Diesels

[superpug666]

Hi, just a liltle question concerning disels trucks.... I know that Rams have nothing like this but how to they heat up in thw winter? I mean when its really cold outside, i go out, start my PT (i should get a remote starter lol), crank the heating up high and put the heated seats on high. But what about diesels? They need a "fast idle", i heard thats fords have that, is it true? HELP! Im asking because im thinking about buying a diesel truck when my wife buys my PT GT LOL!!!

THANKS!

[02ltdpt]

You plug them in on cold days like that... they have heaters that keep the diesel from sloshing up.(freezing)

[superpug666]

Thx, but what about concerning the heating? (vents)

[02ltdpt]

i would assume just like any other vehicle, since the block and fluids are already warm from being plugged in it shouldn't take long for the interior of the vehicle to warm up.

[2004PTCruiser]

My ford 2007 6.0 heats up real guick if you plug it in but it is bad for a diesels to idle for long periods of time when you do this the fuel does not burn as good and it causes problems the best thing is if it going to be cold at night plug it up and just hope in and go let it warm up on the road and not in the drive way to say the least its cold sometimes in the morning. I use my truck for pulling the camper and boat and it sets in the driveway most of the time sence I bought the pt last year when fuel went through the roof and it will again JMO. It really comes down to if you dont need a diesel truck dont get one the new truck get bad fuel mileage like 12 mpg with out a load and i have heard of people getting 8 or so pulling a camper and you can do that good with the gas trucks just get the big motors and stayaway from the diesels if you really dont need one for towing the cost of fuel and the extra cost if something break on a diesel truck cost a lot and the maintance is un real I just changed my oil last week with shell rotella and motorcraft filter the cost was 76.00 and i did the work I would hate to know what the dealer gets to change the oil filter and it is almost time to change the fuel filters and there is anoter 50.00 just for the filters and I will change them myself and take another diesel bath change the one on the frame rail under the truck you also need the drain the water sep. under the truck every month while take ing a diesel bath sorry for such a long post but just thought you might want to know what your getting into

[2004PTCruiser]

also i forgot to tell you the new ford truck have somekind of electric heat in the vents to heat it up before the motor gets up to temp so I think ford under stands the problem you are talking about

[Candyman]

Hey their superpug666,

I am not sure how much of this translates to the smaller diesel motors, but after my 10 years driving long haul behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler, I learned a few things, and figured I'd toss my two cents in for the heck of it.

As far as idling, most Commercial Trucks have a fast idler on them, which I am told has much to do with high wear on injectors, as well as a few other related parts while Trucks can wind up idling for up to 8 - 10 hours a night 7 days a week to keep a Driver warm, or cold during down time for sleep, and what not. As far as a fast idler on a little truck, unless custom equipped to run light Commercial applications (Really common in the midwest) I don't know of any current MFG that is offering this as an option for standard customers, but unless you are going to idle your truck all night, or for hours on end, I doubt you really need one. One last little interesting thing, its a fact that a Big Truck burns through a gallon of fuel for every hour its idling, but thanks to new technology, and innovations, a lot of trucks are now running small generators to keep thing comfortable, and keep the motor warm in the winter which burns through 1 gallon of Diesel in an 8 hour period, and next time you pass by a big Truck Stop, a lot of them are now switching to a thing called "Idle Air" which is a big umbilical tether that attaches to the drivers side window and provides heat, cold, Satellite TV hook up, Local Phone Line, and more so Trucks don't have to idle at all! Its not free, but a fraction of the money spent otherwise, and is a great idea! Next time you Cruise by a Truck Stop, and see these funny looking big yellow tubes overhead, that is what they are.

Two of the biggest advantages I can see a guy gaining by going Diesel over Gas is for Pulling, and Longevity. If your going to be doing a lot of towing, or a lot off off road work like around a farm, the higher low end torque is nice to have once in a while, and from a longevity stand point, I have seen a lot of Gas Motors with upwards of 200,000 miles that are pretty tired, even with good regular maintenance, however the last Company I worked for ran a fleet of 19,000 Big Trucks to 1,0000,000 miles with no problem, and a good number of those trucks were sold off when they updated their Fleet, and are still on the road right now running around all over my area! For those of you who don't already know me, the Company was formerly "Watkins Motor Lines" which is now "Fed Ex National LTL"!

As for millage, that 8 - 12 MPG sounds a bit low to me, but I am not sure. I do know that a fully loaded 80,000 LBS Big Truck with little idle time can average between 8 - 12 MPG without much problem! One thing I do know for a fact that will play a big role in MPG is speed! Most Big Company Fleets, run a Governor on their Trucks which limits their speed. Most Company Trucks are set at 65 MPH, and do to the way my former Company ran, the Trucks got little to no idle time, and the Trucks would average 1900 - 2100 miles off 200 gallons of fuel. One time I had a problem with my Truck, and had to borrow a loner which had been turned up to go 75 MPH. Just that 10 extra MPH, and the Truck was running 1400 - 1500 miles on the same fuel! If you ever want better millage from your PT, try slowing down just a hair, and watch it go up! Try running at 65 instead of 75, and see just what a huge difference that really makes! Trust me, from a guy that used to run 24000+ miles a month, 65 MPH really isn't all that much slower, you will save a lot of money of fuel, and surprisingly be much more relaxed along the way!

One last little tidbit that Trucking Companies have just started doing was, several Companies got together a while back and started researching oil changes, and found that the Synthetic Oil that is run in most Big Trucks has a much longer life than previously thought, and most Companies now are switching over to changing just the Oil Filter, and re-using the same oil for the life of two changes instead of one. I don't know for sure how that translates into gas motors, but as far as Diesels, doubling the length between oil changes, and just replacing filters, might be a good amount of money saved!

Anyways, that is just my two cents! I will leave you with a really old pic of me in front of my first Truck ( an old Peterbilt 379).



Take er easy, and good luck with whatever you decide!

Candyman

[crusierdad76]

lot's of good info
We have a older Dodge with the Cummings diesel It is a 2000 dully and has pulled everything from hay to cars to my horse trailer it has 350,000 on it (2 clutches and a tranny rebuild) . as far as driving I would not hesitate to jump in her and head anyplace and I'm serious it runs like it should it getts 18 mph and pulling a super heavy load it will go down to like 14 but it WILL pull that load.

We do regular maintenance ---- Oil filters Fuel Filters and air filters are usually pretty much on time I have found that that a huge difference is MPH and performance is the fuel you get you are not supposed to run farm grade fuel it is dyed red to keep you from running it on the roads But a lot of my driving is farm related so i do anyway and I can tell you it runns better on farm fuel than on Mobil diesel Ill get over 4 mpg better on farm fuel

on the heat thing yep plug that bad boy in and it will fire up like a dream our heater heats the block up to 80 or so and once it is started it will be warm in less than 10 minutes----however let it get cold REALLY cold and it will take at least a lifetime to get warm and maybe not even then---

In fairness we also have a 1 ton Chevy with a 454 gas engine it gets right at 10 mph it has less than 75000 on it,
it always starts and warms up,
dosent have to be plugged in,,
is way cheaper to do maintenance on--filters oil air and fuel
is a newer truck is also a dully, and runs great biggest diffrence it will never see 200,000 let Alone 300,000+ it getts less mph loaded or unloaded and even thought it is a big block it is a wuzz and the way smaller cummings in the Dodge will eat it for lunch----we could change a few things and get the HP up but the mpg's will go down

The old Dodge is a work truck it is designed to work and does it verry well If I had the cash and was going to go get a new truck this week it would be a diesel---- most likely a Dodge but either way a diesel and I know they are like $45000 and on some of them the mpgs are down and the upkeep is a pain but there is no way to do a A vs B the diesel will win every time.


OK nuf said you will get opinions on both, but the decision is yours if you really need a truck do big if you just wan it for sometimes work and good looks go gas

[2004PTCruiser]

I just wanted to add to my post my mpg on my 6.0 runing hwy it gets around 18 and around town it gets around 12 in stop and go traffic one of the biggest reason I bought the 04 pt was I only work 4 miles from home and the worse thing you can do to a diesel truck is short trips. I have a 31 ft camper and pulling it I get around 12 mpg. The new 2008 up don't get this kind of mpg because of the emisions reg put on diesels and it is only going to get worse in the years to come. If you do some research on what is to come they are testing stuff that will have to be added to the trucks to clean / burn out the Diesel Particulate Filter Diesel trucks are going through the same thing gas cars went through in the years of adding egr value and cat. converters and you know who pays for the testing of these new trucks


Don't get me wrong if you need a truck to pull something heavy a diesel is the way to go I love my truck it will pull anything I ask it to . I am just trying to help you see what your getting into. I will post a pic of my truck in my gallery

[crusierdad76]

hey 4ptcrusier
I didn't meant to disagree
and I also did not know about the emissions stuff ( our dodge is a 2000 back when they made a real truck)
and yes a short commute is a killer on a diesel ---in fact much under a hour is kinda hard on them---We had to know some how some body will screw up any thing that is good ----- and do it in the name of saving ole mother earth
Maybe I should rethink my statement about buying a new diesel and say a new to me or a newer one-
--i have went on a few trail rides with some friends and to be honest we all were getting in that 16-20 range driving a little over 250 miles to get there

I pull a 3 horse slant, all steel,(read that as OLD) trailer with living quarters--My Chevy would have pulled it OK but it would have been in the 10-12 range and Im sure it would have logged down on a few of them hills
-I guess it comes down to personal preference ours works good for what we do I sure would love to have a bran new shinny dully extended cab Cummings with a bully dog programmer and some added juice for that kick in the seat of the pants---anybody want to loan me like $55,000