Diesel do's and dont's
#12
I at least let my truck warm up 5 minutes in the summer and 10-15 in the winter since it hits below -10 out here. And giving it a chance for the engine to warm up give the pistons a chance to take shape of the cylinder since most engine parts are camlobed. I will leave my truck running when Im in a hurry when I fill up. I try to avoid excessive idle since it does do damage to Valves since you are running cold and do not burn most of the diesel. I do run anti gel aditives in the winter and our fuel stations mix the diesel with kerosene. I run Rotella T or Mystick Synthetic blend and I go usualy 5K every oil change but so far Ive gone 7k. Gonna do it soon but diesel can go longer without an oil change depending on the enviroment its running in.
#13
is it required to warm up your diesel before driving
Required? No, not necessarily, but I like having hot air blowing in my truck when its 20-30* out. I always let mine warm up 5-10 minutes in the winter time. Plus I have to pull out on a highway about 3 miles after I leave my house, and I don't like running over 10lbs of boost on a cold engine, and most of the time I have to pull out in front of traffic.
is better to leave running, or just shut it off if only going to be 5 minutes
Why shut if off? How much fuel are you going to burn idling for 5 minutes? Plus its more wear on your starter.
can you fill the fuel tank with it running?
I always do. Nobody ever says anything to me about it.
diesel engines go longer intervels before oil changes?
I believe so, but I still change mine every 5k, but I know people that go 7.5k-10k miles on oil changes. Something like the 7.3 and 6.0 Powerstrokes that use HPOP's I would go about every 3k miles.
What temperture does diesel gell?
No idea. It doesn't get cold enough here to worry about it though.
Required? No, not necessarily, but I like having hot air blowing in my truck when its 20-30* out. I always let mine warm up 5-10 minutes in the winter time. Plus I have to pull out on a highway about 3 miles after I leave my house, and I don't like running over 10lbs of boost on a cold engine, and most of the time I have to pull out in front of traffic.
is better to leave running, or just shut it off if only going to be 5 minutes
Why shut if off? How much fuel are you going to burn idling for 5 minutes? Plus its more wear on your starter.
can you fill the fuel tank with it running?
I always do. Nobody ever says anything to me about it.
diesel engines go longer intervels before oil changes?
I believe so, but I still change mine every 5k, but I know people that go 7.5k-10k miles on oil changes. Something like the 7.3 and 6.0 Powerstrokes that use HPOP's I would go about every 3k miles.
What temperture does diesel gell?
No idea. It doesn't get cold enough here to worry about it though.
#14
#15
turbo cooldown? what's that?
I generally start driving as soon as i see the oil pressure come up maybe a few seconds in the winter, rarely will i let it idle or sit and high idle in the cold.
once your truck is running it's circulating fuel, so the tank warms up, if your running summer diesel and go up into a cold area you will be just fine due to this, but if you decide to stop somewhere that's oh.. around 10*f for an extended time, you will be looking for a way to un-thaw the tank.
check the recommended stuff for your trucks year, owners manuals are pretty good sometimes.
I generally start driving as soon as i see the oil pressure come up maybe a few seconds in the winter, rarely will i let it idle or sit and high idle in the cold.
once your truck is running it's circulating fuel, so the tank warms up, if your running summer diesel and go up into a cold area you will be just fine due to this, but if you decide to stop somewhere that's oh.. around 10*f for an extended time, you will be looking for a way to un-thaw the tank.
check the recommended stuff for your trucks year, owners manuals are pretty good sometimes.
#16
budgreen i agree with that last statement. mine says to change the oil every 3k if doing short trips or hard driving, and every 5k if driven on highway. turbo cooldown mine hits 250 degrees within a max of 5 min no matter what i am doing with it generally it takes about 30 seconds under normal driving, and going back sucks my truck has been down for nearly 2 weeks and i've been driving my trans am. its fun but its no truck. i also let my mine idle when running into a store. i was under the impression it uses less fuel to idle for a few min then to shut it off and start it.
#17
#18
the oil change interval on a diesel is longer because there is more oil in it, if you had a 5.9l gas engine with a 3 gallon oil pan it could probably go longer than 3000 miles too, as for leaving it running while fueling, the most dangerous thing in my opinion as far as an explosion at the gas station would be the huge blue arc inside your starter, i do think its pretty stupid to shut off a truck while putting fuel in it over the fear of a fire, but the rules are written for the general public, consider the fact that grown men out there dont know what the difference between a diesel and gas engine is, imagine trying to enforce two sets of rules for gas and diesel vehicles, I get my fuel privately and have the luxury of not going to a gas station, when i do leave my truck running at a gas station its mainly so i cant hear the guy telling me he only needs 45 cents to get back to mississippi...
#19
I always let the truck idle while filling up. Never had a problem but i usually fill up at either thr truck stop in town (wife runs the fuel desk so i know exactly whats in the fuel) or the little station right down the street. As for letting it warm up, oh heck yea. The 6.0 at 170xxx miles hates running down the road untill the gauge is at least at the first mark.
#20
I live in far northern Alberta. It's normally -30C to about -45C around here in winter. I let my truck run for a half hour before the needle will even move, and I plug it in whenever it's turned off, for the whole time it's turned off. I have never used an anti gel, I think our winter diesel is pretty good up here. Tranny oil is very stubborn at those temps to. It won't warm up for about 15-20 minutes of driving, than it starts to shift right. And a winter bib over the grille is a must here, so ugly though 😒