What culd someone do that only averages 9 miles an hr?

[E7mack96]

I just pulled my engine hours on the new ram, which had 54,800 miles on it. What really shook me is the fact that the engine has 6700 or so hours on it.



I have detailed records from Dodge showing all the service and the mileage so I know there are no issues with odometer rollback.



The miles / hr on the new truck works out to about 9.



My old one with 142,000 miles only had about 3600 hrs on it.



So, what kind of use would cause such slow driving speeds - or - so much idle time?



Truck was orginally sold in FL and registered in NY for 3 years, and then sold back to dealer in FL, who sold it to a Floridian that had it for the last 2 years.



Tony

 

[rbattelle]

I'd say that's a TON of idling, which could be either bad or inconsequential. Is there any kind of high idle kit on it? Or a PTO?

Ryan

 

[E7mack96]

no high idle, or evidence of a pto.



from what I understand, the mileage is on the pcm, and the hours is on the ecm.



Is that correct?, and if so, maybe the ecm has been changed for some reason?

 

[rbattelle]

from what I understand, the mileage is on the pcm, and the hours is on the ecm.

Is that correct?, and if so, maybe the ecm has been changed for some reason?

I don't think that's correct. The engine hours are stored in the ECM.



It must be incredible amounts of idle, or perhaps very slow driving out in fields somewhere?



Ryan

 

[steved]

Being it was in New York, I would guess long idle periods during the winter months...

 

[Spooled-up]

Does the clock keep ticking if the key is on but the engine is not running?

 

[steved]

Does the clock keep ticking if the key is on but the engine is not running?

I would *assume* the battery saver would shut things down to prevent discharging the batteries... but I'm not sure if the key "on" would over-ride that??

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Substantial idle times, and lots of stop/go around town driving, such as delivery service - usually the type that's hardest on an engine...

 

[jelag]

I own several trucks... we drive them into very hot and cold weather... often... I mean often we'll start a truck at 6 am and it will run until 7 pm at night... . in the winter, we stop for deliveries and lunch and lock the truck with the fob but it runs to keep the frost off the windshield... . in the summer when this truck makes the track to Phoenix and 110* it runs all day with the AC at full blast... .

I can tell you that pulling a 20K lb trailer across I-8 from San Diego to Phoenix when its 110* the AC won't keep up if the sun is facing the windshield and does a good job with the sun on the back of the truck... .

In any case, pulling these kind of loads and running the truck around the clock means lots of hours... . we run them for 500K miles and replace them... . the 04 now has in excess of 300K and the 08 now has over 50K... . who really knows about idling time... .

Each truck carries about 120 gal of fuel... and since we usually stop at card lock for fuel we let it run..... I can't even begin to list the number of trucks we've owned in the past 15 years and how many miles we've put on them... they come and go... their just machinery...

Oh Yea... . in some cases with high head winds, large load, and 70 MPH across the states where its legal and long idling 9 MPG would be good... .

 

[steved]

... the 04 now has in excess of 300K... .

Inquiring minds would like to know those engine hours!!

 

[jelag]

I was in a motel one night in Edmonton Alberta Canada... it was -30 *F or so... . those trucks in the lot that were not plugged in were running... ... and locked... Ford, Chevy and Dodges... . all the trucks that were plugged in had a little device on the end of the plug with a little light bulb in it... . and you could see from your motel room if your truck was still warm... . of course my cord was long enough but after seeing the lights I wondered it that wasn't really a great idea... .

I can't even think about how hard that is on the lighter engines like the Fords and Chevy's... and there we're some gas engines running as well... .

And of course... . in the morning most of the trucks had remote starters on them... it was spooky to walk next to several trucks and have them start up with snow and ice on them... and no tracks in the snow... .

 

[AMcCormick]

I've noticed that the Engine Time clock will run even if the engine is not running, key on. I really doubt that I'll ever need to but at what temp would you plug in or keep running. 0*F and below??

 

[steved]

I tend to start plugging in around 15*F...

If I'm not paying for the electric, I'll plug it in starting at 30*F just to have instant heat.

I did find a HD timer (just a $10 from Ace Hardware), and that does help on the electric bill... typically takes only a few hours to actually heat them up.

 

[E7mack96]

To clarify for some, I am talking 9 miles per hour of engine operation, not 9 miles per gallon.

 

[SRadke]

I know some farm foremen who put crazy hours on their trucks in the summer idling with the AC on while overseeing the machinery crews. They have been putting hour meters on their trucks for years and change oil by hours not miles.

-Scott