That was a great read, thanks.
I had an interesting start up two days ago. We're into the springtime, clear and cold as hell in the morning followed by delightful afternoons. Cold like 5 F.
I went outside to start my truck later in the day, and it was still about 29 F. But the sun shining on my truck, had it warmed up to 52 F ambient , thus no GDE fast idle, it has to be 36 F or less. The trans said 15 F, still cold soaked.
And it took forever to warm up. Hopped in 5 minutes later, when with the fast idle it would be way above 100 F and blowing hot air, but without the fast idle it was still on 100 F and barely blowing warm.
It was a stark comparison, black and white, of how well the fast idle option works. It took so long, and being close eyed on this fuel dilution issue (which I think is possibly the bigger problem), I got a new understanding of stock ED,s, short cold trips, and what's really going on. If you're driving this truck like a commuter car, you're asking for it. Check your oil level! Often! IT's in the book! Read it! I use the Tow/Haul mode, to keep my truck in 7th, it makes a difference warming up when it's going arctic on me.
With the stock regen cycles happening all the time, short commuter trips, cold weather, uncompleted regens, you are thinning your oil. I love the term, "wet stacking". Perfect, it is the term I was looking for. I think I said in another post about uncompleted regens "stacking up".
IF I plug in for 2-3 hours, and it is above zero, I can start to see heat in 5 minutes, in 10 I can see out the windows well enough to drive. Without that fast idle option, I can see problems with that 7 minute max warm up in arctic conditions. Even with the fast idle option, it ain't happening when it's 20 below zero F. You do have to see where you are going, and quite often, you're not going anywhere for 15-20 minutes until the glass is clean, but those are infrequent times it goes down below zero and not everyday. I think the fast idle (1650 rpm) option does a good job of burning up what's going in.
But I do make sure my truck gets hot regardless of conditions. And I check the oil and coolant often. My oil level has remained constant since last fall when I changed it. When it's very cold, it will be just above the "min" line. When I check it 30 minutes after being full hot, like I did yesterday, it will be just below the full line. Thermal expansion. IF you read on the Cummings supplement, you will see they only recommend checking the oil when cold, do to the large amount of oil it uses. Oil will and does expand, as any fluid does, when hot.
Point being, the levels have remained constant throughout the winter. IF you pull your dipstick and when done accurately, with 10.5 quarts/10 liters added, it should be around 1/2 way or less on the stick when cold, but "normal" cold, not 20 below! At least it is on mine. When full hot, it will be right on the full mark, if not a bit above. Now if I go out and check my oil, and it's above full when bone assed cold; "Houston, we have a problem". It can only be one thing, unless it's creamy looking, which would indicate coolant. Fuel dilution, thin oil, and pounded out bearings. And damaged bearings are not going to fail immediately, but at some point, premature failure could be imminent.
Diesel engines of any kind do not like cold, they do not like tepid, they like blistering hot.
Ah, winter is about over. It's only 30 F outside this morning. Breakup is right around the corner!
BTW, my oil still looks opalescent from last fall's oil change, not a lot of miles, about 4000, but a lot of harsh winter driving. Many people do not consider short trips in winter as "harsh" driving, but it is, especially for this truck! Change your oil accordingly. I've had a whole very cold winter of long warm ups. And I will go out of my way to get this engine hot. But I'm still going to change my oil very soon no matter how it looks.
FWIW, on my first oil change, no tune, black as hell at 5200 miles showed no fuel dilution (<0.5%) in my Blackstone report. 2700 of those miles were the drive north from Kellogg, Idaho.
My next Blackstone test will show how well I kept up on burning off any fuel dilution. I'll also make a note to check my oil level after the next regen, out of curiosity sakes.
