2 Questions.. Starting And Mpg

[milehigh.o.]

I have 2 questions. I tried the search and did reslly get my questions answered.



Question 1. When driving around town in the warm weather is it necessary to wait for the glow plug light to go out before starting or is it safe to just start it and not wait for the light?



Question 2. I just filled my truck up for the secong time yesterday and I decided to hand calculate the MPG. The overhead displayed 14. 9, the hand calculation revealed 13. 6mpg. Is this a common thing for the 05's? :--) Has the milage not gotten better since 04. 5? Is there a TSB on this?



And here I thought I was getting good milage out of this thing.

 

[BHolm]

If it is warm out, or the engine is already warm, you do not need to wait for the light. The heating grid is a starting aid and the worst that can come of ignoring it is longer crank times and some extra smoke (possibly) when it fires. You wont hurt anything.



Milage isn't going to be like the 2nd gens or even a 305/555 engine. 13. 6 when brand new isn't that awful. Mine will get 18-20 running 60-65 on the local highways here. On the interstate running over 70-75 you will see a drop in mpg. I run CO to MN regularly and cruise I-80 across Nebraska at 85 mph getting 14-15 mpg empty. That is pretty much what they get. The quiet engine costs some fuel (extra injection events) as does the extra power.

 

[Mundgyver]

You mileage will improve to a certian point at the engine breaks in. One note that should be thought about is that these truck are designed to pull. If you look at the HP / TQ curves against the MPH you will noticed that the optimal speed for these outfits is between 60 and 65, which falls in line with normal towing speeds. If you have your truck Dynoe'd, pay attention to where your peak TQ is in relation to your RPM, then when you are cruising, put your speed inline with the RPM for peak TQ and watch your mileage. I have a 2nd Gen. My peak TQ is at 1,500 rpm which falls in line with 55 mph. At that speed I get 24 mpg. At 70 mph my rpm is 2,000 and my mileage falls to 17. 5. At 65 mph my rpm is 1,800 and I average 22 mpg. At 65 mpg with a 7,000 lb car hauler I get 18 mpg on flat level ground. The trip computer is always off by one or two mpg. I always cacluate by hand. When I fill the tank, I top it to the bitter edge where not another drop will go in.



Hope this helps you in your figuring.

 

[DragonflyDriver]

I have 2 questions. I tried the search and did reslly get my questions answered.



Question 1. ... glow plug light... ?

... ... :--)

 

[milehigh.o.]

Sorry, wait to start light.

 

[SHyans]

Sorry, wait to start light.

The curly gold wire thingy... .

 

[GFritsch]

Our milage got better (2-3) after the truck broke in. (after 4 weeks with a heavy camper in the hills)

 

[SHyans]

Our milage got better (2-3) after the truck broke in. (after 4 weeks with a heavy camper in the hills)

I got 1-2 mpg increase after Juice, AFE, TT, and the TSB at about 5k.

10k now and getting same hand calc'd mpg.

 

[DjFire07]

Do the 05's still use an intake manifold air heater element (the wait to start light) like my '01?

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Unless it's colder than 45-50 outside and I'm starting for the first time in the morning, I never wait for the light. Crank it up, let it idle about 30 seconds and go.



Last winter I disconnected my grids when troubleshooting something and forgot to plug them back in for a week. Always started fine around 30 degrees every morning, just a little more blue smoke than usual



Vaughn

 

[formula]

Do the 05's still use an intake manifold air heater element (the wait to start light) like my '01?

Yes, the '05's have the same intake air heater grid. There is a slight difference in the wiring though, as the new ones use a conductive gasket (IIRC) so there's no ground wires. However, the ground studs are still there.



Sean

 

[milehigh.o.]

Thanks all for the input.

I am taking it to the dealer this friday for an issue with the back door and the service guy said he will look into why the overhead is off 1. 5 mpg. I can live with the 13. 6 mpg but would atleast like the overhead to be somewhat close to actual.



Russ