If your truck is using gas you have way bigger problems.

I idle mine every morning, and turn it off in every drive thru, so I have have a mix but couldn't tell you either way.

 

its supposedly more wear and tear to turn it on and off as well.. me personally i just idle it until i don't need it for a pretty extended period of time.. like more than 10 minutes

 

Extended idling is bad.

You use more fuel idling than turning off the engine.

 

the real wear and tear is when most of the oil drains back in the pan, no matter how much the HPOP primes the engine... if you want to leave it idle for short visits alright. just give it a good romp to clear out the deposits.

I think the High idle mod would be good if its gonna be more then 10 minutes.

everyone knows the 3 keys to a healthy diesel...

let it warm up

drive it like you stole it

let it cool down.

you dont burn alot of fuel ideling at all. compared to the wear and tear of draining your engine oil to the pan and cranking it up again.

if you bought your 6.0 for mpg your in the wrong vehicle. I learned that along time ago lol...

 

Idleing for long periods of time creates excessive carbon deposit in your turbo vanes, correct? So after I idle for a while I always try to clear that out with some excessive accelerating...

 

On older large carburated gas engines, this is true. Diesels use very very little fuel at idle. I choose to idle 5-10 minutes all the time rather then turning it off.

And like everyone else already said. If you do idle alot, blast the crap out of the turbo, before cooling down and shutting her off.

 

Thanks for the info. Yall pretty much confirmed what i thought but id still like to know what the fuel consumption on start up is vs what the gpm is on idle.

 

This will help with th GPH (glad it's H and not M... Haha)How much fuel do I use idling? - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

I didn't find anything on startup

 

Virtually no "extra" fuel is used at startup.

A Ford field guy once told me a 2006 6.oh will use up to 1.25 gph at high idle, depending on accessory load (a/c or defrost on, all lights, radio, etc.), and as little as .4 gph at stock idle speed with no accessory load, engine at optimal temp, etc(ie; a/c, lights, etc.)....

Plus the added damage of extended low speed idling, cylinder wash, incomplete combustion, VGT soot build up, etc etc etc

My OBS burns about a gph idling in the heat with the a/c and radio on @ 900 rpm.

 

Still where's the breaking point for letting it idle while I go into the gas rq verse turning it off.

 

What? :dunno:

 

It is going to require more fuel to idle most of the time. Anything over a couple of minutes.

 

But less wear and tear to let it idle... I think the jumping off point is 15 minutes. JMHO

 

People we got to get out of all these old 1950's ideas about what happens on the inside of the motor.

The injector nozzle holes do not open larger on vehicle start. 15 mins of running compared to 15 seconds of starting?? You are smart enough to know the answer.

 

THEY WERE GOOD YEARS

 

The only time I idle mine is in the morning if I make a stop before its completely warmed up. I frequently stop for a biscuit and energy drink just a mile from my house, love being able to leave it running, shut the door, and hit the 7-8 and 9-0 key to lock the doors, then when I get back just use my code to get in.

 

^^^^ keypad on the door is probably my favorite feature next to smoking a riced up civic :thumb:

 

As far as fuel burned, yes you burn less fuel with the motor off than on, that is fairly basic physics. Now wear and tear of startup versus the inclusive cost of idling is more difficult to answer. I let my truck idle, I think 15 minutes is good guidance, it's not like I go into store and leave truck running cause in avoiding restart. However - I have seen 6.0s idle for days as flight line service trucks, and I let mine idle for hours before when I was in remote areas of AK and it was -40, then you can't turn it off or you die if she don't start, not worth the risk. My point, I think we still apply some of Heavy's 1950s logic to our idle discussions. I think our 21st century motors can handle idling for as long as they need to.

 

My rule would be 5 mins. I really don't think the 2 seconds of cranking is a huge wear and tear contributor.