Short Commutes with a diesel

[JThie]

I am considering purchasing a 3500 SRW Cummins with the 6 speed, but have heard that short commutes can be hard on diesel engines. I drive 12 miles round trip for work averaging about 50 MPH. Will this affect longevity on a diesel? Also, I have heard that the mileage isn't the greatest if the engine does not get warm enough. Thanks for any info!

 

[AMink]

My commute is 6 miles round trip. Should ride a bike! My truck has 106+K on it, with no engine problems at all. Mileage does suffer though. Around town I get about 14-15, on the road if I'm nice, 20+. I would think that short drives aren't the best for it, but so far, so good.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

My commute has always been worse than that. 3. 5 miles each way at slower speeds, stopped and idling a lot.



Best thing to do with a commute that's short is go out once or twice a week and drive some miles, run at operating temp awhile, and get on the throttle



Vaughn

 

[JVolpe]

I have a 12 or 16 mile trip to work. 12 mile trip is stop/go/stop and 16 is freeway rush hour. I dont know if it will effect the life of the engine, but if the truck could not be used in a normal metropolitan situation it should be labeled as such. I do know that my idle time(engine running under 1000rpms is probably 1/3 of total hours) is very high compared to what Star/excuse laden warranty service department says it should be. That is too bad, if this is the cause of engine problems then they will fix the engine problems.



Have 19000 miles now and only one injector replaced. If the city driving caused it to go bad then I'm sorry. I wish I did not have a comute to work at all. I would much prefer the open road or the backwoods trails, however I do have to pay for the beast and the liquid gold it requires to run. Sorry for the RANT.

 

[Matt400]

My commute is 14 round trip, winter time I use the Mopar cold front to help with engine temps and it really works well. I will even use it in 40 deg weather cuz 7 miles unloaded cruise and then a shut down before the cold front the temp would always stay pegged on cold.

 

[moel]

1 mile to work - i know should walk, but then i would not get to spend "quality time" in my truck, so i usually leave early and drive in country for 20 min. , i also follow the advice from this forum and take it out on weekends for longer drives

 

[SHyans]

Good post!

I was wondering about it myself since I drive 10 miles round trip. Would have posted myself but I was afraid of the answer! Whew! I'll start riding my bike or motorcycles as soon as morining temps rise about freezing.

 

[GregTaylor]

i'm doing 45 miles in each direction at 10 mph i think i'm gona wear out first!!!

 

[DWMeyer]

Oil Burners are not the best choice for short commutes. My engine took almost 10 miles of highway at 60 this morning (42 degrees) to get to normal. The oil burners are not very Efficient when not at operating temp!

 

[GCross]

As long as you take longer trips from time to time and keep the oil clean you should be OK, if not, the CTD may not be your best choice.



-George-

 

[JVolpe]

Well like I said my work drive mileage is about 150 miles a week. I have averaged about 500 miles a week since new. A LOT of the additional miles each week is between 2000 and 3000 RPMs. It is over 50 miles to the race track and farther to the beach. So I think I keep the engine at running temps long enough to overcome the stop and go drive to work and back. It is just irritating to have DC tell me I idle the truck too much and that is why I have low mileage and screwed up injectors.

 

[p-Bar]

Terrible way to break in a new motor. use the block heater and keep it plugged in . better yet just buy a liite jap car for your commute.