So what constitutes “excessive idling”?

[Ratbert]

Sorry, prime example of my head moving faster than what I can put on paper.

Didn't realize how long this post was going to be so here's a TL;DR: I idle more than most.

I start my Jeep each morning before work at 4:10. I then leave the house anywhere from 4:15 to 4:30 depending on what I'm doing before I leave.

When I get back to the warehouse after work, I always start my Wrangler before I clock out. Depending on what I have to do before I clock out, that usually means anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes of idling before in the Jeep heading back to the house.

Lately it's been so hot we don't really do so much with the Wrangler outside of work unless I'm going to the store or something like that. But like if I'm going into true value to pick up some nuts and bolts, I know exactly what I need and where it is, I'm not going to be in there for more than 10 to 15 minutes, so I just leave the Jeep running outside.

If I stop by the grocery store on the way home, our local grocery store, not much risk of the Jeep getting stolen there, I put on the parking brake run inside and I'm usually back within 5 to 10 minutes depending when I'm getting.

And like I had already stated, I leave it idling while I fuel up. So there is like another 5 to 10 minutes depending whether I'm getting DEF or not.

It's all those little stints of idling that add up.

As a minimum:
5 minutes before work.
15 minutes after work.
20 minutes total, times 5 days a week.
Roughly 1.5 hours idling.

On the high end:
15 minutes before work. (x5)
30 minutes after work (x5) (especially on holiday weeks where we are super busy and I have a lot of wrap up shit to do at the end of the day).
(I'm hyper aware when I'm leaving the Wrangler idling more than 20 minutes so I try not to do it too often)
10 minutes stop at the grocery store twice a week .
10 minute fuel up at Bucee's with DEF.
15 minute nuts and bolts run at Elliott's hardware across from work.
10 minutes spent buying liquor from the local liquor store.
5 minutes returning Amazon packages with wife at USPS.
An accumulated total of 20 minutes idling in drive-thrus throughout the week.
Total idle time in this instance is about 5 hours.

Now mind you while the maximum there I've only probably done maybe once or twice during all my time of ownership,but it does happen. Sometime in 2023 I specifically remember getting a 195 mi tank of fuel, and I remember telling myself that I was idling it way too much.

Like I said my average is between 2 to 3 hours idling each week.

This past week for example:
I only worked 3 days because I currently have covid. But will do last Monday through today.

5 minutes before work (x3)
25 minutes idling on Wednesday after work
20 minutes idling on Thursday after work
5 minutes idling on Friday after work.
15 minutes idling on Saturday after I added a heat shield to my battery and repainted my hood with a gloss coating (to reflect more heat)
Didn't even touch the Jeep on Sunday or today
My boss gave me off today because he probably doesn't want me infecting everyone at work anymore than I already have.
Total idle time this week: 1.3 hrs.

Woah, that's a lot of idling. I guess you're past your "high MPG" phase!

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[Tredsdert]

Woah, that's a lot of idling. I guess you're past your "high MPG" phase!

Someday I'll get back into that sort of testing. But for now I'm just enjoying ownership and trying not to break nothing expensive.

 

[ALeeL]

Jeeze really

Yep, you can't idle in certain states or counties.

The ironic thing about the wasting fuel part. In my old 3.6L Jeep with 35's, I used to average 17 mpg combined. My Ecodiesel Jeep with the same 35's gets 25 mpg combined.

So, over the course of the 350 miles I drive every week to work, my 3.6L Jeep would use 20.6 gallons of fuel while my Ecodiesel uses 14.6 gallons. Given that a diesel the size of the Ecodiesel likely burns around .5 gallons per hour idling, I would have to idle for 12 hours every week to equate to the extra "wasted fuel" my 3.6L burned every week.

Yet, we are the ones getting a dirty look by the gaser guys for idling for 15 minutes. Not so much in this forum, but in the HD Ram forums I used to me be in.

 

[Tread4Lo]

In the Rams case, I would assume it's more noise pollution than the fuel. Nobody wants to hear that loud chatter when their Tesla makes barely a peep.

I'm like most in my diesel, short hopes inside it stays on. I on the other hand like the chatter. Most of the insulation on my engine has come off.

 

[ALeeL]

In the Rams case, I would assume it's more noise pollution than the fuel. Nobody wants to hear that loud chatter when their Tesla makes barely a peep.

I'm like most in my diesel, short hopes inside it stays on. I on the other hand like the chatter. Most of the insulation on my engine has come off.

They never said anything about noise, especially since most of the 6.4L Hemi guys had exhausts systems on their trucks. Their main gripe was wasted fuel even though going by average combined mpg of the Hemi and Cummins, the Hemi uses over 7 gallons more over 350 miles.

 

[ALeeL]

Yep, you can't idle in certain states or counties.

The ironic thing about the wasting fuel part. In my old 3.6L Jeep with 35's, I used to average 17 mpg combined. My Ecodiesel Jeep with the same 35's gets 25 mpg combined.

So, over the course of the 350 miles I drive every week to work, my 3.6L Jeep would use 20.6 gallons of fuel while my Ecodiesel uses 14.6 gallons. Given that a diesel the size of the Ecodiesel likely burns around .5 gallons per hour idling, I would have to idle for 12 hours every week to equate to the extra "wasted fuel" my 3.6L burned every week.

Yet, we are the ones getting a dirty look by the gaser guys for idling for 15 minutes. Not so much in this forum, but in the HD Ram forums I used to me be in.

Seems I need to correct this after finally finding the article I got the info from. The .5 gallons per hour of a 3.0L diesel is way too much and is likely around .25 gallons per hour which means I would have to idle for 24 hours to equal the extra 6 gallons my old 3.6L used every week.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicle...umption-selected-gasoline-and-diesel-vehicles

 

[Old Jeeper]

I Idle my diesel while airing up the Jeep and my off-road trailer with the hood open all the way back. Sometimes for 20+ minutes. Is that excessive?

Generally speaking 30 min on a diesel would start to push you into excessive. Its not because the diesel runs hot, so don't flip your hood, that is not it.

In the diesel world excessive idle causes "wetting". Diesel likes to run hot and fast (rpm) when they don't the diesel does not combust 100%. Maybe 99.X, but you still don't the 100% combustion cycle.

Other things to consider:
The Negative Impacts Engine Idling

• Chemicals build up inside the engine if it idles for a prolonged period.
• The ravages of idling can result in significant mechanical degradation and excessive fuel consumption.
• Many crucial components of the engine, such as the Engine Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve and Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) filter, can be damaged while the vehicle is idle.
• The airflow inside the engine is interrupted during idle time, leading to the fluctuations in engine temperature.
• The engine oil becomes dirty and contaminates the DEF filter, leading to increased gas emissions and poor vehicle performance.
• More damage will occur if your vehicle vibrates while idle. The vibrations indicate complications in the functionality of the transmission mounts of the engine.

Mitigation: Add a HIGH IDLE to it. My diesel F 450 idles at around 600 rpm, if I am going to leave it longer than 30 min I turn on high idle which runs at about 1500 rpm and that is good for 24+ hrs.

https://us.bddiesel.com/products/high-idle-kit-dodge-3-0l-5-9l-6-7l?variant=30073637371968

This is a high idle for the Ram, but I do no know if its workable with the Jeep diesel. The Jeep diesel is so new and limited in production that there may not be enough demand for a High Idle...

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