Re: Slow Idling a Diesel Engine.

Posted by Bob M on February 14, 2006 at 07:58:41 from (151.190.254.108):

In Reply to: Slow Idling a Diesel Engine. posted by TomNTexas on February 14, 2006 at 07:24:08:

Tom - Due to the high airflow rate and combustion efficiency of a diesel engine, long periods of idling can result in low coolant temperatures.

Low temperatures then promote incomplete combustion with smokey exhaust and "wet stacking" (incomplete combustion of fuel which then wets the inside of exhaust system with a nasty, black goo). Prolonged cold idling also promotes condensation/dilution in the lube oil which is kinda hard on an engine's internals.

Running the idle up makes the engine run hotter and thus reduce these problems. However it also uses more fuel. Generally speaking, increasing idle RPM by 80 - 100% above low idle (ie. setting the idle about 1,000 and 1,200 RPM for your 'hoe) should be adequate.

However at current diesel prices, the cost-effective approach is to simply shut the engine down if it's gonna be idling for more than a couple minutes. The only exception would be for a turbocharged engine - if a turbo's been working hard, let it idle for 5 minutes or so to let the turbo cool before shutting down.

Incidentally my F250 diesel automatically kicks the idle up to 1,100 RPM if it's allowed to idle in nuetral more than a couple minutes and the computer senses the lube oil is a below a certain temperature.

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