Chat with an old trucker changed how I think about engine idling

Was talking to a guy named Jerry at the TA truck stop in Flagstaff last Thursday. He's been running rigs since the 80s and told me he never lets his engine idle more than 5 minutes unless it's below freezing. Said the cylinder wash from cold idling wastes more fuel than restarting a dozen times. I'd been telling customers to let em warm up for 10-15 minutes in the winter. He showed me his maintenance log and his last rebuild was at 850k miles with zero ring issues. Made me rethink the advice I've been giving. Anyone else change their idle habits after hearing something like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor7797d ago

Hah, well ain't that a kick in the pants. I've been sitting here warming up my F-150 for 15 minutes every morning like I'm prepping a turkey, and now I find out I'm basically just burning cash and washing the oil off my cylinders. Figures Jerry had to go and ruin my perfectly ignorant routine with facts and maintenance logs (thanks for that, Jerry). Guess I'll start treating my truck more like a toaster and less like a delicate flower that needs a slow wake-up. Still, kind of hurts to admit I've been doing it wrong for like thirty years, you know?

kelly6387d agoMost Upvoted

The thing nobody is talking about is how this affects your battery life, @victor779. Idling for 15 minutes every morning puts a big strain on your alternator and battery because they have to work harder to keep all the electronics running while the engine is just barely spinning fast enough. On top of that, your engine never actually reaches full operating temp when you idle that long, so the battery never gets a proper charge cycle. My neighbor had to replace his battery every 18 months until he stopped warming up his truck for half an hour before work. Has anyone checked their battery voltage after one of those long warm ups? Feels like we are swapping one bad habit for another if we are just killing batteries instead of oil.

linda1143h ago

Pretty sure my grandpa's truck wasted more fuel idling than my whole car uses in a year, and he swore it was the only way to keep the valves happy. Guess I've been treating my engine like it needs a sauna session before it can even think about moving. Jerry probably saves more diesel in a month than I earn in a week, and now I'm stuck here rethinking my whole morning routine.