Fuel consumption @ idle?

[WBacon]

I have three dogs that go just about everywhere with me. The truck sits and idles alot in the summer to keep them cool. It idles alot in the winter to keep me warm. Any idea what the gallons per hour rate is at idle? If someone does know, than I would also be curious to see the difference at different rpms. Normal idle as opposed to high idle.

 

[LStanphill]

Mine idle up to 8hrs at a time. Ive never noticed any guage movement, appears to be negligible.



I do notice that it chugs a lot of white smoke once you start going again( excess fuel in cylinder). not a good thing, but beats freezing your butt off at night.

 

[DocDetonancour]

Fuel usage is very low, but long idling is verykk controversial. Doc

 

[TCDiesel]

32 to 50 oz per Hour,Depending on load and conditions.

 

[fox]

A truck driver once told me, his will idle all night on 4-5 gallons or less.

 

[Rescue Ram]

I roughly calculated this with my '96. I would pull into a truck stop, fill up, and go to bed. The truck was allowed to idle all night with the Jake E-brake on. As soon as I woke up in the morning, I returned to the same pump, and topped off the tank. On average, that truck used around one half gallon of fuel per hour. EGT's held between 300F and 400F. I never had any trouble with fuel dilution.



I am much more concerned about idling with the '03. from what I have been told, these injectors are a lot more sensitive about idling... Not sure what I am going to do. Perhaps adding an E-brake will help?

 

[chrleb1]

Diesels are very good about fuel usage at idle. A gos motor always need to be in the range of 12. 7:1 to 14. 7:1. A diesel on the other hand can be at a 100:1. I heard somewhere that sometimes it can go to 150:1 A:F ratio. So you might be in the range of a quart or 2 an hour. I think the '03 will be ok because of the pilot injection. The 04. 5 and up trucks i think would have more of a problem. They have an extra shot of diesel at the end of the cycle.

 

[RMarkey]

I'f you're going to idle a lot you should bump up the idle to prevent cylinder washdown. And change your oil frequently, and maybe do an oil analysis to make sure you're not getting to much fuel in your oil.