I tend to let mine idle more in the cold winter months because she sounds a little rough for a few seconds, even on a warm motor start. I still don't let it idle if I'm going to be MIA for more then 10 minutes though. In the warmer months, other then a 2 minute warm up after a morning start up and a 1 minute cool down before I ever killing it, I treat it like a gasser.

 

a diesel isn't going to make any heat while idling. keep warm up to a minimum. i wait until i get oil pressure then take it easy.

turn it off when going into a store. idle for a minute max if it's going to be quick.

you're getting 0 mpg idling.

 

An idling truck is SOOOOO easy to steal. A friend's of mine, Chris Mills, left his truck idling outside of his house in his carport, with the door locked on a cold morning, and when he went back out 5 minutes later, he saw a bronco abandoned in his driveway and his 2003 Dmax truck was gone. His insurance would not cover it (State farm) because a key was in the ignition. He got it back a few days later with a broken drivers side door window and other minor problems. The thief had left it in a parking garage. It never was quite the same truck though, and he ended up selling it. Turned out that the abandoned bronco had been stolen 15 minutes earlier from an adjacent neighborhood, same thing, idling to warm up on a cold day. True story.

 

At idle your oil pressure is at its lowest. If your going to idle alot I would put a high idle in. Even on the first setting to get the rpm up alittle.

 

When traveling I will idle mine at service stations and restaurants to keep the A/C going for my dogs when it's hot. I tow a 5th wheel so I also don't like to come off the Hwy. with a heavily worked engine and just shut it down. I didn't like the idea of leaving my keys in it, so installed an aftermarket keyless entry with remote start. It will idle without the keys in it and all of the accessories will function. If somebody knocks the window out and tries to steal it the alarm goes off, when they press the brake to put it in gear it kills the engine and cuts off the fuel pump, which has to be reset with a hidden switch, so it is actually more unstealable sitting there idling than if it was locked up and dead. The remote start uses a 10 second delay to warm up the glow plugs. It's an AutoPage XT-72S and was $365 installed, which includes the under the hood loud speaker for the siren which also can be turned on if your driving if you want to have a little fun.

 

If letting your truck idle is bad for the engine then what hapens if your stuck in traffic? I mean stopped traffic like if there was an accident or something. So in this case should one shut off the truck ?

 

of course not. you HAVE to be stopped @ an intersection waiting to go. you DON'T have to leave the truck running when you run into the store/ect.

bottom line is it's just a waste, so don't do it if you don't have to. if you DO have to, then that's okay.

 

Im surprised I thought there would be a slipt on the whole idle issue. I dont leave mine idle ever, with the exception Im just running in and out, like you forgot your phone kinda thing.

In my part of the country you see guys with diesel pickups leave em idle all the time... They run into the parts store and they let em run, Ive seen em running in wal mart parking lot, resturants, you name it... I typically make fun of em lol.

 

I think a lot of folks let their vehicles idle because they won't restart if they turn them off. Others are driving company vehicles and they aren't paying for the fuel.

 

or the big rigs with 14L they don't want to be shutting off and restarting all the time. also for heat cause they live in there.

idk, it's irritating when people who buy light-duty diesel pickups take on 'trucker' habits.

 

or the big rigs with 14L they don't want to be shutting off and restarting all the time. also for heat cause they live in there.

idk, it's irritating when people who buy light-duty diesel pickups take on 'trucker' habits.

haha yea thats a good way to put it.

Tho i do like the idea for the animals like posted previous with the keyless entry and remote start for the animals oe hell just to get it nice in cool in summer before you hop in.

 

Well leaving semi's idle has several things play into it... One like you say its to stay comfortable, to the drivers arent paying for the fuel so they dont give a ****, and three its the cool thing to do... Not sure why lol.

We have a trucking company so Im familiar with that part of it lol... Your right it is irritating for guys with light duty trucks to act like they are in a Peterbilt lol... I always laugh when I see a guy with one at a rest area go to the truck side... You should have a CB and hear what get said about em sometimes lol.. it can get pretty funny.

 

i thought most people let it idle to cool the turbo down after a long drive/haul?

 

i thought most people let it idle to cool the turbo down after a long drive/haul?

sure, for 30 seconds or so. i wait until somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees F on the EGT gauge. and that takes no more than a minute

 

a diesel isn't going to make any heat while idling. keep warm up to a minimum. i wait until i get oil pressure then take it easy.

turn it off when going into a store. idle for a minute max if it's going to be quick.

you're getting 0 mpg idling.

Maybe my rides just a piece of $hit (at least that's what my Cummins luving peers keep telling me), but if I don't let'r idle for a minute or two before driving (especially if its under 20°F), it sounds like there are a dozen midgets inside my oil pan with hammers trying to beat there way out. Thanks for the heads up, but I'm still gonna let'r idle for a minute of two before I roll. I plug it in on a timer most of the winter when I'm at home, but while I'm at school and work I don't have access to a plug.

As for cool down I shoot for 350°F EGTs, at least thats what I always ran my TDI at, just put the gauges in the Dmax so I've been letting it idle for 1 minute on the clock unless I'm late for class, then she gets the insta'kill :

 

Maybe my rides just a piece of $hit (at least that's what my Cummins luving peers keep telling me), but if I don't let'r idle for a minute or two before driving (especially if its under 20°F), it sounds like there are a dozen midgets inside my oil pan with hammers trying to beat there way out. Thanks for the heads up, but I'm still gonna let'r idle for a minute of two before I roll. I plug it in on a timer most of the winter when I'm at home, but while I'm at school and work I don't have access to a plug.

As for cool down I shoot for 350°F EGTs, at least thats what I always ran my TDI at, just put the gauges in the Dmax so I've been letting it idle for 1 minute on the clock unless I'm late for class, then she gets the insta'kill :

whatever floats your boat.

for temps that low, i make sure to plug in the block heat + an oilpan heater (from JK) for a couple hours.

you're truck will warm up faster driving then it will 'warming up'. and an engine likes to be @ temperature, so it's best to get it there asap.

are you running synthetic oils? a 5W40 may get rid of that knocking if you haven't already.

i'll be treating my TDI the same way (once i sell some of this damn property so i can afford one)

 

If its more than a few minutes I kill it. Figure with waiting for it to cool down anyway might as well leave it run. When I'm fueling I ussualy leave it run while I pump. Kick the air on (even if its turned to hot in the winter) as it keeps my EGT's a touch warmer if it sgoing to be sitting idleing. Figure the whole "start up is the hardest time" on a motor. Plowing snow it dosnt get shut off period. 1/2 the time I'm sleeping in my truck in lots and such so it will idle for a few hours.....in those cases I would probably shut it off but I dont wana freeze my but off sleeping. Know alot of trucks that get started and turned off a TON and alot of trucks that idle for LONG periods of time.....both seem fine. I think there is theory in both but when it comes down to it.....I dont think you would notice a difference in your motor regardless. Heck.....all the hot rodding we do to our truck aint good on em. Splitting hairs I think.

 

When I fire it cold, she smokes pretty good too. Enough that I leave a nice fog hanging over the yard in the mornings. I'd scream bad injectors, but the oil isn't contaminated and my mileage is still in excess of 21mpg.

I so miss my TDI, but I couldn't afford the Dmax and the Jetta payments at the same time.

 

Personally use a 5 min time guide line. Most wear occurs on start up when theres no oil to all the parts. If its mroe then 5 min shut it off less, let it run but w/the price of fuel I might be pushing my truck everywhere, that and the fact it doesnt run

 

sometimes even if i'm stuck in traffic for awhile, i will shut down..save the planet !

 

I know anytime the engine is running it has wear. I locked my self out while the truck was running, an hour later I got it open. I had no noticeable drop in mpg and no problems have ever came from it. I would look at how many times you start and stop the truck a day, there is alot of wear at start and more fuel is used to start then you would think.