Why does the "600" take so long...............

[MegaRocks]

Wondering why the 600 takes so long to warm up. My 7. 3 "Durastroke" warms up in about 4 miles at 40 degrees. My CTD takes forever; what is up with this thing??? :--) Oo. :{

 

[Blakers]

I believe all the Cummins 5. 9 engines are like this, not just the 600.



I think it takes longer for them to warm up because they are more efficient and have a larger water jacket and cooling capacity than the Powerstroke.



I'm not sure about the Powerstrokes, but I know the older 6. 9 and 7. 3 IHC diesel V-8s in Fords have huge radiators - much bigger than our Cummins. If they need these huge radiators, they must not be as efficient and lose more heat in combustion.



Blake

 

[KBertetto]

I notice if I run in 6th gear (low rpm's) on my way to work, it does not heat up. Temps have ranged from 0 up to 30 degrees during the passed 7 days on my morning commute. If I run in 5th and keep the rpm's around 2400 and up it heats up pretty fast, within about 3 miles it's at full ops temp. Even though at those rpm's the exhaust temp is about 200 degrees lower, the engine is running faster creating more heat. For those with the auto's , I guess you could turn the OD off. Even with the extended idle times and hardly ever going into 6th at highway speeds until I reach ops temp, I'm still pulling an avg. of 15. 1 mpg. Normally a hair over 17 for the same driving (in city). I do not want to turn this into a mileage thread, that's just an observation. The heat is worth the loss in mileage. Anybody else use this same strategy to get some heat out of these things??

 

[nickleinonen]

them 99-03 7. 3psd's also have the ebvr [evrb, ebrv???] valve that is a butterfly valve behind the turbo like an exhaust brake. when cold, that actuates to load the engine to help heat it up

 

[TPCDrafting]

During the winter months I plug the truck in at least a 1/2 hour before leaving. Even parked in my unheated garage. I work at home and only head out once or twice a week, so the truck sits otherwise. It makes a big difference having it plugged in for a while. My place is 1/4 mile from a hwy marked 65 mph which I take into town. I like to have a warm motor before I hit that.

 

[Slow Six]

Installing a good weather front will help with warm up. I like ones that are easy to adjust the opening for varying temps.

 

[phloop]

them 99-03 7. 3psd's also have the ebvr [evrb, ebrv???] valve that is a butterfly valve behind the turbo like an exhaust brake. when cold, that actuates to load the engine to help heat it up

My '97 psd had one of those ebpv's (exhaust back pressure valve) also. If those valves worked like they were supposed too, it was a good idea. More often than not the sensor line for the valve's will plug with soot and the computer will tell the dang thing to just turn on. The neat thing about them is you could modify them to use as an exhaust brake for very little $$.

 

[DPelletier]

I'm with Blakers on this,

The Cummins takes longer to warm up because;

- it runs cooler (I don't know if it's more efficient or if the cooling system is superior although I think it is just more efficient otherwise it would heat up at the same rate as the others with the thermostat closed)

- the block is massive and takes longer to heat up



Be happy! The longer warmup time is just another symptom of the Cummin's superiority. I plug mine in anytime the nighttime temps go below freezing. It doesn't need it to start easily, but I believe its better for the motor and I get heat right away.



Dave

 

[CChase]

The biggest thing contributing to slow heat up is the fact that it is an inline engine and therefore has a higher block surface area to mass ratio that sheds heat. The V configuration sort of "traps" heat between the two cylinder banks. At least that's my theory.



Efficiency also has to have something to do with it as the PSDs generally get lower MPGs that CTDs and are therefore burning more fuel.

 

[macdaddy]

Soil

It's totally normal picked up the 05 on 10/30. and this thing taked approx the same amount of time as my 99. On the way to work the T-stat on the 05 opens at the same off ramp as the 99.



05 3500 4X4 Laramie DRW 6 spd 4:10's 325/610 no muff.

Sold 99 3500 4X4 SLT DRW ATS trans,edge,AFE,Banks exhs,Auto Meter. (hated to see it go!!!).

 

[rbattelle]

Be happy! The longer warmup time is just another symptom of the Cummin's superiority. Dave

Now THAT is funny. :-laf



Personally, I don't think efficiency has much to do with it. I think it's just a huge cooling system (7 gallons), huge radiator, large open exhaust, and a massive chunk of iron.



When it's below 30, my truck takes just a tad over 13 miles of highway driving to open the thermostat.

 

[DPelletier]

Glad you liked it!

Seriously, your rationale (as well as CChase's) sounds plenty plausible, but I HAVE heard that the Cummins has lower combustion temps at idle.



Dave

 

[CChase]

Couple of thoughts/opinions:



- I don't think that the mass of the block has much to do with it. All IHC engines used by Ford and all CTDs are in the neighborhood of 1k lbs.

- I don't think fuel efficiency has a whole lot to do with bringing the engine up to temp as they all burn very little fuel idling, but could be and likely is a factor off idle.

- The reason I believe that it is likely the I configuration that causes the slow warmup is simply there is more area to give up heat to the ambient air.

- I don't think the cooling system plays much of a role in getting up to temp as the t-stat is closed, unless the Cummins has more water volume in the block passages, which is something I hadn't considered.



One thing I do know, at idle my 87 6. 9L would get up to operating temperature in around 5-6 minutes..... my CTD, not a chance.



OK, that's too much thinking for the evening, I'm still at work and am getting dang tired.



Craig

 

[rbattelle]

Couple of thoughts/opinions:



- I don't think that the mass of the block has much to do with it. All IHC engines used by Ford and all CTDs are in the neighborhood of 1k lbs.

- I don't think fuel efficiency has a whole lot to do with bringing the engine up to temp as they all burn very little fuel idling, but could be and likely is a factor off idle.

- The reason I believe that it is likely the I configuration that causes the slow warmup is simply there is more area to give up heat to the ambient air.

- I don't think the cooling system plays much of a role in getting up to temp as the t-stat is closed, unless the Cummins has more water volume in the block passages, which is something I hadn't considered.



One thing I do know, at idle my 87 6. 9L would get up to operating temperature in around 5-6 minutes..... my CTD, not a chance.



OK, that's too much thinking for the evening, I'm still at work and am getting dang tired.



Craig

I think Craig's onto something with the I design vs. the Vee design for heat "holding" capacity. And Dave, you're probably at least partially right too... maybe the Cummins runs an exceptionally lean fuel/air ratio at idle. In winter, if I idle my truck it will chill right down. I've seen water temperature drop 12 degrees at a stop light in ambient temps below 30.



-Ryan

 

[DPelletier]

Ryan,



Like anything, the real answer is probably an amalgamation of most of the above hypothesis. I know what you mean about cooling off at idle, I won't idle my truck in really cold temps for any lenght of time unless I'm plugged in.

I'd really love an Espar, but I can't really justify one for our area.



Cheers,

Dave

 

[rbattelle]

I, too, would love an Espar. But I've got too many other expensive projects to be able to divert $1600 for it!



-Ryan

 

[CChase]

I'd really love an Espar, but I can't really justify one for our area.

Ditto that. I would have settled for factory heated seats, but DC wouldn't let me have them without the leather.....

In winter, if I idle my truck it will chill right down.

I finally got into the habit of running the truck off idle in really cold temps at long lights. I first learned of the loss of heat when I stopped on my first long trip with the truck. The other truck had to stop for gas (ha, ha) so I just sat and let my truck idle while BS'ing. Got back in after a couple of minutes and the needle was on the 140 mark#ad
. Lesson learned on that trip.

 

[rbattelle]

Now that I have the DSG idle controller idling up is easy. And it works great. Idle up to 1200 RPM and it'll heat the coolant above 150 within just a few minutes.



I, too, wanted heated seats but not leather. So I installed a pair of Rostra seat heaters from Genos. Keeps me rear-end warm!

 

[CChase]

How do you like the Rostra heaters? I have been looking at those too, but also am considering the Warm Seats seat heaters.

 

[rbattelle]

How do you like the Rostra heaters? I have been looking at those too, but also am considering the Warm Seats seat heaters.

They're nice. My only complaint is they take a long time to heat up... 5 or 6 minutes before they're good and hot. But they're pretty cheap. I reviewed them here.



-Ryan