Idling the truck for extended periods

ColoradoTJ · Aug 9, 2021

crewmaxlmt said: ↑

The automatic high idle feature on a diesel was implemented to prevent wet stacking in the cylinders when operating in cold temperatures. Wet stacking is no longer an issue due to the use of grid heaters throughout the industry. The other reason for the high idle feature on a diesel engine is to run items such as a PTO. The modern diesels come with a circuit that you can actually wire a potentiometer into to vary the idle dependent on what is needed.

On a side note, I don't know who that guy is on that website but he sure as shit is not a diesel mechanic. I owned diesels for over twenty years and I can pick apart most of what he listed.
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Sorry, missed your quote.

I agree with what you said. Modern diesels have high idle for "wet stacking" or "cylinder wash" and for the most part works well in cold weather due to grid heaters/glow plugs. I have seen engine damage/excessive wear from my days back when I worked part time in a Cummins shop from extended idle. Some had under 70K miles. When doing leak down tests, having low cylinder pressure and no injector/maintenance issues it's hard to say extended idle times didn't have something to do with it.

When using a PTO, obviously load is being put on the motor to keep cylinder temps up. I have diesel trucks at work that have some serious run hours vs mileage without any issues.

I think the article is pretty spot on.

Cl8NL · Jan 13, 2024

I’m resurrecting this thread. My one owner 2017 has an aftermarket remote start and was listed as a company vehicle - so I presume it was idled heavily as a construction rig. Now, I’ve done 12k trouble free miles but how do I find out my engine hours on a tundra? Thanks

Cl8NL · Oct 16, 2024

Trying again to resurrect this. ^ same question as above. Still wondering if there is a way to find out how many engine hours are on my truck

tundras00 · Oct 16, 2024

timsp8 said: ↑

In my old job we had tahoes that would idle all day, sometimes well over 8 hours a day. We only did basic maintenance and oil changes at 5k. The engines never broke down. We’d keep them to anywhere between 36k to 60k before getting new truck. I’m sure it will damage longevity though beyond that. I’d never buy one of those trucks used.
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There is a reason why people like me avoid at all costs all corporate, rentals, fleet, and even leases. None of these brackets care for longevity of the vehicle.

tundras00 · Oct 16, 2024

Cl8NL said: ↑

Trying again to resurrect this. ^ same question as above. Still wondering if there is a way to find out how many engine hours are on my truck
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I thought we had engine hours in the small menu in the dash. I have a 2015, so I know it's there.

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Idling the truck for extended periods

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