Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Old diesel wives tale or not?

[MKline]

I have always heard that if you want a diesel engine to last a long time you have to work the hell out of it. I,m not sure if this is true but, if it is, are we wrecking our motors in the quest for better fuel mileage?



I just wanted you guy's expert opinions.

 

[nickleinonen]

working a brand new/fresh rebuild engine hard is the best way to break in the engine. after that drive it how you want. as long as you load it every so often and it gets up to operating tempratures regularly, an engine that isn't worked as hard will last longer than one that is worked very hard regularly

 

[Matthug]

It's not good to take short trips in a diesel and shut them down without the oil up to temperature. Water builds up in the crankcase if you do that. It takes a good 30 minutes to warm the oil up completely and burn out any condensation.

 

[EKlem]

Especially with older diesels, you have to "blow them out" every now and then. This refers to running them real hard and trying to get the carbon buildup off of everything. I am not sure whether this would affect the longevity of the engine but they definitely run better afterwards. A lot of the marine diesels that I have experience with need to be run at redline for a couple of minutes every few weeks so that they run right.

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I agree with it to the extent you don't want to putt along with a heavy load and lug the engine or drivetrain. When you are towing heavy run her right up to 2500 rpm or more and then shift (manual transmission). I've seen a few old V-8's driven by senior gentlemen that ate the main bearings right out of them because they would lug the engine so bad. Poor things would vibrate and eat themselves. It's kind of like the 5th gear nut problem on the NV4500's

 

[Flinty]

Hard work never hurts

I haven't owned my diesel long enough to tell but i've got a small block chevy that lives at 3-4. 5 thousand rpm underload. It's got 250,000mi. on it and I just delivered a 12,000lb genie lift today. 65mph on the flat and 45mph on hard hills. I can't wait to see what my diesel will do when I get my hitch and guages on it! 6mpg is hard to swallow these days. Most of this truck's life has been with a gooseneck behind it.

 

[BigEasy]

My old boss used to say that every truck of his ran better after I ran the snot out of it for a week or two...