new to the family
Thread Starter
|
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: long island new york
new to the family
hay everyone, new to the diesel pickup family. 
just have a few questions for those that have had there trucks for awhile.
is it normal for the volts on the dash to read low and lights to dim when u first start the truck? after the truck warms up the volts shoot to 14 and the lights stop dimming.
also what fuel filters and oil filters and oil would you recommend?
thanks.
just have a few questions for those that have had there trucks for awhile.
is it normal for the volts on the dash to read low and lights to dim when u first start the truck? after the truck warms up the volts shoot to 14 and the lights stop dimming.
also what fuel filters and oil filters and oil would you recommend?
thanks.
Champion
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 3,065
Likes: 1
From: Renton, WA
yes perfectly normal for volts to drop to 12, go up to 14, back down to 12, up to 14 for about the first 5 minutes of the truck running. (or until you reach 20mph+ whichever comes first)
That is your intake grid heaters cycling on and off. The cummins engine uses an intake heater rather than glow plugs to cold start. the grid heaters will come on when starting any time it is 60* or below outside. they put a 160-180A draw on the electrical system which is not something a 136A alternator can keep up with.
they cycle on and off to prevent voltage from dropping below 12, and to prevent wires from overheating. the ECM closely monitors and regulates the heater cycles. (and this is also the reason your truck has dual batteries)
I run fleetguard 2-3 micron fuel filters, and mopar/cummins oil filters (wally world sells them for less than $1 more than the cheapest brand!)
btw: fleetguard is now owned by cummins and is now the official filters for cummins engines. I ran them before cummins bought them though as they are a great high quality filter for a reasonable price.
for oil you can run any 15w-40 that is API CI-4+ or API CJ-4 certified.
valvoline is the official oil for cummins.
many guys run valvoline, rotella, delo 400, etc.
I run amsoil HD diesel/marine in mine (full synthetic API-CI-4+) and change it every 15k
for dino oil I would change it every 7500 miles... every 3k is too frequent for a diesel as diesels do not break down their oil anywhere near as fast as a gasoline. The oil may be black as soot (because it literally has soot in it) but that doesn't mean the oil is bad.
congrats on the new truck!
That is your intake grid heaters cycling on and off. The cummins engine uses an intake heater rather than glow plugs to cold start. the grid heaters will come on when starting any time it is 60* or below outside. they put a 160-180A draw on the electrical system which is not something a 136A alternator can keep up with.
they cycle on and off to prevent voltage from dropping below 12, and to prevent wires from overheating. the ECM closely monitors and regulates the heater cycles. (and this is also the reason your truck has dual batteries)
I run fleetguard 2-3 micron fuel filters, and mopar/cummins oil filters (wally world sells them for less than $1 more than the cheapest brand!)
btw: fleetguard is now owned by cummins and is now the official filters for cummins engines. I ran them before cummins bought them though as they are a great high quality filter for a reasonable price.
for oil you can run any 15w-40 that is API CI-4+ or API CJ-4 certified.
valvoline is the official oil for cummins.
many guys run valvoline, rotella, delo 400, etc.
I run amsoil HD diesel/marine in mine (full synthetic API-CI-4+) and change it every 15k
for dino oil I would change it every 7500 miles... every 3k is too frequent for a diesel as diesels do not break down their oil anywhere near as fast as a gasoline. The oil may be black as soot (because it literally has soot in it) but that doesn't mean the oil is bad.
congrats on the new truck!
Last edited by Jigabop; Jan 31, 2014 at 12:34 PM. Reason: put 10 instead of 15...
Champion
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 3,065
Likes: 1
From: Renton, WA
I had a typo above on the oil weight I just fixed....
and no, its not required to plug the truck in over night.
that just makes the truck easier to start and already warmed up in cold conditions...
would be a good idea to plug it in when you get down into extreme temps like negative 10 or lower...
I had no problem cold starting mine at 4* outside.
I just let the grid heaters cycle once and cranked it over and she fired right up.
and no, its not required to plug the truck in over night.
that just makes the truck easier to start and already warmed up in cold conditions...
would be a good idea to plug it in when you get down into extreme temps like negative 10 or lower...
I had no problem cold starting mine at 4* outside.
I just let the grid heaters cycle once and cranked it over and she fired right up.