Fueling While Running

[bighammer]

Originally posted by Belchos

To Radke in Oregon: Oregon law allows you to fuel your own vehicle with diesel. The rationale for the law is safety, and the diesel is inherently safe in fueling. However, it is not worth having to argue about it with all the zit-faced little buttheads who work in Oregon stations, especially at night. I get into this all the time because of fueling-my-own habit I developed in California.

If you don't argue the point (educating them in the process) and fuel it yourself, keep a close eye on em that they use the right nozzle.



I was told by a station owner here that you can only leave it running if the diesel pumps are separate. If there are gasolene pumps at the same island you have to shut down. (at least here in Michigan)

 

[GWDiesel]

Idle time

Many moon's ago (to many) We pulled a long steep highway up and down,with

bottom dump's all shift, and were told when

we parked for lunch after pulling to the top of the hill,Just leave the main box in gear and the Aux. Transmission in neutral to cool the bearing's and the oil in the boxes's. With

the new 13&16 speed boxes that was not necessary! Just let it idle till lunch was over. and let it cool down while fueling.

Now the Diesel loader sat and ran all day long! Could this no idle thing have something to do with the EPA or The Greenies. ??GWD

 

[cbunt1]

Well, FWIW, here's how I do it.



First, let me say that I have a 100 gal farm-type transfer tank on my truck. I fuel at truckstops (since I run OTR) for 3 reasons 1) fresh fuel, 2) high volume pumps (remember, I'm pumping 130 gallons here) and 3) I can get in there with my 40' trailer in tow.



When I buy the "big tank" of fuel, (100-130 gal) I tend to shut down, since I am checking the oil and draining the seperator at the same time. in the amount of time I'm going to be there, I can safely check the oil w/o a chance of overfilling or worrying that it's low.



When some 300 miles down the road I'm transferring from the in-bed tank to the truck tank, I leave it idling. In fact, other than fueling, my engine typically doesn't stop from the time I leave the house on a run until I return. My reasoning is simple: I live in the truck with a dog. Sleeping in the truck, I don't want windows down (even cracked--there's been a rash of ether attacks in truckstops lately) -- so I use the ac/heat. when I'm not in the truck, the dog needs climate control too, and I'm not about to leave the truck with a window open and me not there--so it all goes without saying. When we shut down at Motel 6 for a stretch in a real bed, I shut the truck down.



Does this hurt the engine? Well, time will tell--but I've put 52,000 miles, and 1900 hours on the truck since I bought it on labor day 2003. Oil analysis on 15,000 mile oil shows no significant soot build up, and my analysis reports show that I could run the oil even longer. At this point the truck uses "0" oil between my 15,000 mile oil changes, and gets me a total calculated avarage of 14. 6 MPG (as calculated on my federal fuel tax forms).



I'm not saying idle the truck for the sake of idling, but if you want to for 15-20 min while you grab a big-mac, no problem, and if you feel the need to idle for 8-10 hours while you sleep all night, don't sweat it. After an entire night of idling, I do see some smoke for the first 2-3 miles, but it blows off.



Just sharing my personal experiences. Your mileage may vary.



--Chris

 

[ttreibel]

Thanks cbunt1 that was a great post I am glad to see your truck is getting some good use 14. 6 sounds great are you towing much or running mostly empty?



Glad to know you can sleep all night with the heat on may come in handy one night!



How much fuel do you gestimate it takes to idle 8 or so hours?