Shut Down or Leave it Running Loading FEL

[Carl_NH]

Biurd, Gary, Golfgar,

So is the concensus that idling is OK if non turbo? Esp after hard work/driving etc., I have understood it is always good engine practice to let it idle for a few minutes to cool off before shutting down. This I remember from my diesel mech days as well auto manuals (MBZ diesel) say to let the engine relax a bit after hard running.

Regarding the high idle, speed, this makes sense for turbos but for normally aspirated units seems like overkill.

I guess the real question is does it take more fuel to restart than idle, as well what is the loss of oil pressure on a hot engine cause for wear vs just idling 10 minutes (fast or slow).

Carl

 

[Carl_NH]

Greg,

Interesting about contaminating the oil, I would suppose from unburned diesel coating the cylinder walls. causing breakdown in the oils etc. What is the effect then of starting and stopping the engine with loss of oil pressure during restarts? I think from here on out I will set the idle at 1000-1200 to be safe from what I have read.

Carl

 

[Ozarker]

There is a difference between idling for a length of time and letting an engine idle down after running. It is important that you let any turbo engine idle down to let the turbo slow down. You don't want the turbo cranked up at 40000 rpm when you shut down the engine and stop the oil flow to the turbo bearings.

 

[Carl_NH]

Frank,

I like to do the same tho, when rock picking and loading heavy ones, I set a soft brake, and leave the hydro in gear movng it by hand with the foot pedal a few feet back and forth to gain position for pickup.

At the end of the day, after reading the other posts it seems that no real damage is done either way, unless one does a slow idle for long periods causing engine cool down creating enriched fuel, leading to dirty oil and reduced oil life.

Carl

 

[dmccarty]

Carl,

I leave the engine running at the same RPMs I work the tractor.
When I using the FEL I have the engine running at about 1600-1800
RPMs. I think to run at PTO speed is about 2700/2800 RPMs.

Running under 2000 RPMs costs roughly a third to a half gallon
per hour. A who care cost.

Just idling the engine for more than five minutes leads to incomplete
burning and I think it forms sulphuric acid. Not something I want
in my engine.

My Ford manual says to fast idle the truck if it sits for more than
five minutes. Ford sells some add on that allows you to set the
RPMs for fast idle and run the engine at that speed. If you run
this engine with a load or at highway speeds the engine should
be idled/fast idle for five to seven minutes to let the turbo cool
before shutting down. The same gadget I mentioned previously
can be programmed to automatically turn off the engine after
N minutes(I think, I don't have one) or if the exhaust temps
reach a certain level.

Generally I just let the tractor run at 1500-1800 RPMs.
Especially if it is cold outside. If I'm taking a break or working
on something for 15 minutes or more I'll turn it off. Burning
the little bit of fuel ain't something I worry about.

What I have not seen mentioned in response to your question
is safety. My FEL will leak down eventually after an hour or so.
I DON'T want to be loading my FEL by hand and have it
falling as I put in the weight. I leave the engine running
to keep the pressure in the cylinders.

Course I turn off the engine anytime I'm going near the
PTO. That is a whole different animal. And dangerous
one./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[hazmat]

My former job was designing amblance bodies to be put on ford van chassis. The aux throttle box that ford sells is one sweet unit. It could be programmed to maintain a set rpm or voltage. We set them up to keep the voltage up for when the ambulances are on scene with all the lights going.

An aside, Ford will not warranty an abulance built with a gas motor. You have to get diesel and the ambulance prep package which includes the aforementioned throttle & also dual alternators.

The aux diesel in my dad's sailboat (24HP yanmar no turbo) manual says to idle it for 5 min to cool down before shutting down.

Sounds like the consensus is that if you leave it running, make it a "faster-slow" idle (technically fast idle is full speed)

Regarding running the bus for 6 hours, I doubt that it took less fuel than stopping & starting. The time frame for that is more like 5 minutes. It's kind of an urban legend that it takes massive amounts of fuel to start an engine. I bet it was made up by guys (like us /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif) who like to hear their engines running. I bet it had more to do with difficult starting in cold weather, or to reduce wear on the engine (0 oil pressure everytime engine starts).

 

[Steelfan]

Thanks for the reply Bird, I figured at one time or another, there was a post or two on the subject. When we idle our trucks for any reason, we almost always set the idle up. I wasn't sure where the ideal setting would be on the tractor. Thanks for the answers.

 

[frank_f15]

CAN ANYBODY GIVE ME A REASON FOR THIS? A MONTH BACK I WAS IN TEMPE AZ. was sitting on my daughters porch and along comes the mail delivery truck, the mail boxes are two to a post and then anothe 100 feet or so the next two, this was a diesel truck and the driver would pull up to a mail box post SHUT off the engine walk ten feet to the boxes and get in and start the truck , drive 100 feet and do the same thing. why would they do that? that has to be hundreds and hundreds of starts a day. GOOD REASON FOR IT?

 

[MikePA]

I can't offer a reason, but our UPS driver always stops the engine to walk 20 feet to our front door.

 

[rozett]

It is probably 'company' policy... to prevent theft. If you're leaving the vehicle it must be shut off or locked. That's my guess....