How long does it take your engine to warm up?

[MMead]

I've read about a flash you can get for slow engine warm up and now I'm paranoid my 600 is taking to long to get warmed up. In 75 - 80 degree weather, driving conservatively it takes my truck around 10 minutes or 4 miles of city driving to warm up completely. During the winter I don't think it will ever warm all the way up on the way to work. Does this sound about right? How long does it take others to warm up? My truck was built in late May of this year.

 

[CChase]

Sounds normal.



I think you have the software with the 600, but may have to have the dealer turn the feature on.

 

[Bertram65]

Not a 600 but takes about 10 miles for my truck to get up to temp. My ride to work is 4. 5 miles, I have heat in about a mile in the winter but it never makes it to normal operating temp summer or winter.

 

[Ron Civita]

Sounds about right. If I take the slow route to work (45 - 50 mph) I usually travel 6 - 7 miles for it to be warm. If I jump on I95 and take it up to 75 - 80 mph, it gets warm a lot faster.

I have the 305/555.

 

[Pawpaw]

Me too. These trucks seem to have one heck of a cooling system.



Also, I had the TSB for slow engine warmup done last February. It has no effect on making the engine warm up while driving.



It just adds a driver initiated and variable high idle using the cruise control buttons. As soon as you touch the brake, accelerator pedal, or shift lever, the engine drops back down to it's normal 750 RPM idle.



On edit: It's also handy to make the AC cool better while loading the kids, etc.



Bob

 

[PatrickCampbell]

So for the 600's, you guys have controllable variable high idle? That is awesome! I have to use a stick to idle up my truck.



Speaking of A/C, cranking the A/C will make the truck warm up quicker.



It's really not the cooling system but more the fact that it is a diesel that makes it take so long to warm up.

 

[WPeschel]

I WISH MY 03 HAD HIGH IDLE????

 

[txhawg]

First off, I have a 04. 5 600 and the cruise control/fast idle feature I hear about does not exist. Since my truck was manufactured in Jan 04, the TSB does not apply to my truck. Sucks! Is it supposed to be there? It is not mentioned in the manual anywhere, but an automatic fast idle is when it is really cold outside.



Second, your warm up time seems right on. By the way, you should not try to warm up the engine by letting it idle. It will warm up faster under a light load (empty) such as your drive to work.

 

[Carlsummers]

MMEAD, I live right outside of Gainesville... about the same weather/temp that you have... my '03 SO takes about the same time to warm up as yours. During the winter, when it's about 30 deg. , I let it warm for about 5 min and drive it under 2000 rpm... . takes about 15 minutes to start feeling warm air... . this sucker is cold natured... makes for a cold ride to work on the graveyard shift.....

 

[BigQ]

Yes it takes forever to warm up, almost the entire route to work, 10 min. I could idle in the drive forever and the thing would not budge. There is a lot of fluid in that motor.



Mine is an 04 and I just got the flash for fast idle and also for the airconditioner not coming on till the motor was warm, thank God, it's been hot here and having the air come on right away is great.

 

[moel]

mine takes about 10 miles of under 2000rpm driving to get up to temperature average of 195°

 

[EEngel]

Temp

My truck is the same. 10 minutes or so to reach temp.



The 600 has a Cummins platform controlling the motor, the older trucks have a DC platform.



From what I have heard, with the cummins platform, there are many "hidden" features they can turn on.



I spoke to TWest about a few of them. He knows a good bit about it. You may want to ask him, or he may post.



I think he told me there is a cool down timer they can set, as well as the high idle.

 

[Pawpaw]

The TSB we're talking about only applies to certain 2004 trucks with automatic.



Here's the TSB: http://www.portjeff.net/df5152/tsb_1800404.htm

Originally posted by txhawg

First off, I have a 04. 5 600 and the cruise control/fast idle feature I hear about does not exist. Since my truck was manufactured in Jan 04, the TSB does not apply to my truck. Sucks! Is it supposed to be there? It is not mentioned in the manual anywhere, but an automatic fast idle is when it is really cold outside.

Although technically the TSB doesn't apply to 04. 5's, several people on here say they have the feature. I think it's there in the software, the dealer just needs to turn it on.

 

[MMead]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac when it comes to my truck - every time I hear about a TSB or a problem someone is having, I start thinking my truck has the symptoms too. I've heard running an engine too cold is worse than running too hot, so I just wanted to make sure it was getting to the right temp as soon as possible. The 600's ability to stay cool once it hits 195 degrees is unbelievable. I just towed an 8,000# trailer down to Miami, FL in the sweltering heat and the temp never went over the 200 mark.

 

[XJSuperman]

MMEAD I'm just south of CARLSUMMERS in Ocala. My '04 (305/555) doesn;t warm up real quick either. I usually wait until my EGT guage says 200-250* before I move. It takes about 20 sec (give or take). And it does take a good 5-10 miles (of slow driving) for the water temp guage to come up to the running mark of about 190*. BUT... just because the water temp is not up to 'normal' temps doesn't mean the engine isn;t ready to go. And figure the longer you let it sit and idle... the longer it will take the water temp to come up... because even though the engine is making a lot of heat... it's not working hard so it doesn;t warm the cooling system up as fast.

If you get guages (recommended for at least EGT) you'll see that the engine itself is indeed HOT in a reasonable amount of time. I haven't seen my water temp go over to 200* and it rarley goes to 200*... sits just under even in the hottest conditions... BUT my EGT may read 600+ while toolin; down the hwy at 75 MPH. And under hard throttle... the water temp stays around 200 or a tad less while the EGT hits 1200 easily... so the engine is producing more than enough heat.

 

[Jim Porco]

To make the truck warm up faster in winter get the cold front for the hood . Plastic or Stainless Steel fits inside of your grille wth thumbscrews and can be kept on all winter until temperature gets up to 40-50 degrees without overheating