Well I have a 2004 CTD(finally) and I do some short drives since I live in the city. It is only about 3-4 miles to school in the morning. I let the engine warm up for about 3 minutes before I get in, but the engine doesnt get to full temps. I change the oil every 5000miles thinking that will help.

Is that ok in the morning? What else can i do??

Thanks!

 

Thats gonna be hard on the truck! Short runs aren't good for any engine diesel or gas, they need to get up to runing temp and be there for some time to help rid any condensation. Short runs are just going to carbon up the injectors, engines need to be worked. Just a suggestion, purchase a bike or mass transit, if you want trouble free cummins.

 

Get rid of the fans and siphon out half your coolant thatll get it to get hot quickly LOL

Can you put a remote start on a diesel or does the waiting for the slow plugs to warm up prevent that? Hell I remember having to put a hot work light over the engine over night to even have a chance of it starting up in the winter.

Do you have an engine block heater? You can also get an oil heater.

 

RamItOne, long idling periods is worse then short trips! Cummins dosen't have "slow plugs"....geez!![sm=smarty.gif]

 

what about "slow plugs"

when did i talk about long idling periods? everyone i know lets their diesels idle, i certainly hope you dont turn off your truck to get gas, ill idle my gasser for hours down at the coast for AC.

 

...Or you can take in my idea which work rather well at getting the Cummins engine up to temp rather fast and rapidily.

I barrowed a Smarty and got the high idle flash for my 02 Dodge and now when every the IAT sees temps below 32*F it will kick high idle.

WHAT??? What happens if you live in a area where temps are not low enough to kick it. Oh I got a fix for that too. I figured out how to make a IAT sensor fooler that make the truck think its 30*F (high idle) and 15*F (3 cylinder high idle). Basically you can flip a switch and the truck will kick into which every mode you select. It will only start if the ECT (Engine coolant temp) is below 140*F. Once the ECT is over 175*F it cancels automatically.

But here is the kicker... High idle will bring the EGT to about 350-400*F roughly. But if you got a exhaust brake you can kick it up to 550-600*F. Now if you select 3-cylinder high idle. Oh Look out... 750-850*F on the pyro!!! You can warm you engine up in about 3-5 mintues and have heat rather quickly...

Here is my write up with the Factory TSB for high idle...
http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/2002%20Dodge/Tips%20&%20Tricks/high%20idle/high-idle.htm

I even got wiring diagrams too!

 

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over my head !!!

 

I'm right there with ya mayfair. I understand green, blue, black, and red... But what's mopar tryin to say?? Although, I didn't know our trucks had a 3-cylinder mode! I was warming up the truck this morning and all of a sudden, it sounded like it was misfiring! My friend was wondering what the hell it was doing! I just smiled (like I knew it was supposed to do that, but I was really just smiling as I looked at his tiny Chevy 1500 sitting next to mine). Now I know!

 

Block heater is going to be your best bet.

 

I did not know it was bad to let your CTD idle. Hell I warm mine up atleast 5 minutes in the morning, I have let it idle for close to a hour at a time without moving it. I thought Diesels can idle forever with no problems. Am I wrong?