So, I know that these trucks were not designed to just be making trips to the supermarket & back home every day, but I have a truck that basically has just been used as a daily driver all its life. The truck got used once to tow a trailer from Oregon to Alabama & that was the most work it has seen in its entire life.....Basically, right now, I am using the truck to drive back and forth to work every day.....The problem is that I live so close to my shop that most of the time the truck never even gets up to normal operating temperature from the time that its started till it is shut down.What I'm wondering is if this is bad for the engine over time to not get it up to normal running temps when it is driven a lot of the time. I've just recently been trying to get the truck out on the interstate two or three times a week & getting on it pretty good & getting rpm's up to work the engine some.....It seems to have helped in getting rid of a little ticking noise I could hear after the truck was warming up a little....Could this cause some problems that the engine doesn't get up to normal temps every time it is driven back & forth to work? I just know that these engines were designed to be worked a little to stay happy.....

I've got a easy way to remember winter stuff... Here in Idaho I'm not permitted to run irragation water year round. I've got to shut down the water and drain the lines every year at Oct 20th and then can setup the irragation again in Apr 15... So at this time I put my winter fronts and take them back off in Apr... Now... Extreme testing I ran with my winter front on as high as 55-60*F outside with no problems of cooling. Engine temp never crossed 197*F but would continue to run about 195*F as typical.

Ran it up to 80-90F, no issues Mine won't heat up for nothing.

Cumminspower, Gr8 name by the way, & wecome. Where do you live? Just curious as to what temps your truck may encounter. Do you keep it in a garage? That does help slow down the moisture, condensation problems like Russ has. If it's outside at least keep it off the bare groung or gravel. One thing for sure by following your severe maint. schedule your doing the best that you can for your truck. Get some fun weekend getaways planned so that you need to use it. When I'm not hauling hay w/ mine in the summer, I'm pulling a 74 King 2-horse trailer that I rebuilt this Aug & Sept. Painted it & am using it as a tailgate party vehicle. That trailer is a prime example of what happens when you leave something parked on the dirt, but that's another story. (No it doesn't smell like a horse inside, I might! (-: ) CTD, Dave

Sorry about not replying for a long time....I guess I don't have my account setup where it emails me when the thread has comments.... I live in Alabama.....The temperature rarely ever gets below 25 F at night.....I'm not really sure I even need to worry about plugging in my block heater.....I don't keep it in a garage right now....Just on a concrete driveway.... The truck has just been used as a daily driver for several years & I know that many times I've just shut my engine down after only running a couple of miles going back and forth to work.....Past couple of weeks I've been taking a longer route to work & making sure that the temperature gets up & the coolant starts flowing some.....I was just worried that maybe it could be causing some buildup in the engine by not getting it hot often enough....I've taken it out a few times & given it a good thrashing (not abuse) on the highway.... I still notice the ticking noise at times....So far I've only ran about half a tank of diesel with the 2-stroke oil in it.....Ticking noise is hard to explain & I really can't even tell sometimes where it's coming from, but i'm fairly certain it's engine related.....I seem to even notice it now sometimes on cold starts & not after it warms up.....oh well....

I agree that short running any car/ truck is really hard on it. I don't have the problem personally as everything is a commute but if I was having to do some really short runs, I would prefer something in the gas category and it would have to be cheap. When I worked at the lake for a while we drove around under 20 mph for 8 hours sometimes and those truck SUCKed in the power department! I was surprised how much more power I gained with my lake truck when I began to floor it up to 60 mpg going to the over side of the lake on the highway. After a month or so, it really perked up!

Already got my winter front on and been running it since Oct 20...

what is that?

what is that?

http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/general/winter-fronts/winter-front.htm

ah ha thank you ISX thats cool i had to do something similar to that with a 1979 toyota pickup i had to get it to pass the smog check in california.

I still notice the ticking noise at times....So far I've only ran about half a tank of diesel with the 2-stroke oil in it.....Ticking noise is hard to explain & I really can't even tell sometimes where it's coming from, but i'm fairly certain it's engine related.....I seem to even notice it now sometimes on cold starts & not after it warms up.....oh well....

Back in the old days... sorry guys... a lot of heavy duty/high performance engines were reliable solid lifters. As they would wear in, they would tick as the valve lash got slightly out of spec. Sometimes this would go away as the engine was thoughly warmed up & all parts expanded. There were still a smattering of Marine engines built on these HD platforms when I left in 1986. I'd warm it up good... put a load on it & see if it quiets down. If so, it's in spec... barely.

so could a valve adjustment help this? it has 130k on it and i have read around on the internet of people doing a valve adjustment between 125k and 150kas for warming it up... a 14 hour trip when i went home for thanksgiving should have warmed it up enough . i'd think but the noise got worse and quieted down somewhat throughout the whole trip. maybe as conditions in the atmosphere changed?i do realize the cummins isn't a quiet engine but something just isnt quite right