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  • #1

    Inquiry for diesel drivers

    ...Doesn't matter whether yer a trucker or not, as I have seen this often with non-rigs, as well. Yes, it's a serious question.

    What's the deal with never seeming to turn the engine off? Whenever I'm at a truck stop or c-store or wherever, diesel engines always seem to be running even if there's nobody in them for an extended length of time.

    Are these types of engines so difficult to cold start? Is the cost in fuel and battery power generally less to let it run than to restart? How do you prevent people from just coming up and stealing your ride? (for diesel cars, in particular -- I never see them locked when people do this)

    Just curious

    ------------

    PS, since this IS CS -- I saw an (apparently) non-diesel white Caddy that did this the other day, in a cstore in a part of town where...let's just say that this sort of thing is a Bad Idea. The driver managed to park diagonally ACROSS two entire parking spots in front of a store that only had 5 or 6 spots to begin with. Had a huge grin on her face when she came out of the store, too.
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I believe that once upon a time, it used to be that they were hard to start.

    Nowadays it's because people are idiots
    Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

    Comment

    • #3
      Diesel engines run at very low RPMs, and are very efficient at idle. It takes a while for oil to percolate through the big engines in semi tractors, and mechanics found that trucks that were left running experienced less wear than ones which were turned on and off often. With modern lubricants this is a less important consideration, but it's still present in the folklore.

      Another reason is that team driving has gotten popular now, meaning one member of the team may be in the sleeper compartment while the other is having a meal or shower at the truck stop. The truck is left running so the air conditioner/heater keeps the compartment comfortable. Some truck stops now have external air conditioning available in the parking areas, so engines can be shut down while the cab stays comfy.

      Comment

      • #4
        No, we aren't idiots.

        It's not good to just shut a diesel down that's been hauling for awhile. Our Silverado has a built in turbo cool down cycle on the auto start (3 minutes). The turbo needs to spool down and the exhaust temps need to cool off a bit. Once the engine is shut off the oil stops flowing, meaning the spinning turbo is not being lubed.

        You also need to remember that diesels don't have spark plugs, they have glow plugs to do the initial fuel ignition. After that this run by compression, not fire. If it's cold and you have a bad plug or relay it can be hard starting, and constant starting can wear them out faster. If I'm running into a gas station I use the 2nd cool down cycle, 30 minutes.

        Comment

        • #5
          team driving
          I bet! With more than one driver they can stay on the road much longer, cos iirc each driver can only drive for 8 hours.


          And... From what I know about diesel - it's SUPER efficient. Volkswagen just hit a world record on it just last month. 1626 miles on a single tank.

          But even that... can go to pot if you do a lot of startups and turnoffs. Diesel really is best for long hauls vs stop-and-go traffic. So I can understand not wanting to turn the engines off if you're turning them back on again in just a few minutes.


          Kinda like turning the lights off & on in your house. If you turn lights off for a minute and then turn them back on, you actually use *more* electricity than if you'd just left them on.

          Comment

          • #6
            Quoth PepperElf View Post
            Kinda like turning the lights 0ff & on in your house. If you turn lights off for a minute and then turn them back on, you actually use *more* electricity than if you'd just left them on.
            I've tried and tried to explain that to my flatmate, and he wonders why we go through more energy saver bulbs than regular bulbs. Bad house wiring coupled with repeated on/off is not good for the energy saver bulbs. Can't wait until LED ones beome cheaper as I'm not going to spend $15 per bulb.

            Comment

            • #7
              Quoth Zaiida View Post
              I've tried and tried to explain that to my flatmate, and he wonders why we go through more energy saver bulbs than regular bulbs. Bad house wiring coupled with repeated on/off is not good for the energy saver bulbs. Can't wait until LED ones become cheaper as I'm not going to spend $15 per bulb.
              Heehee, I have a string of LED Christmas lights I bought 7 years ago. For 6.5 of those years they were pinned up around the pegboard hanging behind my computer, and there were only 4 occasions they were off - three power outages and when I unplugged them 6 months ago. Only to plug them in again after I'd nailed them up around the apartment's kitchen counter passthrough. Still going strong.

              MIL bought a few of the same strings the same time I did. She plugged them into the blinker on her Christmas tree. They didn't survive the holidays.
              What colour is the sky in your world and how high of a dosage do you need before it turns back to blue? --Gravekeeper

              Comment

              • #8
                Neat ^_^ Interesting info. Confirmed some of my notions and gave me some new ones.

                Thanks

                edit: What about the risk of someone just hopping into the truck if it's still running? On the big rigs, in particular, I would assume that there is some way to lock the truck while it's still running, and then allow for keyless entry, even if it's just something like a code-entry keypad, no?
                Last edited by EricKei; 06-11-2012, 11:56 AM.
                "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                Comment

                • #9
                  Big rigs aren't really suited to people just jumping into them; chances of a rig-experienced thief happening to pass by are slim, and chances of them outrunning pursuit are none!

                  What I used to do was leave the car running with the key, and use the remote to lock the doors.
                  This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
                  I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Quoth Zaiida View Post
                    I've tried and tried to explain that to my flatmate, and he wonders why we go through more energy saver bulbs than regular bulbs. Bad house wiring coupled with repeated on/off is not good for the energy saver bulbs. Can't wait until LED ones beome cheaper as I'm not going to spend $15 per bulb.
                    There's still a light bulb that's over 110 YEARS old. Cos they never turn it off. It's in Livermore, California.

                    And yeah... you're not saving anything if you keep having to shell out 15 bucks a bulb continually. at that point you might as well get a regular bulb.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      My remote start allows you to hit the correct buttons, remove the key (still running) and lock the doors. If you make entry and do not put the key in the ignition when you depress the brake to put it into drive it shuts off. If you make entry without disabling the security system the fuel pump shuts off after ~ 1 minute and there is a sequence for getting it reset that takes time, the key, and know how. Ours is acting up in fact so we have to reset it every once in a while. It's only a pain when you are running late because it takes at least 10 minutes.
                      Last edited by kpzra; 06-11-2012, 06:48 PM.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        That's awesome ^_^ The security part, not the acting up part, I mean
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          24601: I'd intended "idiots" mainly to refer to people who do this with diesel pickups and cars... and with those who have only driven from home to the Drive-Thru speaker especially in mind
                          Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            I drive 2 diesels, a Silverado pick-up and a diesel Blazer. There are times I only do a short drive and don't shut it down, for the aforementioned reason of wearing out the glow plugs/relay faster. Like I said, we are not idiots there is a reason for keeping it running.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Quoth 24601 View Post
                              I drive 2 diesels, a Silverado pick-up and a diesel Blazer. There are times I only do a short drive and don't shut it down, for the aforementioned reason of wearing out the glow plugs/relay faster. Like I said, we are not idiots there is a reason for keeping it running.
                              the more i see of diesel the more i actually like it.
                              especially some of the new cars that have superior mpg. Like the VW I mentioned.

                              Comment

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