This is probably a dumb question

[TWORAMS]

It used to be (and probably still is) a practice when I was younger to run up a gas engine to 'blow the carbon out of it'. I suppose it worked at least it seemed to work for me after doing it a couple of times after spending some time running around town. Maybe it was my youth because blowing it out sure sounded cool in those days. Anyway, my question is: does doing this do any good for a CTD engine? Does it work to keep things a bit cleaned up or not?

Thanks for yor feedback.

Mike

 

[RMalone]

You know I think it does. Many members, with more knowledge than I, have commented that if you don't tow/work these trucks (daily driver trucks for instance), you should definately get 'em out on the freeway for 30-60min per week and give them a few WOT runs per week.



If I drive my truck granny style w/no load for 3-4 days and then really stomp on the go pedal I see way more smoke for a run or two, than I do if I romp it once or twice a day. Tells me that not working these trucks will carbon them up and so, as my duty and in the interests of maintainence, I make at least two WOT runs per hour errr I mean day. Make sure the engine is warmed up before you flog it though, no sense in beating up the head gasket. As I have seen written if you want a Cummins to last "drive it like you stole it".

 

[cerberusiam]

Performance mods aside, the smoke we are seeing after stop and go driving and steady cruising is just the the soot being blown out of the CAT. It isn't helping "clean" the motor out to just do a WOT blast now and then.



The injectors will tend to crud up if the engine isn't run at some hot EGT's for a while. Unfortunately just driving around in an empty truck and stomping the throttle will not clean the injectors. You need sustained hot EGT's to clean it up and knock the crud loose. Drop a 10k trailer behind it and run it up down some hills for a couple hours every 4 or 5 days to achieve that end.



In a word, yes it helps to "clean" the motor out, but, you gotta work it hard to accomplish that.