How to make modern diesels live longer

[pixrthis]

This guy’s videos are a wealth of information for anybody who cares. Having a truck go almost a million miles is a way to get your money’s worth. Reduced idle time and frequent oil changes are key for any diesel with a EGR.

 

[Justsomeguy]

This guy’s videos are a wealth of information for anybody who cares. Having a truck go almost a million miles is a way to get your money’s worth. Reduced idle time and frequent oil changes are key for any diesel with a EGR.

Follow him on Instagram and YouTube. Guy knows his stuff.

 

[Go-Fly]

I had a neighbor, that had a 1978 300 Benz diesel. Bought it new when he opened his real-estate business. Changed the oil and filter every 1k miles. He said it had 800k miles on it in 2015. He had all the Mercedes service records with the milage documented. The tires stopped holding air because of corrosion at the bead seat on the rim. Took all the rims to the shop and very carefully turned under all the bad spots. Still on the road, as for as I know.

 

[coolchange]

I had a neighbor, that had a 1978 300 Benz diesel. Bought it new when he opened his real-estate business. Changed the oil and filter every 1k miles. He said it had 800k miles on it in 2015. He had all the Mercedes service records with the milage documented. The tires stopped holding air because of corrosion at the bead seat on the rim. Took all the rims to the shop and very carefully turned under all the bad spots. Still on the road, as for as I know.

My brother put one of Those five cylinder Mercedes in an overland van. Corvair van rear engine Mercedes, four-wheel-drive. Don’t ask, it would take too long to explain.

 

[BingerFang]

Before buying my 2024 GMC with the 3.0 diesel I had a long conversation with the head diesel mechanic at a large dealership here in Orange County.

He said the number 1 issue with these new diesels is that people don’t drive them enough on the highway. He recommend to get a gas vehicle if you have a short commute because not allowing any new diesel with EGR to regen properly will cause a ton of issues.

He said the second issue is oil change intervals are way too long. He said don’t go more than 5k on an oil change even though the oil life monitor says different.

 

[CLdrinker]

This is how you make modern diesel engines last.

 

[Bpracing1127]

Before buying my 2024 GMC with the 3.0 diesel I had a long conversation with the head diesel mechanic at a large dealership here in Orange County.

He said the number 1 issue with these new diesels is that people don’t drive them enough on the highway. He recommend to get a gas vehicle if you have a short commute because not allowing any new diesel with EGR to regen properly will cause a ton of issues.

He said the second issue is oil change intervals are way too long. He said don’t go more than 5k on an oil change even though the oil life monitor says different.

Yep that’s what I try to do too. Plus add an additive to the fuel too

 

[Justsomeguy]

Fuel filters and oil changes. I did filter every other oil change, oil change every 5k. I had the dreaded cp4 and it had 181+ on the clock. I replaced it. Not because it failed, just preventing before it did. My pistons looked clean great cros hatch and the bore marks were still there. It pushing decent power too. It now has a cp3 and mahle gasket with arp studs. We will see how it does from here.

 

[Bajastu]

5k oil change intervals, fuel additive for the fuel pump longevity, and get on the throttle once and a while to put some heat in these things. You can’t pussyfoot a modern diesel.

 

[RaceTec]

Yep that’s what I try to do too. Plus add an additive to the fuel too

What additive are you guys using @Bajastu and @Bpracing1127 ?

 

[Willie B]

I had a neighbor, that had a 1978 300 Benz diesel. Bought it new when he opened his real-estate business. Changed the oil and filter every 1k miles. He said it had 800k miles on it in 2015. He had all the Mercedes service records with the milage documented. The tires stopped holding air because of corrosion at the bead seat on the rim. Took all the rims to the shop and very carefully turned under all the bad spots. Still on the road, as for as I know.

… Had a 79 300 SD Mercedes five cylinder diesel as well as a 80 300SD… both at the same time… the 80 was a true $500 beater… You couldn’t kill it… it was on its second motor… So I have no idea of it’s true mileage… the 79 was a nice car… Got 43 miles to the gallon one atmospherically perfect night… The 80 got 28 miles to the gallon as someone had screwed with the injection pump and I corrected it the best I could by ear… the 300 SD five cylinders were great cars..,
Changed the oil and filter in both every 3000 miles unfortunately both of them burned up in the forest fire… oh well what do you do…

 

[dribble]

There are a bunch of other diesel gurus who disagree with Dave. I'm on the fence on the idling thing. I also follow Royalty Auto Service. Sherman is probably the best diagnostic tech I've ever seen. I worked with a guy at BAR who ended up as a trainer and was right up there with Sherman. Unfortunately CARB lured him away. They offered me a job on a stationary and mobile source enforcement team for more pay about 20 years ago but I couldn't in good conscience go to work with those communists.

 

[Justsomeguy]

What additive are you guys using @Bajastu and @Bpracing1127 ?

I used to run diesel kleen.

 

[hallett21]

I must have owned a unicorn lol. My 16 Cummins gave me 200k trouble free miles. I let it idle with the dog enjoying the AC for hours at a time. Now granted I usually travelled a minimum of 100 miles a day and I had a service body on the truck.

 

[BingerFang]

Love the gas mileage on the new 3.0.

 

[BingerFang]

I must have owned a unicorn lol. My 16 Cummins gave me 200k trouble free miles. I let it idle with the dog enjoying the AC for hours at a time. Now granted I usually travelled a minimum of 100 miles a day and I had a service body on the truck.

That frequent mileage is the key. The EGR had plenty of highway time to clean itself out. It’s the grocery getter diesels that usually end up unhappy from what I understand.

 

[pixrthis]

I must have owned a unicorn lol. My 16 Cummins gave me 200k trouble free miles. I let it idle with the dog enjoying the AC for hours at a time. Now granted I usually travelled a minimum of 100 miles a day and I had a service body on the truck.

200,000 is a little less than almost 900,000 but trouble free at any miles is a feat these days.

 

[sintax]

love solving for self inflicted issues (my truck identifies as having an egr)

as far as additives go, I've been running Opti-Lube XPD for 6 yrs or so now

obviously take anything and everything with a grain of salt...

 

[brgrcru]

Diesels are meant to work and driven hard. …….

 

[Willie B]

… With my 89 Ford F250 7.3 diesel I would put either some marvel mystery oil or ATF in with the diesel fuel… I suppose it would lubricate the injectors… With my 97 Dodge ram 2500 with a 5.9 Cummins diesel… I have never put an additive in the fuel… It had 138,000 on it when I bought it in 2006 or 2007 and now has 190,000 on it…it’s never used a drop of oil … and I change the oil every 3000… Either Delo 400 or what do you call the Shell stuff Rotella maybe???.. depends on which one Wal Mart has at the time

 

[Bpracing1127]

What additive are you guys using @Bajastu and @Bpracing1127 ?

I’m just using diesel Kleen.

 

[Cdog]

This is how you make modern diesel engines last. View attachment 1466475

Nice LS engine!

 

[Cdog]

8-10k oil changes with full synthetic. 15k fuel filter changes. Buy diesel from places that sell volume/truck stops & drive the piss out of it. It needs to get hot and be under a load.

Pay in poor fuel mileage or repairs. The after treatment has to passive regen.

 

[Andy B.]

8-10k oil changes with full synthetic. 15k fuel filter changes. Buy diesel from places that sell volume/truck stops & drive the piss out of it. It needs to get hot and be under a load.

Pay in poor fuel mileage or repairs. The after treatment has to passive regen.

I change my fuel filter every 5k when I change my oil, 05 2500 Cummings.

 

[Cdog]

I change my fuel filter every 5k when I change my oil, 05 2500 Cummings.

I mis read that at first. Synthetic will easily go 10k +. Conventional 5-7k. Assuming you’re in something modern with efi & it’s running correctly

It’s overkill for a Duramax of the same year. Idk about anything else for that generation of truck

 

[Andy B.]

I mis read that at first. Synthetic will easily go 10k +. Conventional 5-7k. Assuming you’re in something modern with efi & it’s running correctly

It’s overkill for a Duramax of the same year. Idk about anything else for that generation of truck

Gottcha, I have run Rotella in it since new and my fuel filter is right on top super easy.

 

[CLdrinker]

Nice LS engine!

Comes bored and stroked already

 

[spectra3279]

Mine is non catalyst I use 2 stroke oil and Rotella t Dino oil straight 30w. Have only had 1 injector issue on a single injector.

 

[HST4ME]

09 d max, t6, rev x oil additive and 2 bottles of Lucas deep clean a month. Only thing I've put in that truck is a set of glow plugs besides maintenance items.

 

[petie6464]

Watching this guys videos is like watching paint dry. If you want to drink that cool-aid by all means.

"Modern Diesel. . Is nothing more than a carbon garbage disposal that eats it's own waste. Its demise is the design, I don't care what snake-oil you use, what Youtube knuckleheads you follow or how often you change the oil it won't change this fact. They will all die the same death and all have the same emissions systems/parts failures along the way.

A clean tail pipe comes at a cost, and that's to the consumer. These Youtube clowns are only trying to make a buck on their channels trying to convince you they know how to cure cancer.

 

[fishing fool]

340,000 on my 6.0 powerstroke. I have had the head gaskets, studs, turbo, FICM, high pressure oil pump and Orings replaced. I use 2 stroke as a fuel additive. Rev X every few oil changes.

 

[81Sprint]

My '23 3.0 Silverado hit this mileage on a trip up to Utah, now with a leveling kit and much heavier tires it has suffered a bit but still can't complain.

 

[RiverDave]

I dunno about the idle thing…. I was always told it’s better to let them idle then to keep turning them on and off?

My truck idles for like 15-20 minutes every am?

 

[Bpracing1127]

I dunno about the idle thing…. I was always told it’s better to let them idle then to keep turning them on and off?

My truck idles for like 15-20 minutes every am?

View attachment 1466655

It’s been proven it’s bad for it. Idling was a thing before the emissions crap. Now it’s reverse. You want to get it up to temp as quickly as possible. Hence start and drive away. Don’t go flooring it but just drive normally away

 

[81Sprint]

It’s been proven it’s bad for it. Idling was a thing before the emissions crap. Now it’s reverse. You want to get it up to temp as quickly as possible. Hence start and drive away. Don’t go flooring it but just drive normally away

Well that sucks, I like having my seats warm when I get in

 

[hallett21]

It’s been proven it’s bad for it. Idling was a thing before the emissions crap. Now it’s reverse. You want to get it up to temp as quickly as possible. Hence start and drive away. Don’t go flooring it but just drive normally away

So my Ram would go into high idle if I let it sit for more than 20ish mins. I wanna say it would rev up to almost 1k RPM. Do all modern diesels do that? Or was that a chassis cab thing?

 

[Dunerking]

love solving for self inflicted issues (my truck identifies as having an egr)

as far as additives go, I've been running Opti-Lube XPD for 6 yrs or so now

obviously take anything and everything with a grain of salt...

X-2 for the Optilube. Been running it in my 05 5.9 CTD and 1.9 TDI for the last 7-8 years. Snake oil..maybe but for the few dollars I’ll run it.

 

[Dunerking]

It’s been proven it’s bad for it. Idling was a thing before the emissions crap. Now it’s reverse. You want to get it up to temp as quickly as possible. Hence start and drive away. Don’t go flooring it but just drive normally away

In my 04 VW TDI manual it says to not sit there and idle warm up but to drive away but try to stay under 3k RPMS until temps are up. Idling is just wasting fuel.

 

[TPC]

love solving for self inflicted issues (my truck identifies as having an egr)

as far as additives go, I've been running Opti-Lube XPD for 6 yrs or so now

obviously take anything and everything with a grain of salt...

I hear over time OptiLube is the only one that is legit and saves the past USA version Bosch FI pumps that had issues.
It's what I run when the weather gets near and below freezing.

BTW:

 

[Bajastu]

What additive are you guys using @Bajastu and @Bpracing1127 ?

Best on the market is Opti-Lube XPD All in one diesel fuel additive. It has the lowest wear scar (best for CP4 pumps), highest cetane, and anti-gel. There was a great video on YouTube where Lake Speed tested a handful of these products, and this one came out on top. @sintax posted the video a few posts back.

All of the modern diesels eat their own waste through an EGR so it's best not to idle a diesel truck any more than you need to. In the equipment world, Cummins just came out with their new technology where they no longer have an EGR. This is a game changer for engine longevity. I would imagine others will follow suit like CAT, Komatsu, John Deere, etc....

I have more service calls on extended idle times, improper shut down, and DEF quality than anything else with these modern diesels. This isn't a California thing either, its the EPA mandated Tier 4F / 5 EU standards that affect all new machines.

 

[sintax]

I hear over time OptiLube is the only one that is legit and saves the past USA version Bosch FI pumps that had issues.
It's what I run when the weather gets near and below freezing.

BTW:

So living in SoCal, i dont spend a ton of time in sub-freezing temps obviously, but last Jan I took my truck up to MT, hit -28*.

The noises that truck made starting cold starting in the AM...

 

[eand28]

I run a bottle of stanadyne injector cleaner once a year and dump some of their performance formula once a month

So my Ram would go into high idle if I let it sit for more than 20ish mins. I wanna say it would rev up to almost 1k RPM. Do all modern diesels do that? Or was that a chassis cab thing?

Was that regardless of outside air temp? Most of the 2000+ diesels have some sort of a high idle mode when it gets below 32°

 

[hallett21]

I run a bottle of stanadyne injector cleaner once a year and dump some of their performance formula once a month

Was that regardless of outside air temp? Most of the 2000+ diesels have some sort of a high idle mode when it gets below 32°

Yea. Could be 100 degrees out but if I let it idle for a long time it would rev up to 1k and hold it. I assume to get up to hiring operating temps.

I could also set a high idle and increase it 100 rpm’s at a time using the cruise control buttons. This was 100% stock.

 

[sintax]

I run a bottle of stanadyne injector cleaner once a year and dump some of their performance formula once a month

Was that regardless of outside air temp? Most of the 2000+ diesels have some sort of a high idle mode when it gets below 32°

I read rumors that my 07 duramax had a high idle option you could enable through the DIC and steering wheel controls, but never got into it.

 

[OCMerrill]

I run my oil 10k 5-40 SYn Valvoline, Fuel Filters 15k. I run Arch Oil in my 2018. Cummins or RAM states 15k oil changes but Blackstone says differently. EGR engines need the oil changed sooner.

The hand over to my son 04 2500 HO Gets high Zinc lucas and has an aftermarket 2 Micron spin on Filter setup with the stock canister still in play. A fass stand alone lift pump mounted to the frame. XPD in every tank. Original trans at 280k but a Low Stall Converter added a couple years ago.

 

[eand28]

I read rumors that my 07 duramax had a high idle option you could enable through the DIC and steering wheel controls, but never got into it.

They do. I think all the 03+ duramaxes had the option

 

[Bpracing1127]

Best on the market is Opti-Lube XPD All in one diesel fuel additive. It has the lowest wear scar (best for CP4 pumps), highest cetane, and anti-gel. There was a great video on YouTube where Lake Speed tested a handful of these products, and this one came out on top. @sintax posted the video a few posts back.

All of the modern diesels eat their own waste through an EGR so it's best not to idle a diesel truck any more than you need to. In the equipment world, Cummins just came out with their new technology where they no longer have an EGR. This is a game changer for engine longevity. I would imagine others will follow suit like CAT, Komatsu, John Deere, etc....

I have more service calls on extended idle times, improper shut down, and DEF quality than anything else with these modern diesels. This isn't a California thing either, its the EPA mandated Tier 4F / 5 EU standards that affect all new machines.

Where do you buy the opti lube?

 

[Bajastu]

Where do you buy the opti lube?

Amazon or a parts store

 

[sintax]

Where do you buy the opti lube?

Opti-Lube XPD Diesel Fuel Improver - 1 Gallon without Accessories Treats up to 512 Gallons

Opti-Lube XPD is a top-rated diesel fuel additive that enhances lubricity, boosts cetane, cleans injectors, and includes an anti-gel to keep fuel flowing down to -10°F. Ideal for everyday use, XPD improves fuel economy, reduces emissions, and protects against wear, making it the ultimate choice...

www.opti-lube.com

^^^ seems to be cheapest from them direct.

 

[Bajastu]

With the recent recall just announced by Ford on the CP4 pump, I'd be running a fuel additive to avoid a complete failure. The ECU program that Ford will be doing will not be the final repair. This is just a band aid to the real issue. Ford is placing the blame on bio diesel and covid.