As has been said, Iso-track & fleetboard have put a stop to engines left idling - fuel economy is the name of the game now, thats what the company is keen on, so thats what I do “he who pays the piper calls the tune” as they say 
Pointless, how is the oil going to cool down when there’s no air passing through the oil cooler…
I do it in my 10 year old car, no problems to date with the turbo touch wood…
as for the oil sitting in the sump 44 litres don’t fit in just the sump and modern oils cling to parts and it doesn’t take 1 or 2 minutes for the oil to get around a engine more like seconds.
snowman77:
as for the oil sitting in the sump 44 litres don’t fit in just the sump and modern oils cling to parts and it doesn’t take 1 or 2 minutes for the oil to get around a engine more like seconds.
Oh well ! My Bad !
Still ain’t gonna Rev the nuts off it in the morning !
martinviking:
snowman77:
as for the oil sitting in the sump 44 litres don’t fit in just the sump and modern oils cling to parts and it doesn’t take 1 or 2 minutes for the oil to get around a engine more like seconds.Oh well ! My Bad !
Still ain’t gonna Rev the nuts off it in the morning !
I don’t think anybody suggesting its ok to rev the nuts off a cold engine, but there is also no need to sit there for 10 minutes waiting for it to warm up.
Saaamon:
Pointless, how is the oil going to cool down when there’s no air passing through the oil cooler…
simple most oil coolers fitted to trucks are water cooled!
why comment on a subject when you don’t have a clue?
Rikki-UK:
GasGas:
I asked Ron Borsbroom who is head of DAF engine design about this at the launch of the MX-11truckingtopics.co.uk/dafmx-11euro6.html
What he said was this was good practice when the first turbo engines came out, because they had been designed as non-aspirated engines originally and turbo lubrication and cooling was marginal.
Over the years it had become less critical because of developments in turbo design, lube/cooling and oil quality.
His advice with modern engines (Euro 4 5 and on) was that you only needed to idle the engine if the truck had been working really hard with the turbo ‘singing’ just before you came to a stop, and then it was only necessary for a minute or less.For normal driving, where you might turn off the motorway and drive along an access road before slipping into a loading bay, it wasn’t needed.
Also, it was best to give the engine a bit of work to do as soon as you could after starting: it actually helped it get up to temperature quicker. Cold idling meant condensation and unburned fuel in the engine and exhaust system.
Bear in mind that modern truck oils are often 10W-40, rather than the 20W-50 that was used years ago. They flow twice as fast at cold temperatures, but are also engineered to ‘cling’ better to components at the top of engines. Modern ohc engines have a very fast high-pressure feed to the head, you don’t have to wait for the oil to ‘work its way up’ any more.
He said operators shouldn’t choose trucks that were too powerful for the job at Euro 6 because the engines and exhausts needed to get hot to work properly. Scania also takes a similar view.
This 100%
I had very similar advice from other manufacturers when doing an economic driving course, the days of letting the turbo cool are long gone, but as was told it is something that seems to have passed into drivers mythology and been accepted as fact by the guys out on the road, they all agree that in the morning getting the engine upto optimum operating temperature as soon as possible is ideal, and that wont be achieved by idling the motor “to lubricate the turbo” to use his words, “fire her up and get going its the best thing for her”
Are manufacturers the right people to ask?
I’m not sure their interests are wholly aligned with keeping trucks healthy for 20 years after they were manufactured. I would think, privately, their business model is 3 years lease R&M with a blue chip, another 3 years on some sort of lease or finance R&M with a middling haulier then as long as it makes it to the docks under its own steam they’re happy. Sounds to me a bit like telling fuel economy conscious fleet buyers what they want to hear.
Moose:
Saaamon:
Pointless, how is the oil going to cool down when there’s no air passing through the oil cooler…simple most oil coolers fitted to trucks are water cooled!
why comment on a subject when you don’t have a clue?
The fact still remains the same, its completely pointless to leave the engine running to “let the turbo cool down”.
Takes 15 minuites for my air to build in the morning anyway as the trailers not the best. Our volvo l60 loaders need to be idled for 3 minuites before turning them off or else hell freezes over apparently.
ellies dad:
Takes 15 minuites for my air to build in the morning anyway as the trailers not the best.
Probably ought to get that looked at…
Saaamon:
Moose:
Saaamon:
Pointless, how is the oil going to cool down when there’s no air passing through the oil cooler…simple most oil coolers fitted to trucks are water cooled!
why comment on a subject when you don’t have a clue?The fact still remains the same, its completely pointless to leave the engine running to “let the turbo cool down”.
The fact does remain the same, but you did raise another question ? Anything cools when its not being heated and the ambient temperature is less that its. I always just switch off whenever i want. I’ve never seen the point of sitting there idling (during which the temp gauge never changes) just to wait for some sort of “cooling effect”.
Ive always let mine idle for a minute or two. As said I don’t think the newer turbos need it but I was told to do it when I started working at my place. I do it mainly so that if a turbo did go its one less reason for him to point the blame at me. I do however do it with my car an £1800 repair bill for my bmw a few years back makes me want to do anything possible to prolong the life off this turbo.
Saaamon:
Moose:
Saaamon:
Pointless, how is the oil going to cool down when there’s no air passing through the oil cooler…simple most oil coolers fitted to trucks are water cooled!
why comment on a subject when you don’t have a clue?The fact still remains the same, its completely pointless to leave the engine running to “let the turbo cool down”.
Although the reasons for allowing the engine to run a little when you pulled up have changed, it wasn’t to cool the turbocharger, it was to lubricate the turbocharger bearings until it stopped spinning. When you turn off the engine, you also turn off the oil pump. As myself and others mentioned, oils have vastly improved and the clinging properties have changed.
You have to remember that the only thing that drives the turbocharger is the exhaust gases. A supercharger is driven mechanically by the crankshaft
Wheel Nut:
Although the reasons for allowing the engine to run a little when you pulled up have changed, it wasn’t to cool the turbocharger, it was to lubricate the turbocharger bearings until it stopped spinning. When you turn off the engine, you also turn off the oil pump.
Spot on, couldn’t have worded it better myself.
so from the points made in this thread we can conclude that most employed drivers on here would drive a fully loaded truck up say “birdlip hill” and then switch the engine off at the top without allowing any time for cooling
and most owners/ operators would after doing the same allow time for cooling before switching the engine off!
I don’t see that the reasons for running the engine a little have changed, after all it’s not just the turbo after a hard pull the engine may well be right at the top of it’s operating range temp wise and a few min’s of idle will allow the thing to cool with the coolant circulating, in fact with modern engines running at a higher temp and the fact that when a turbo does fail it can now cause many expensive problems that would not apply on a pre euro4 vehicle or older due to the lack of sensors, dpf filters etc
can anyone tell me where I can buy some of this modern lubrication that hangs in the engine rather than the sump and how long on average it will take to drain the oil after removing the sump bung?
Dan Punchard:
It’s not just the turbo to cool,on a ■■■■■■■ it’s the water too,if you don’t they will hydraulic when you come to restart,some say its the liner seals ,other say its the head gaskets ,I have heard its fuel running in ?if I don’t leave mine 5 full mins it will clunk and won’t turn straight away.
If that is hydrolocking then it needs the heads yanking off, you got big problems there 
I always let the engine run for a few minutes before turning the key either way.
After pulling a hill or sitting in traffic I would leave it running a little longer to allow the hot spots to cool so the heat is spread evenly over the engine.
From cold, start it, let it run a couple of mins on tick over, then crank it up a few hundred rpms for a couple more minutes, then pull off slowly using minimal throttle and boost until it’s at operating temperature.
For that reason I never park at the bottom of a big hill.
Perhaps it would be a good idea for someone to create a DCPC module on engineering appreciation & mechanical sympathy. They could call it “How a Truck Works”.
Chas:
Perhaps it would be a good idea for someone to create a DCPC module on engineering appreciation & mechanical sympathy. They could call it “How a Truck Works”.
Whether your tongue was in your cheek at the time of writing, or not, I would actually find that more use than the current guff on offer