Let your diesel truck warm up?

Scott86MJ

Scott86MJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 3, 2006
Location
Dallas
There's a mechanic on Instagram (Dave) saying not to let your diesel engine warm up, "worst thing you can do". What do yall think? I have 340000 on mine and i have high idle option and warm it up most of the time.
 
Yep,the EBPV valve on my 7.3 wont open until its mostly up to temp and you can forget about makin it go in cold weather before it does.My 6.0 gets idled'd too.BUT by diesel standards my shit is a dinosaur compared to todays trucks and thats what hes mostly talking about.
 
skyhighZJ said:
I don’t have any dpf or otherwise but I find it convenient he is saying don’t warm your truck but buy my snake oil.
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Hes not the first and wont be the last
CRITICALTHUMB.jpg
 
Scott86MJ said:
There's a mechanic on Instagram (Dave) saying not to let your diesel engine warm up, "worst thing you can do". What do yall think? I have 340000 on mine and i have high idle option and warm it up most of the time.
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I saw a post n FB last week or the week before that where some guy had bought one of his big$$ Cummins tow monster motors and was having problems w it and Dave was duckin him.
 
1-tonmudder said:
I saw a post n FB last week or the week before that where some guy had bought one of his big$$ Cummins tow monster motors and was having problems w it and Dave was duckin him.
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I saw something about that, maybe he put stock pistons and the guy paid for upgraded pistons.
 
I'll let mine run for a minute to get some heat in the oil, but it's not going to get up to temperature from idling. It's got to get some load on the engine to make the temps rise.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I'll let mine run for a minute to get some heat in the oil, but it's not going to get up to temperature from idling. It's got to get some load on the engine to make the temps rise.
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My 7.3 wont get half way on the gauge no matter the weather or what you have behind.And I dont think it's the gauge.
 
1-tonmudder said:
My 7.3 wont get half way on the gauge no matter the weather or what you have behind.And I dont think it's the gauge.
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This is another thing with my old ass 12 valve, I plug it in at night when it’s anything below 40 because it’s just grumpy lol. Temperatures like we’re having right now no matter how far I drive it will barely reach temp to crack the thermostat and drops right back down to about 155 until the thermostat Trips again at 185. But then again even in the full heat of summer, it will trip the thermostat and come right back down, towing, daily driving, stuck in traffic. This gauge cluster has 315,xxx on it but actual motor mileage is around 495,xxx with not one hiccup or blow by so….
 
I have a 1991.5 Dodge W250 and a 1992 D350 with the ol 5.9 in them, I have always let the engine idle for a little bit before driving, one has over 400,000 and one has 134,000 of course both are old and have no DPV or DEF
 
I remote start my truck damn near every time I get in it. Heated seats and steering wheel in the winter, vented seats and cold AC in the summer. In the winter it will idle up while it sits there so there is a touch of heat coming out by the time I drop the kids off at school. I plug it in if it gets below freezing, but that's more to have heat sooner than to help it start.

Duane
 
Scott86MJ said:
There's a mechanic on Instagram (Dave) saying not to let your diesel engine warm up, "worst thing you can do". What do yall think? I have 340000 on mine and i have high idle option and warm it up most of the time.
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Guy is a moron. Let the oil pressure build up and let the oil get some temperature to it before slinging the rotating assembly around. The little bit of soot built up at idle in a modern diesel is nothing compared to what is generated during normal driving, but you can’t change the physics of rotational mass and oil viscosity. Once it’s warmed up, drive the piss out of it and the DPF will stay a hell of a lot cleaner than if you pussyfoot around all the time. My 2012 F250 had like 270k miles on it when I sold it, with the original stock emissions system still intact and not a single issue, and I drove the piss out of it all the time.
 
My '04 Dodge will warm up pretty quick at idle with the PacBrake turned on, but it's a 6-speed and the parking brake doesn't hold shit so it never gets warmed up. It's got a 185* t-stat in it and on these cold mornings I'm usually almost to work before it opens (15 minute drive).
 
Yes, I always let it run for 10-15 minutes when below freezing.
 
I used to watch the poster (Dave) his content WAS good, he is an engine builder, and he goes through a lot of the tips and tricks with each motor he (and his crew) are building, how it failed, and the current industry suggestions to overcome specific issues (overboring the back cylinders on 6.0/6.4 fords was an interesting one). He really seemed to know his stuff, and seems to have the engineering OCD that I like....BUT....one day he started pushing his "used car buyers guide" and then he came out with his own "daves special sauce" for diesel engines, and I checked out.

For me, the failure of content creators is the day they shift from a trusted teacher to a brand pusher....I shut down shop and move on. It seems the guy is already overwhelmed by engine builds, due to his brand visibility, dipping into the additive market is off brand, that is a WHOLE'nother discipline....if you aren't a chemical engineer, I am not pouring your secret sauce into my diesel tank.

I let my cummins idle for a min. or two depending on temperature....everything gets a few seconds to let oil get to the top end.
 
skyhighZJ said:
This is another thing with my old ass 12 valve, I plug it in at night when it’s anything below 40 because it’s just grumpy lol. Temperatures like we’re having right now no matter how far I drive it will barely reach temp to crack the thermostat and drops right back down to about 155 until the thermostat Trips again at 185. But then again even in the full heat of summer, it will trip the thermostat and come right back down, towing, daily driving, stuck in traffic. This gauge cluster has 315,xxx on it but actual motor mileage is around 495,xxx with not one hiccup or blow by so….
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my 7.3 will start cold but its hard on it and sounds terrible.Anything below 30 and Ill plug it up.MY 6.0 will start no problem.
 
Empty truck I'll still hit high idle/ exhaust brake on for a couple min to put some heat in the engine. If im about to tow i like to let it warm on up, with the brake on it gets to 170 degrees pretty quick. My old 5.9 truck would take forever to warm up, and if you stopped at a red light you could watch the numbers start to drop down.
 
2024 6.7 and I remote start that bitch 30 minutes before I drive away now under these near single digits. It hasn’t warmed up much but at least the oil has been moving. Then I mat the thing around town and it warms up and pushes the heat out.
 
My OBS 7.3 was a grumpy old lady. Plugged in and it would fire off and nearly immediately be able to blow heat into the cab.

Don’t plug it in and temps were in the teens and I’d plan on diesel 911, a new filter and 45 minutes before it clacked to life.
 
1-tonmudder said:
My 7.3 wont get half way on the gauge no matter the weather or what you have behind.And I dont think it's the gauge.
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It's very likely the gauge. Ford gave the people gauges, but they're basically dummy lights with pointers on them. A 7.3 truck will show normal oil pressure from 8 psi on up. I'd imagine coolant temp is setup about the same way.
 
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