Leave the Diesel running or shut it down??

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

What the heck are those, and where do I get one?

I take Pay Pall and get ya all you want.

[Stan&Jacquie]

Originally Posted by jmckinley

Apparently the thing to do is to start it up as soon as you wake up at 6:30 am in the spot next to me. Run it at high idle until air pressures and water temp are fully up, then let it idle for two hours while you pull in your awning, roll up your patio mat, dump gray and black water, unhook water hoses and wash the windshield. Then pull out of the spot and block the road for 30 minutes while you hook up your toad. Discuss loudly and at length with your DW as you are doing it. If possible, play your toad radio at near max volume while you listen to the news as you hook up. Let idle for another 30 minutes while you wash up and have another cup of coffee. These things burn at least .5 gallons per hour at idle so all this will only cost you about $10 a day, depending on your procedure when you make camp in the evening.

I couldn't read your entire message because of the tears in my eyes from laughing so hard!!! Awesome response! Thanks for the uplift!!!

[laj]

10 min warmup entailing slides in and leveling for road. idle light throttle out of cg. ready to go when hot road. cool down checking in, leveling and putting out slides. really no variation to this. I pay the bills on repairs, so i'll do it my way.

[GreaTOne65]

Gotta say, this has been an interesting thread! LOL!! To each his own, I am not about to tell anyone else how to run their equipment. Myself, I wish every manufacture would put in an EGT gauge in their units. If you wait until the temperature reaches 350º, it takes my engine way more than 3 min. more like 5 to 10 min. consequently, I never shut the motor down, on rest area pit stops. Has anyone, priced a starter lately? I do not shut the engine down, in the campground until it is a 350º or parked. I then dump the air, set the jacks, run the slides out, then plug it in, hook up the water, about every other day I empty the tanks. In the morning, move the slides in, pick up the jacks, start the engine, flip the switch to auto, unhook the electric, and water. idle out of the CG, most time by the time I hit the road, she's ready to rock-n-roll. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. LOL!!

[Chuck 1935]

Originally Posted by jmckinley

Apparently the thing to do is to start it up as soon as you wake up at 6:30 am in the spot next to me. Run it at high idle until air pressures and water temp are fully up, then let it idle for two hours while you pull in your awning, roll up your patio mat, dump gray and black water, unhook water hoses and wash the windshield. Then pull out of the spot and block the road for 30 minutes while you hook up your toad. Discuss loudly and at length with your DW as you are doing it. If possible, play your toad radio at near max volume while you listen to the news as you hook up. Let idle for another 30 minutes while you wash up and have another cup of coffee. These things burn at least .5 gallons per hour at idle so all this will only cost you about $10 a day, depending on your procedure when you make camp in the evening.

That's funny !!
If you spend any time on the road, you are liable to run into variations of the above. The one thing that I ran into once was a smoker that was camped next to me. He enjoyed a smoke every couple of hours, all night long, along with a cough that sounded like he was hacking up a lung.
Also don't forget the dump station show. Some have turned it into an art form. First they get suited up with safety gear and proceed to dump, back wash, dump some more until they have sanitized completely . They then remove their Hazmat gear, wash up, and leave.
As I sit there waiting , I always wonder what they could be eating that requires all that safety gear ??
The bright side is that it makes for some great stories around the campfire !!

[Coma]

At the risk of blasphemy I should like to observe that the manufacturers are good at design and manufacturing. The expertise for operating their equipment, however, is in the field. Talk to an independent operator that is surviving and you will find out how to operate the equipment. Why? Because manufacturers and fleets have regulatory bodies to answer to. EPA, for example, might credit turbo cool down time to the carbon load of the engine. Fleets tend to have one size fits all policies. Pull to the top of Eisenhower Tunnel and stop at the turn out and 3 minutes will likely not cool your turbo. If you could see the exhaust system under load it would be cherry red. The most perishable item in operations is currency, the longer you've been away from operating, the better you were.

Liners have to expand, the valve train has to come into tolerance and so on. I preheat with block and Aquahot heaters. I start and let air come up. I do a walk around. If after quiet hours I do a brake check. If not I idle out front and do it. At 145F I will take the road. At 165F I will enter a freeway but not at full boost. Once engine and tranny are up to temp I will use full boost.

My pet peeve is the folks who think the check in lanes are the towed disconnect lanes.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by FormerBoater

More Diesel envy?

Hardly, driving 5,000 mi a year does not warrant a diesel.

5 months in one CG.

That's correct. Leave Michigan in November, stay at Wekiva Falls Resort in Sorrento, Florida until April. Lot# 610 if you care to look at the location.

Never failed to happen?

That's correct. EVERY DP that parked near me before leaving, would start it up AT LEAST 20 minutes before leaving. Then pull up to the office and leave it running there.

4 years + and I have never seen it.

Oh, now I understand as you 2 are from Ohio and Michigan....little bit cold up there. Prudent for the DP's to warm up before they pull out.

I have no problem with DPs warming up in cold weather. But we're talking Florida here, in the early morning when they are going to the office and take 30 mins to check out. As I said, some people just don't think. I spent 35 years in a Diesel and I don't hate them, I do some of their operators. Just as much as a gasser running his genny during non-operational hours.

[Zoafan]

Sorry but I'll let my diesel warm up 20 minutes before I risk a big repair because I didn't want to upset someone.

[Davdeb1]

And this is EXACTLY why I'll be boondocking every chance I get......

[Old Scout]

One other consideration to add --seems some Cummins engines have issues with cracked exhaust manifolds. Dont have any evidence to back it up but suspect the total number of heating and cooling cycles may contribute to what is apparently a design flaw. I basically follow what has been suggested above--the exception being that if I am going to make a brief stop [eg 5 minutes or less] I let the engine run. For longer stops like meals or the short nap--I shut it off. Also figure fewer reps on the starter motor and fewer engine starts without oil pressure cant hurt.

[Zoafan]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

One other consideration to add --seems some Cummins engines have issues with cracked exhaust manifolds. Dont have any evidence to back it up but suspect the total number of heating and cooling cycles may contribute to what is apparently a design flaw. I basically follow what has been suggested above--the exception being that if I am going to make a brief stop [eg 5 minutes or less] I let the engine run. For longer stops like meals or the short nap--I shut it off. Also figure fewer reps on the starter motor and fewer engine starts without oil pressure cant hurt.

No. You must drive it cold and risk damage to not upset those who don't care about what's best for you.

[georgetown350]

No. You must drive it cold and risk damage to not upset those who don't care about what's best for you.

Letting it idle or driving slowly with no load on engine will achieve the same result. Its personal preference. I prefer the latter for two reasons 1 less idling is better for the engine 2 being courteous to neighbors.

[laj]

not really if your going to make a 100 loops around the cg at an idle, maybe. but try pulling out onto a street, say a 35-45 speed limit, you still at light throttle? hardly, engine runs up to around 1600 before shifting then down to around 900-1000. mine will idle till gauge starts to move.
everyone gets to operate theirs how they like, and pay for their own repairs.

[TRAILERKING]

Originally Posted by Zoafan

Sorry but I'll let my diesel warm up 20 minutes before I risk a big repair because I didn't want to upset someone.

Sorry............But you WILL NOT risk a BIG repair by idling your big-rig unit through the pathways out of the campground.