Truck Continues to Surprise
September 28th, 2009Run the Radio All Night!
I know I am inviting abuse by admitting this, but I didn’t look under the hood of my truck until today. After all, I did pay a mechanic for a six-page report. I checked the oil while filling up. It looks new in there. The oil looks very clean for a diesel. I had a Toyota that never turned its oil dark. Couldn’t figure that out.
One surprise: the truck has two batteries.
Can someone explain this to me? Is it because diesels are hard to crank, or is it just a gimmick to appeal to macho truck nerds? It definitely would have worked on me.
I’m looking at bedliners. The factory drop-in looks okay, but there is dirt under it, and the rails are unprotected. I’m thinking Line-X. I considered getting it matched to the truck, but I don’t trust it not to fade. They say red liners turn pink. Line-X now has a super-duper version that’s guaranteed not to fade, but what if it doesn’t work? Hard to fix. They could spray over it, but if you got a scratch, the red would pop out. Black, on the other hand, attracts heat worse than red.
I’m also wondering about paintless dent repair. The truck has a few dings. Not sure how safe paintless repair is. I don’t want to pull the paint off the truck while trying to fix it.
I think I’m getting about 15 miles per gallon, but I’m not sure. I can’t be certain what the odometer read the last time I filled it up. And I screwed up this time by pumping diesel after the pump went off. I thought it went off early, so I started it again, and I filled the tank higher than normal. This will throw mileage calculations off.
Seems to get better mileage than a typical Thunderbird. I can’t say whether that extends to my own Thunderbird, because I never bothered checking the gas mileage. I didn’t drive it enough for it to matter.
I ordered a wider rear-view mirror. Hope it works.
More
I feel like I’m dreaming.
I just found out the engine on my truck (the whole powertrain) has a 100,000-mile warranty. I was looking into modifications to boost the mileage when I found this out. You can put bigger injectors on it, and you’ll get 50 extra HP at the rear wheels, but you also get better mileage. Problem: it may void the warranty.
I can’t figure this out. Better mileage than my two-seat Thunderbird. Great acceleration. A 5000-pound payload. Four-wheel drive. And a ridiculous powertrain warranty. Where is the catch?
Maybe it’s the hundred-yard turning circle.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Insurance had paintless dent repair done after a hail storm made my car look like a golf ball. You could not tell the difference from new when it was done.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Get the black Line-X or Speedliner. Basically identical, just find the highest quality-minded professional applicator in your area. The key is the skill of the technician, not the magic of the brand name.
The black is in the bed, and won’t affect cabin temp in any appreciable way.
Do NOT get a Rhino Liner. Unless you like having black rubber residue smear all over you anytime you’ve gotta work with cargo in the bed.
DO go back a few posts and find the tip I gave on Florida Farm Bureau Insurance. Savings to be had, I’ve no doubt.
And you know, a locomotive style cow-catcher on the front of that beast could dissuade pedestrians and slow drivers in the fast lane. More stylish than a snowplow, too.
Diesel clatter, a beautiful thing!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
September 28th, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Spray-in bed liner all the way.
September 28th, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Diesel trucks have 2 batteries because they DO crank much harder than gas engines, plus they have some sort of preheaters such as glow plugs or manifold preheaters such as in your Dodge that are used in colder weather. And, in cold weather, the engine must really spin to get it to fire. If the batteries are run down to where it’s not cranking pretty fast, it simply will not start, unlike a gas engine. In Miami, you could probably get away with a single battery, but not up North.
My truck has a Rhino spray-in liner that the previous owner had installed. I’m told that the Rhino liner is “good”, but I have done no research.
The Cummins doesn’t crap up its oil like some Diesels. A hundred miles after a change, the oil in my VW looks like it’s been in there for 10,000, but the Dodge oil at 10,000 miles looks like near-new.
Figure your mileage over at least 3 full tanks in a row, it can easily vary by 3 Mpg from one tank to the next, depending mostly on how the truck is sitting when you fill it. (I think) Also, your mileage will depend very much upon your manipulation of the accelerator pedal.
Why are you concerned about the rear view mirror? You have outside mirrors, get used to using them, especially the little convex inserts when lane-changing. Most of the time I’m driving my truck, it has the trailer behind it and I have no choice. Remember, man, you’re driving a TRUCK, not some wimpy car! 🙂
September 28th, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Bed-rail caps and bed-liners are usually separate. For Bed-rail Caps, how about:
.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DZZ-96148/
.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DEA-WRP304ST-02/
.
I have black plastic ones on my Dodge. Also consider using Stake-pocket Anchors…they’ll mount the Bed-rail caps without screws or adhesives. I got mine at Walmart.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:23 PM
You’ll probably see a lot better than 15. If you’re only getting 15, you’re out of tune in some way. You should be seeing something more like 18 around townn, and well over 20 on the highway.
I’m getting 18-19 in town, and 22-24 on the highway.
Definitely get a spray in bedliner. Drop-ins are just rust traps.
Oh and you’re going to like having to change the oil once every 10k miles (you can probably go 20k if you use synthetic, but only if you do it in six months. You want to change at least twice a year), but not that it’s $100 for an oil change.
12 quarts of synthetic Rotela adds up fast. Thankfully you buy it by the gallon (or the 5 gallon bucket if you like) so it’s slightly less of an ass rape.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Oh and you don’t need new injectors, new intake, or new exhaust to improve your horsepower by 150, and torque by 250ftlbs, plus 2-3 better mpg. You just need to buy a decent engine tuner.
The Cummins is RADICALLY de-tuned for use in the Dodges. You can double the horsepower and torque if you use a tuner, with intake, exhaust, and injectors if you so choose.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:39 PM
The rear view mirror in the cab is just used to check if the trailer is still there.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:01 PM
I remember a snow storm in S Carolina (a long long time ago) where they had us take out the deuce and a halfs to deliver fuel oil and groceries. Only two trucks started out of the fleet. They were both driven by yankee kids who knew to hit the manifold heaters to ungel the diesel. The motor pool had to jump start each of the others in the fleet. Driving them in the snow was another issue for some.
My son has a drop in liner. Good for trapping moisture underneath. He was shocked when I showed him the rust it was hiding a couple days ago. I took my liner out. With a tonneau cover, nobody see the scratches. ITS A TRUCK.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:11 PM
I remember back in the Jimmy Carter days when diesels started making their way to America. There was a Datsun commercial where they bragged that their diesel trucks had “two batteries for extra starting power” and that was just to crank a small engine.
In cold climates, you need that extra juice to warm up the glow plugs and crank that icy engine.
Diesels are great. My aunt and her husband have an F250 to pull their enormous Airstream when they go south every winter. The trailer is the size of a Greyhound bus and it pulls just fine.
I wanted to put a Cummins engine in my old Bronco, but never got around to it. I modified it to run on propane instead.
Oh, yeah…you can get propane injection kits for diesels that supposedly give you more power for passing. Don’t know if it’s worth it or not.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:26 PM
What jdunmyer said – diesels are harder to crank. The reason? The high compression ratios. Remember, the fuel is injected and fired by compression only – there are no spark plugs in diesels. Yeah, some have/had “glow plugs” that could be used as a starting aid – I’m not even sure if the new motors use that any more. The OTR rigs definitely don’t have them. But, a larger displacement motor with half again the compression ratio is gonna take some serious starter torque to spin up. IIRC it’s around 16:1, where gassers are 9:1 or perhaps a smidge higher.
Should you ever travel to a colder clime during the winter, make sure you have a block heater installed and plug that puppy in at night – if you don’t, the oil will turn to molasses making the motor that much harder to turn. A block heater keeps the water in the block warm so the temperature differential isn’t so great when you’re ready to fire it up.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:39 PM
Diesels need more cranking power because, among other things, they depend on a high compression ratio for ignition. Related, unless things have changed recently, they operate at full air intake all the time, ie air intake wide open. If the air were throttled, they’d stop running.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Most fullsized trucks made in the last ten years or so all seem to have 2 batteries(usually 78 series), for a coupla reasons – EFI and their electric fuel pumps draw a helluva lot of amps, and it makes it much easier starting in cold weather – remember as the temp goes down, it means less amps available to run the fuel pump, injector and starter at the same time..
September 29th, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Ed, was that the snowstorm of ’73?
I was there too.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Leo, Shaw AFB, 682nd DASQ, Sumpter SC
September 29th, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Small world Ed. I was at Ft. Gordon Ga.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Steve, for full visual effect I think two big ol’ railroad ties in place of the front bumper would guarantee civility on the road.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:55 PM
I can’t understand why a 359-cubic-inch engine needs three gallons of oil. Especially a diesel, which is better lubricated to begin with because of the nature of the fuel. Maybe half of it goes to the turbo.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:32 PM
“I can’t understand why a 359-cubic-inch engine needs three gallons of oil. Especially a diesel, which is better lubricated to begin with because of the nature of the fuel. Maybe half of it goes to the turbo.”
Diesel engines typically carry larger crankcase oil capacities for a couple of reasons. One is that oil is used to cool various parts of the engine. Oil is sprayed onto the bottoms of the pistons to help carry away combustion heat. The oil that lubricates the turbo bearings also serves to cool the turbo. The large volume of oil allows a large portion of it to remain in the crankcase longer where it can give up its heat. Most Diesels also have some an oil cooler that uses engine coolant to extract heat.
The other reason for the large crankcase is that due to the high compression and the nature of the Diesel combustion cycle a lot more contaminants are forced past the piston rings. Over time these contaminants collect in the oil. That’s why Diesel engine oil gets so black. A larger crankcase capacity increases the volume of contaminants the oil can carry. Plus, with more oil there’s more of the additive package in the oil (the chemicals added to the oil that do things besides lubricating moving parts) so the oil is able to work longer before service is required.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:42 PM
The Cat C15 I drive has 15L(928ci) and about a forty two quart oil capacity. Service every 10k miles. Four batteries. I carry several gallons of Howe’s fuel conditioner for cold weather.
Also, there are two grades of diesel – you will only see #2 in the south, but #1 is sold in the northern states. Diesel is really a light oil, and #1 is lighter than #2, and gels at a lower temp. It doesn’t have as many BTUs, though, so mileage goes downhill.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Be sure to do your oil changes *like clockwork* on a 3 month basis. Dodge can be cranky about the “neglect” part of its warranty if ya don’t, said my dealer in a low voice. And document, document, document if ya don’t use a dealer.
September 30th, 2009 at 7:07 PM
One of the component parts of Diesel fuel is paraffin. It lubricates the close-tolerance parts of the fuel injection system, and provides heat value when it burns.
#2 Diesel has a relatively high paraffin content. Unfortunately at lower temps that paraffin comes out of suspension and collects at restriction points such as fuel filters.
#1 Diesel has a lower paraffin content, so the wax doesn’t come out of suspension and clog the filters until it gets quite a bit colder, but it also doesn’t lubricate the injection system as well, nor does it make as much power as the same volume of #2 Diesel.
Here in the Midwest, fuel stations will start selling a blend of #1 and #2 Diesel in late October or early November, depending on how much faith they put in long term weather forecasts. This blend usually consists of enough #1 to lower the wax point significantly while at the same time leaving enough wax to meet the lubrication needs of the injection system.
Fuel treatments generally work to eliminate water in the fuel and to keep the wax in suspension. Even in warm climates such as yours an occasional bottle of fuel treatment is a good thing to help remove collected water and to keep the biological activity down – yes, there’s a bacteria that lives in Diesel fuel and has an affinity for aluminum fuel system parts.
Regular fuel filter changes and purchasing fuel from vendors that do enough business to keep the fuel fresh are the best tools for a healthy Diesel fuel injection system.
Of course, Your Mileage May Vary. Do not look at laser with remaining eye. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.