Elevated Idle

Bootz · 11-20-2008, 11:17 AM

This is my first post, but have been reading for awhile, so right off the top a big thanks to all of you for the endless amount of information on the site.

I live in Alberta Canada and it is starting to get fairly cold these days, so I turned on my elevated idle setting on the DIC. It does help warming up the vehicle quicker, but my question is if it is cold out, how much harder on the truck is it using elevated idle. I would prefer to idle it lower for the first little bit then have elevated idle kick in after it has had a chance to slightly warm up. Or am I being too paranoid? I especially worry when starting the truck at lunch hour midday to warm it up. It would be extremely hard on a truck that is not plugged in, to startup at the end of a full day in very cold temps. So I usually run it a bit at lunch time.

I use the elevated idle option because it automatically comes on with remote start. If I manually started it, I would prefer high idle setting with cruise control because on a few occasions after the truck has warmed up and we have driven a short distance, when we go to park, the elevated idle kicks in, which I thought was wierd because it is already warm. When that happens and you shut your truck off when eleevated idle is active, you can hear the turbo wind down, or somethin sounding similar anyways. The way I get around this is to hold the brake for a few second and then shut it off. It is just more of a nuicence than anything.

This is my first Diesel and am a little paraniod come winter here and want to make sure I am doing the right things with the truck. Can anyone comment or give advice?

p.s. Sorry for the long first post

**n0useforaname** · 11-20-2008, 11:24 AM

First off...Welcome to the Forum! And if you can, fill out your Signature with make/model/mods/etc.... so we can better help you.

As for your concerns.... How cold is it getting? Elevated idle is made for faster warm ups in colder weather. So I wouldn't worry about running the elevated idle at all. As for the short distance thing...I deal with that myself. I let it run, it gets warm, I drive a couple miles and it would still be on. Me personally....I don't even use it anymore..but it only gets about 0 degrees here when it's at it's coldest. I would just keep Elevated idle on....let it warm up, and plug it in when you can. I think it has to be below 0 or so for the plug to even work though. When building these trucks, I would think they took into consideration that most people drive these to work and can't plug them in all the time. So I say keep elevated on, don't worry too much, and if it's getting like -10 to -30, plug it in if you can.

Bootz · 11-20-2008, 11:47 AM

Thanks, I updated Signature.

It is getting to be anywhere from 0 to -10 Celcius or 32 to 14 F.

Do you mean below 0F in your post?

Do you ever have the issue when shutting your truck off during elevated idle and hearing the wind down noise?

**n0useforaname** · 11-20-2008, 11:59 AM

Oh wow...that's not cold at all. I ran my truck all year last year with NO elevated idle and never touched the block heater....and it only gets 0 Farenheit here at the Coldest... And my truck never skipped a beat. But as for the shut down...when I did run elevated idle...I had to shut if off through the DIC before I shut down...if not it wouldn't stop reving... Thats why I quit using it. As for the wind down noise...not sure I know what you are talking about. But I def. wouldn't shut it down while it's reving high...

**TYREBOYZ_DEMAXIN** · 11-20-2008, 12:23 PM

welcome to the DF..
my experience,we leave the high idle on year round and only when it gets down to 32-35*F does it kick on for me but i try not to shut to engine down while it is in high idle mode.

Bootz · 11-20-2008, 01:13 PM

I talked to a service tech and he agreed the best thing to do is press brake for a while, which kicks it out of elevated idle and then shut it off. This saves from having to turn on and off through DIC.

FH Leader · 11-20-2008, 01:18 PM

you will be fine, dont think you are hearting any thing.

**n0useforaname** · 11-20-2008, 01:57 PM

My problem is....i'm a lazy ass. I have a turbo timer...so I normally set it and walk away. But that would be a good idea as well. I normally let my truck run for 10-15 minutes before I get into it....and my engine temp is normally at 100 or 104F when I take off. If I go any sooner, my truck runs like a slug. Plus Banks doesn't add extra HP until the engine hits 100F.

Killerbee · 11-21-2008, 06:46 AM

Bootz

You should be running 5W-xx or 0W-xx in the winter. In your neck of the woods, I would suggest the latter. 0W-30 is available in our spec IIRC. No it's not in the owners manual, don't worry about that. You have lubrication much sooner with these oils, and also, the oil will warm up quicker as a result. That is observable.

Do not use 15W-40 in commuter vehicles, with cold start temps under 30 F. I personally think this is a big mistake, but long haul work trucks are ok with 15W-xx, since cold starts represent the minority of wear in them.

Bootz · 11-24-2008, 09:20 AM

So last night I warmed the truck up, drove home, put in park and it idled around a 1000. I went to feel exhaust thinking maybe it is the regen mode as the truck is surely warm by now so elevated idle should not be on. Exhaust felt hot so I thought I'd let it idle a bit and check again. I came out 5 minutes later and it was idling normal. So it wasn't regen as the truck never ran for 20 minutes since I started driving home. I felt the exhaust once again and it was cooled right down.

Could this actually be the turbo kicking in?

I read this post on another forum (seached on google) and I wonder if this is what is actually happening.

I have VAST experience with diesel motors...turbo and non turbo.

Turbo motors need the oil circulating to carry the tremendous heat away. After a hard or not so hard run your EGT (exhaust gas temps) down to 300 degrees before shutdown. Of course no one specs their apparatus with EGT gauges.

After returning to station, allow your apparatus to run at high idle (1000-1200 rpm) for 3-5 minutes, then allow it to idle normally for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Also dont forget the importance of high idling a diesel when running for extended time periods. After about 15 minutes you stand a chance of having the fuel not completely burnt, therefore mixing with the oil and causing damage within the motor. This applies to turbo and non-turbo diesels.

The last paragraph is just for added info that he wrote.

Does anyone else notice this or have anything to say on the 5 minute higher idle?