Detroits typically lazy when cold?? (like me? :)

[Chaz]

Hey Guys,
  I took my "baby" out to stretch her legs this weekend. She was needing it. But only about a 20 mile round tripper. But it felt soooo good for both of us. I just love that ol' girl!!
 
  Anyway, I have a question:
  Here's the scenerio - I plugged her in for about 2 hours before I hit the switch. Hit the switch and about 1 revolution (seriously) and vvvroooooom!!! I was just about tickled enought to wet myself.  I let her idle a few minutes, as I already had her "aired". I took off and man, she could hardly get out of her own way. I have a SLIGHT incline to get out of my street and it was about all the ol'girl had to get up and out. I did the round trip and by the time we got back, she seemed to have pretty good power again. And since she is the only diesel I've EVER driven, I can't say for sure how strong she is but, I think she is ok.

  So my question is: Is that any kind of a tell tale sign of an "issue", future problem or impending problem?? Something that I could/should address now?? I mean, I TOO am getting harder to get outta bed as I get older and I understand that.      But Dallas did rebuild her about 1500 miles ago. But.............. the injectors have always been in the back of my mind as we did not replace them. And she does smoke for about a half mile. The smoke never REEEEEALLY does clear up till I get her under load. 

So am I being an over protective parent or should I maybe look at some things. I try to adhere to the "Ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure thing and would like your best opinions.

Thanx a bunch,
   Chaz

[Jriddle]

Not sure but sounds like the transmission oil needed to warm up a bit.

John

[buddydawg]

Mine is about the same.  As soon as the tranny gets up to running temp everyting is AOK!

[mcichad]

Hey Chaz,

It's a Detroit;)  Likes to work hard and taking it easy seams to dissapoint, smoke is from the pistons needing to seal themselves and that's only accomplished by a good work out.  The engine operating tempurature needs to get up to normal and stay there for a little while under a good run to make the 'D' happy.  I too thought there may be an issue with sluggish... however after discussing how the Detroit works really helped to clarify what it's needs are, run hard and run long;)  If you're on a short run, try shifting only when you can't go any faster(automatic or manual), this keep your rpm's up and warming while on a short run.

Also if you're running a turbo make sure your air cleaner is always free and ready to breath, a Detroit needs 'air and diesel' and you're ready to run.  If the Detroit does not get a good run you'll see what you are experiencing especially when it's colder, and only leads to 'slobbering' and such...give er plenty of good runs and you'll both be very happy:)

Hope this helps,

Chad

[letz4wheel]

Another thing to think about also is the fuel. With where you live the fuel could be semi-gelled also. You might want to try adding some winter diesel treatment next time too...especially if you still have  mainly fuel you bought last summer.

[buswarrior]

20 miles is pretty short for an exercise drive.

Think 100 miles once a month, and all your cares will go away?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Nellie Wilson]

Hi Chaz -

Being a Frozen Tundra kinda gal, I concur with EVERYTHING above! Had no idea how strong my baby was 'til I hit the road in earnest. The more she runs, the more she wants to run. Loves revs, loves heat (to a certain point, of course ).

Don't worry a bit... if she started that easy with a couple hours plug-in she's good to go. Go make it go!

Nellie

PS. Surprised to hear it's your first diesel... you being a Hero Member and such?  Worth a story?

[Skykingrob]

Chaz
I experience the samething with my 91 Prevost with an alison 5 speed auto. I had the local alison person look at it becasue I thought it might not be right. He let it set in his yard for a week then start and drive, did the same thing to him. He told me he thought it was the trans oil draining out of the torque converter and it was cold (15 temp). What mine does is to get any speed up my driveway, I have to really put my foot into the accelertor. Anyway, like other said above and my experience was, soon as the engine and trans got to operating temps (longer for the trans than engine) symptoms went away. Nonethless, the dealer said he didn't find anything wrong. I think you are okay based soley on my opinion from my experience.

Rob
91 Prevost LeMirage XL
Missouri

[brando4905]

Chaz,

I'm sure the guys with more engine knowledge will correct me, but with only 1500 miles since the rebuild the rings are not seated fully yet, and I would think that could be the source of some of the smoke.

Brandon

[luvrbus]

Yep Brandon he has a long way to go takes 10,000 to 20,000 miles for those seat 



good luck

[Chaz]

Cool, thanx folks. Glad to hear all that. I just want to keep up with the ol'girl and I still have that lingering question in the back of my mind about the injectors. The trany fluid does make sense. BTW, it is an auto.

Yeah, I was told when I first bought her, how to drive it. "Put your fingers in the door and slam it, and run it like your pissed at it"!!  Seems to be true from what I've seen. But, there is also the idea of being "Light footed" (hard for me to do) to save a little on fuel. Such a dilemma. 

Fuel is from the summer but I do have additive in it. I had an algae problem at one time so I try to keep up on it. Steve 5B keeps me educated on this. He knows his stuff. It's what he does.

Sorry, only a 20 miler Warrior.  If fuel wasn't a concern, I would have put a bigger smile on my face and took her to Indy. That would be about 100 miles. I do love drivin her tho. I'm told by my friends, that it shows. 

Hero Member......... Yeah, I guess, but it's because I was a "bonefide no-sh*t virgin" when I bought her! I never even so much as laid my hand on a diesel!! To be honest, they were intimidating. But I'll crawl all over a small block Bow Tie or early Harley motor. I guess the reason for "Hero" is just because I am "FULL of .............. questions". Yeah, that's it, "questions".  But as for my "story", as it were. "I was born a poor black child.........." OH, no, no, no, wait, that was Steve Martin's story.  My basic story can be seen on my site www.amstudio.us. I have to have a biography there for the Art World. Pretty simple and basic if that is what you would like to know.
Glad yours came out clean, Rob. I guess the big ol' girls are just slow to go when it gets cold. Like I thought, but just wanted to make sure. I know problems only get more expensive as they go on.

As far as the mileage for rings seating, I'm familiar with that, but not an authority. It's just that right after Dallas got done with her, she fired right up and NO smoke. Then, after the "mishap" (well documented) she started to smoke again at start up. From what I can tell, I'm OK with her, but I hate smoking others out when she starts. That's why I air her up before I start her up. But, I guess time will tell. Thanx for the vote of confidence.

Thanx for every thing folks!
  Chaz

[rv_safetyman]

Chaz, the next time you take it for a spin in cold weather, watch the temperature gauge. 

Diesels don't build much heat at idle and take quite a bit of time to build heat at part throttle.  If your thermostats are not operating correctly, it may take a long time to get the engine up to temperature.

Any diesel will be puny if it is not up to operating temperature.

Jim

[artvonne]

  While I have little Detroit experience (about 50 miles), and all of it leaving a nice white smoke trail behind), I have driven a few diesels in winter, Ford 6.9 and 7.3's, VW, Mercedes, and a couple of those wonder GM 350's.

  Diesel fuel isnt gasoline, its oil. And when cold, its very hard to burn. In a diesel engine, there is no other way to set it on fire than by compression and cylinder head temperature reaching above the auto ignition temperature of the fuel. But just because its reaching ignition, does not mean it cant get hotter. The pistons and cylinder walls need to reach "operating" temperature, as does the entire engine.

  As stated, diesels dont produce much heat idling unless you block off the radiator and keep it out of the wind. And something I learned here, Detroits like to load the exhaust and mufflers with wet unburned fuel when they idle, so when you start making them work they can blow a lot of white smoke for a while. Which tells me that old Detroit I had probably was in fine shape just like the seller said it was.

  I dont feel 20 miles is anywhere near long enough of a workout for any diesel, especially a large industrial one as in a Bus. If you can, just let it sit until you have time to take it out for a good run of 100 miles or several hours of strong use. Short runs are actually more harmful than leaving it sit. Short trips put a lot of moisture into the oil, and it never runs long enough to burn it off. Several short trips can turn the oil into a watery acidic tank of slop. 

[Chaz]

Dang. I thought that came from just firing them up and not running them up to temp, that did all that. I wasn't aware that short trips did it as well. Looks like the short "smile" runs are going to get fewer and farther between. 

Chaz

[Len Silva]

My 4104 was like that even in Florida. You could almost feel it as the temperature gauge crossed 180 degrees, it was like a booster kicked in.