Luxury Coach Lifestyles - View Single Post - Overheating/engine smoke
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Old 02-08-2008, 02:01 AM   #2
TechTalk
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Join Date: Feb 2000
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I can't speak for the Cat, but Detroit's finest kind of frown on 10-20 minute warm ups except for very cold conditions. Diesels, unlike gasoline engines, tend to run cool at idle and prolonged idling tends to dilute the oil. I know, you see truckers idling their engings all night, but the Detroit engine experts claim these guys are hurting their engines. They recommend a short warm up (2-5 minutes in normal outside temperatures) but avoiding full throttle operations until normal operating temperatures are reached. I highly recommend the use of a block heater for cold morning starts to avoid the prolonged warm up requirement. I know this goes against the 'old school' but so does riding the brakes down a steep hill.
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