in thefreezer this fall. It rarely goes below 20°F here in the winter so I'mgoing to shoot for a blend good down to 15°F in the colder months.

Reply to
Christopher Thompson

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