Why must diesel pickup truck owners leave their truck running while getting fuel?

[monkeydelmagico]

Hi everyone I stumbled on this page and I though of setting you yanks straight because your clueless.


I wish you health and happiness

We send all the crappy foaming diesel to australia. Sorry our mates down under have to endure this. In America we're entitled to only the best diesel fumes money can buy.

 

[aloser]

we have this thing called common sense, which even here in Australia doesn't exist anymore, lets call it uncommon sense.

Wait, wut?

 

[Gerle]

Lol.

It's a safety thing as an unmanned car can get away from you due to the driver being a dumbass (they're out there). Shift to park, shut off the engine, it's not that big of a deal.

Engage parking brake. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2141138

 

[JEDIYoda]

several things come to mind -- diesel engines are very high compression and they're hard to constantly start and stop. also, it takes more fuel to turn a diesel off and start it again than it does to leave it running for 10 minutes.

if you turn a diesel engine off, the oil in the turbochargers wont circulate properly, and sit there warm and essentially bake,

also, if you or someone you know has ever have a turbocharged car, you/they (shouldnt) drive it immediately without letting it idle for a while, as the oil in the turbos wont be the best, unless you've let it sit for a while before shutting it down, or if you have a system in your car that will leave the motor running after you turn it off and pull the key,

 

[DrPizza]

Hi everyone I stumbled on this page and I though of setting you yanks straight because your clueless.

Before calling people clueless, you might want to learn English. There's a difference between your and you're.

 

[OutHouse]

lol that's twice now my thread got a jolt of life. both times by somebody "stumbling" across it and making an account to post in it.

 

[Ichinisan]

Hi everyone I stumbled on this page and I though of setting you yanks straight because your clueless.

Diesel is a different fuel to unleaded petrol, subsequently when you fill a diesel tank the diesel foams like waves in the ocean. If it hits a still surface it foams more than if it hits a moving surface. You belly flop into a still pool in you back yard. It hurts more than a straight dive into moving water ( like if your mates are splashing in the water)

What keeping the motor running does is it keeps vibrating/ shaking the truck, bus what ever, and with it the fuel tank so it minimises the amount of foaming by decreasing the tension on the flat layer of diesel in the tank.

If you didn't keep you motor running it would take 3 times longer to fill up and half your diesel would end up on the floor.

Also you almost light a bonfire next to your truck while filling diesel

DO NOT TRY IT. I would make that clear because you yanks need to be told everything. In Australia we have this thing called common sense, which even here in Australia doesn't exist anymore, lets call it uncommon sense.

The static electricity build up can create a spark between your car and the fuel nozzle that's why petrol cars have to turn off before refuelling. When I refuel my petrol cars I always turn off the motor
When you fill your petrol cars you see the evaporation?
That vapour is what will catch fire if you smoke next to your petrol car.

Diesel on The other hand Is like motor oil, it comes out so low in the refinery that it doesn't evaporate

I have set you yanks straight and done my public service for today I'm going to bed because its 3.40 in the blessed A.M. Here in Brisbane

I wish you health and happiness

We Yanks probably drive a lot more diesel vehicles than most of the world...especially outside of major metropolises (correct plural?). OP is probably a big city dweller.

 

[OutHouse]

OP is probably a big city dweller.

nope, from my back porch looking over the empty fields waiting for the spring planting i can see about 15 oil derricks scattered around that were not there a week ago. man i wish I had some mineral rights. my county has gone ape shit with drilling.

fyi, the other countries i have lived in, diesel vehicles were much more dominate.

 

[momeNt]

Diesels idle at less than 2 gallons an hour. Starting up the injectors will burn about 15 minutes of fuel on a regular pickup truck. So that's pretty much the cutoff time for idle vs turn off / reignite.

 

[mizzou]

the popular thing now is diesel trucks, and to run them with special modded chips to let the fuel run rich so you can "smoke" people

It's one thing to be an asshat on a crotch rocket, it's another to be one in a f350/2500 diesel quad cab that's jacked.

 

[master_shake_]

they are allowed to because diesel engines have no spark plugs to ignite fuel... they use compression

they must be atleast 15 feet from any gasoline engine pump though.

also diesel fumes are no where near as volatile as gasoline fumes.

 

[CZroe]

they are allowed to because diesel engines have no spark plugs to ignite fuel... they use compression

they must be atleast 15 feet from any gasoline engine pump though.

also diesel fumes are no where near as volatile as gasoline fumes.

Most diesel hoses here on the same pump as regular fuel (different hose).

 

[skyking]

Most diesel hoses here on the same pump as regular fuel (different hose).

This!

Regarding the startup fuel: It takes virtually no extra fuel to get a warm engine started. That is no reason to leave it running.
My Cummins in the dodge truck uses less than a gallon an hour at idle, but it is not good to idle any diesel for extended periods, unless you raise the RPM above 1200 or so.
My TDI beetle idles at 0.1 gallons per hour (warm), but I would never consider leaving it running, or idling it to warm it up. It gets started, put in gear, and idled out the driveway and low RPMS out of the neighborhood.
Same with the truck, it is noisy and obnoxious and I'd never subject my neighbors to that racket.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Most diesel hoses here on the same pump as regular fuel (different hose).

that has nothing to do with anything.......

 

[Anonemous]

Saw some lady left her Benz running while pumping gas at Costco, the attendants don't even care even though there's signs posted everywhere to turn off the engine. Might as well smoke at the same time.

 

[CZroe]

that has nothing to do with anything.......

If you read what I was replying to, you would see that I was replying to this:
"they must be atleast 15 feet from any gasoline engine pump though."

If they are on the same pump then they are not 15 feet away. I'm sure he meant the vehicle needs to be 15 feet away but I rarely see a separate diesel pump for that to even be possible.

 

[smitbret]

This!

Regarding the startup fuel: It takes virtually no extra fuel to get a warm engine started. That is no reason to leave it running.
My Cummins in the dodge truck uses less than a gallon an hour at idle, but it is not good to idle any diesel for extended periods, unless you raise the RPM above 1200 or so.
My TDI beetle idles at 0.1 gallons per hour (warm), but I would never consider leaving it running, or idling it to warm it up. It gets started, put in gear, and idled out the driveway and low RPMS out of the neighborhood.
Same with the truck, it is noisy and obnoxious and I'd never subject my neighbors to that racket.

The main reason for the idle is to cool the turbocharger. Especially if it has been under load like towing. 5 minutes is usually sufficient. The whole "takes more fuel to start up than idle" pretty much went away with fuel injection and the Duramax engine for Chevy and the 2004 Dodge Cummins engine.

It does not harm a diesel engine to idle it for long periods of time once you are outside the extended break in period. However, this is around 20,000 miles for most pickup engines and a Cummins engine won't be completely broken in until about 40,000 miles.

 

[master_shake_]

The main reason for the idle is to cool the turbocharger. Especially if it has been under load like towing. 5 minutes is usually sufficient. The whole "takes more fuel to start up than idle" pretty much went away with fuel injection and the Duramax engine for Chevy and the 2004 Dodge Cummins engine.

It does not harm a diesel engine to idle it for long periods of time once you are outside the extended break in period. However, this is around 20,000 miles for most pickup engines and a Cummins engine won't be completely broken in until about 40,000 miles.

QFT

turbos have an impeller shaft this is about the size of pen cartridge

you turn off the oil feed and you suddenly have a un-lubricated shaft spinning at a good 100k rpm and without lubrication and cooling... say goodbye to a 5000 dollar part.

 

[stormkroe]

Ok, 2 more cents here. Long idling, other than turbo cool-down or cold morning warm up, is a horrible idea on modern diesels because of the emissions equipment. EGR valves get coked up and stuck open/shut, dpf systems regen more often because of the same soot issue, and I'm not sure if urea systems suffer particularly from it. Too bad there wasn't an alternative to EGR, it's the worst idea ever from an engine reliability standpoint.

 

[master_shake_]

egr's don't kick in until the engine is under load...

 

[clamum]

The static electricity build up can create a spark between your car and the fuel nozzle that's why petrol cars have to turn off before refuelling.

On or off, it doesn't matter; a static spark can happen either way. Think about it there, smart ass. You definitely don't come off nearly a fraction of how intelligent you think you are.

 

[stormkroe]

egr's don't kick in until the engine is under load...

Actually, you are 180,000% incorrect. 'Egrs kick in' any time BUT under heavy load. Here's a quick link http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2012/05/dont-block-or-remove-the-egr-valve-its-saving-you-money/
whoever told you that doesn't know how and egr system works, or you misunderstood them.
If you drive a diesel I suggest mining the various forums, there is great info that can literally save you thousands of girl-magnet$.

 

[GeekDrew]

o_o I feel that this thread is what is wrong with humanity.

My daily driver is a 2012 Passat TDI (which is a diesel sedan). I idle it when I find it appropriate to do so. I do not idle it when I do not find it appropriate to do so. We also have diesel vehicles and heavy equipment on our farms. Ditto all of those. There are valid reasons to idle diesels. I almost always idle my vehicles during fueling, because the turbo is almost always hotter than I prefer for shutdown... and I don't feel the need to put the vehicle through the shutdown/startup process unnecessarily.

There are also plenty of inconsiderate fucks out there who idle their vehicles (regardless of fuel type) without _ever_ having a good reason to do so. Which case is the op's? Who the hell knows.

 

[Leyawiin]

Idiot neighbor across the street just took off in his Dodge diesel "Bro-truck" after idling it for 45 minutes. This is California - its 60F outside in the morning and going to be 75 degrees today. He does not need to warm that noisy, smoking mess that long each morning.

 

[alkemyst]

holy shit do they think they are special or something? this morning while i was getting gas some asshat cowboy wannabe wearing a suit pulled up in his giant ford 350 power stroke pickup to the other side of the pump i was getting gas. asshat wannabe cowboy in a suit leaves his ANNOYING LOUD ASS truck running while he gets gas and this MOFO is LOUD is rattling my skull. Not only is it LOUD but the exhaust is choking me out. I think its the winter blend diesel because his exhaust didn't smell like diesel exaust it smelled like i just stuck my head in a coal fired oven and took a big lung full of coal smoke.

so what gives? do these guys think they are special because they drive a diesel truck and are playing mr 18 wheeler or something?

Just those that drive trucks in general it seems. Usually they keep smoking too while pumping the gas and leave their cigarette burning on the curb if they have to go inside the shop. I make sure I stomp it out for them and let them know "I got it for them".