What is the longest you have let your 80 idle for? (1 Viewer)

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Irish Reiver

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Was having a chat with a new mudder and 80 owner earlier today and the question how long can you let your 80 series idle for? The longest I have done was about 6 hours with the A/C running. Assuming your cooling system is in good order I don't see the problem but not sure if oil starvation would be an issue. What are your experiences and how long have you let your 80 idle?
 
That is an interesting topic. I can't contribute to your question, but most i have let my rig idle was 1-2 hr the most on the trail due to a bad starter....But it will idle all day @ 187-190F
 
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I've always understood that idling is something to avoid because it harms the rings and leads to oil consumption.

When I was younger I worked as a mechanic under this old guy that wasn't too bright. He "broke in" a new diesel tractor we got by letting it idle all over. That engine burned oil and never performed well.
 
I've always understood that idling is something to avoid because it harms the rings and leads to oil consumption.

When I was younger I worked as a mechanic under this old guy that wasn't too bright. He "broke in" a new diesel tractor we got by letting it idle all over. That engine burned oil and never performed well.

Diesel burnt at a low temperature (idle) can glaze the cylinder bores which prevents rings sealing, and causes oil consumption.

That tractor would have benefited from towing a heavy load at full throttle for a a day or too.

Early V8 diesel 200 series in Australia had problems with oil consumption because soccer mums never needed to push them above idle and weren't bedding in rings.
 
Found this in 1996 FSM... :nailbiting:

3. FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A CATALYTIC CONVERTER
CAUTION:
If large amount of unburned gasoline flows into the converter, it may overheat and create a fire hazard.
To prevent this, observe the following precautions and explain them to your customer.
(a) Use only unleaded gasoline.
(b) Avoid prolonged idling.
Avoid running the engine at idle speed for more than 20 minutes.
 
I think I remember a ‘Mudder starting it for some reason and coming out the next day and it was still going. No problems reported.

It’s been single digits lately. I let it idle for 15 minutes or so before heading to work. I’ll never believe it’s better for it to start it and take off down the road 10-15 seconds later.
 
While not an 80, a few years ago I had rented a Uhaul. After unloading it, I moved it a vacant lot adjacent to the house so I could put our personal vehicles in the garages and drive. Then - I forgot about it. I am guessing it was about 4PM in the afternoon and did not realize it until about 6AM the next morning when I literally flew out of bed to go get it. Relieved it was not gone and still running (IE not dead). Probably the only reason it was not stolen was because it was in a gated community.

Side note, PD vehicles constantly idle for an entire shift if they are pulling OT and doing traffic control.
 
I have let mine idle for 8 hours to keep the heat on while I slept in it. I was driving cross country, lost my credit card, hotels wouldn't take cash and it was cold as s*** out. I was not prepared to camp in the car that night so really had nothing else to keep me warm. No issues and used hardly any fuel. lol
 
Was having a chat with a new mudder and 80 owner earlier today and the question how long can you let your 80 series idle for? The longest I have done was about 6 hours with the A/C running. Assuming your cooling system is in good order I don't see the problem but not sure if oil starvation would be an issue. What are your experiences and how long have you let your 80 idle?
I have had one particular instance of letting my 96 1FZ-FE idle for 6+ hours. (petrol)

I was at work on an outdoor job site. Summer time, 95°F+ AC on recirculate.

I ended up on top of the steel and was within visual of my truck, but unable to get down as we were building equipment.

The AC worked so well, the windows gathered condensation on the OUTSIDE of the windows since they were so cold.

My truck is a DD and I run 20K+ miles each year.

HG was done at 145K, currently at 324K, have not seen any oil consumption at all unless I am pushing RPM over 3500 on the highway drives.

This instance was probably in the 240K range.

As a normal thing, I don't idle much other than an hour or so at a time when I'm on a job site and have a conference call and need to maintain my phone battery or run tools from my Inverter.

I was surprised that during that idle time of 6 hours, it only used about 5 gallons of gas. I was almost expecting it to run out of gas.
 
Regarding start/stop and idle, I've wondered whether new cars that shut down when you stop (at lights and such) will develop problems due to oil pressure dropping constantly.

Kinda on topic, I accidentally let a Tacoma idle for 6hrs once. Never noticed any issues whatsoever. I do remember it used a bit of fuel though.
 
Regarding start/stop and idle, I've wondered whether new cars that shut down when you stop (at lights and such) will develop problems due to oil pressure dropping constantly.

Kinda on topic, I accidentally let a Tacoma idle for 6hrs once. Never noticed any issues whatsoever. I do remember it used a bit of fuel though.
I think there is no way that can be healthy for them. And it’s annoying too.
 

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