New to diesel, looking for general tips.

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Oliver Closehauf

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Posts
718
Reaction score
457
Location
Cincinnati
Ram Year
2005 Laramie
Engine
Cummins 5.9
Recently bought my 05 that was very well cared for as it has 272k miles on it but you would never know it. I bought it from the second owner who is a cop, who bought it from a friend of his at 200k. Truck even has a name, Big Blue. In my mind Big Blue has done its "work" and now will enjoy its retirement by being loved and pampered by me and taken on the occasional trip to Home Depot for lumber.

Anyway, I'm keeping the block heater plugged in at 40 and below, I bought a Battery Tender just for it and I try to start it every 2-3 days. Problem is I don't really "need" the truck on a daily basis as I work from home, but when you need a truck and don't have one, well you know.

I filled it up last time I went out, added the requisite amount of diesel kleen, Oil was just changed, all major mechanical items have been addressed by the PO, I've been doing the OCD nit picking stuff I like to call "Christine-ing" if you get the reference to the movie.

So what I'm looking for mostly is since this truck will just in my driveway and be driven once a week if I'm lucky, what do I need to stay on top of? Mainly I'm talking diesel. Things not covered in the owners manual.
 

Dennis Shellito

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Posts
198
Reaction score
86
Location
Ft. Morgan, CO
Ram Year
2011
Engine
Cummins IBS
Well, during warm weather you need to run the fuel out of the tank every 6-8 weeks to keep moisture from forming in the tank. Moisture will invite algae into the tank and then you will have serious trouble. You should probably add a good algaecide in the fuel tank at every fill up. I have used Power Service BioKleen and it does a good job as long as your truck doesn't become infested with algae. I have seen these 5.9L Cummins trucks run for up to and past 1,000,000 miles so don't think your truck needs a retirement home. The more they are driven (sensibly) the better they like it. Good luck with your new-to-you diesel!
 

chri5k

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
May 24, 2019
Posts
1,925
Reaction score
2,902
Location
USA
Ram Year
2016
Engine
Diesel
Three things; clean air, clean fuel and clean oil. Keep up with the maintenance on these three items and you will keep the engine happy.
 
OP
OP
Oliver Closehauf

Oliver Closehauf

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Posts
718
Reaction score
457
Location
Cincinnati
Ram Year
2005 Laramie
Engine
Cummins 5.9
algae ??? What's "warm weather"? I'm in Cincinnati, so may as well be jungles of Panama as far as humidity is concerned. Never heard of algae being a problem. It's always effen raining. Hell it's raining now.
 

bm02tj

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Posts
958
Reaction score
2,768
Location
B C Canada
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7
All above and do not shut off engine after it was under load let idle for short while to protect turbo and head
 

Dennis Shellito

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Posts
198
Reaction score
86
Location
Ft. Morgan, CO
Ram Year
2011
Engine
Cummins IBS
algae ??? What's "warm weather"? I'm in Cincinnati, so may as well be jungles of Panama as far as humidity is concerned. Never heard of algae being a problem. It's always effen raining. Hell it's raining now.


The reason I mentioned "algae" is because some of the folks that have diesel powered motorhomes that live in a high humidity location have had serious algae infestations in their fuel systems from leaving them parked with the same fuel for extended durations. I filled my 2011 CTD Ram up at a little corner station in Lincoln, NE once when I was running low on fuel passing through town and I got some algae in my fuel system. The fuel mileage dropped from 20+ down to 10 mpg almost immediately and the engine started running sort of rough. When I got home in CO I changed the fuel filter and the one I removed was full of gray sludge. I started running algaecide in the fuel and changed the filter again after 1,000 miles and it had a little gray sludge in it. I eventually got the truck back in the pink after repeatedly using the BioKleen. I mentioned this simply because you said you wouldn't be driving your truck very often, and sitting diesel fuel is a magnet for algae in warm damp environs.
 

crash68

ACME product engineer
Staff member
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2016
Posts
10,703
Reaction score
16,709
Ram Year
2015
Engine
3.0 EcoDiesel
Anyway, I'm keeping the block heater plugged in at 40 and below, I bought a Battery Tender just for it and I try to start it every 2-3 days. Problem is I don't really "need" the truck on a daily basis as I work from home, but when you need a truck and don't have one, well you know.
If you start the truck take it out and get it good and hot but don't start it to let it idle for a few. Diesel don't build heat until they're under load and there's no real benefit of partially warming the engine. Your battery tender will keep them good to start.
 
OP
OP
Oliver Closehauf

Oliver Closehauf

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Posts
718
Reaction score
457
Location
Cincinnati
Ram Year
2005 Laramie
Engine
Cummins 5.9
So what about the use of the block heater? If I know I'm not going to drive it for a week but it's below 40 do I really need to keep it plugged in the whole time? Or just plug it in a few hour/ day before?
 

Dennis Shellito

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Posts
198
Reaction score
86
Location
Ft. Morgan, CO
Ram Year
2011
Engine
Cummins IBS
Save the juice and plug it in a few hours or so before you crank it up. I leave my truck plugged in all the time during the winter as I never know if I will be driving it or not. My Cummins will start in very cold weather but I like the leg up, so to speak, to get it warmed up faster.
 

crash68

ACME product engineer
Staff member
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2016
Posts
10,703
Reaction score
16,709
Ram Year
2015
Engine
3.0 EcoDiesel
Or just plug it in a few hour/ day before?
As mentioned above, just plug it in a couple hours before. Buy yourself a smart plug with energy monitoring, then you can turn the block heater from your smart phone and see if you remembered to plug the truck in.
The CTD block heater is 750 watt so any of the smart plugs or timers should handle the power.
 

TimboRam77

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Posts
137
Reaction score
78
Ram Year
2021
Engine
5.7
Had a 05 Laramie 3500 longbed and sold at 120k. Hate hate hate I sold it. Run some biodiesel if you can get it. Crd loves b20. I ran b100 and b70 year round. I changed my fuel filter at every 5000 mile oil change. Bad fuel is bad news. Never mom and pops diesel. I made high quality potassium based bio that was extremely clean and the entire process was environment friendly. If it's an automatic, that is the weak link.
 

Gr8bawana

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Posts
1,274
Reaction score
1,060
Ram Year
2017
Engine
6.7 CTD
To the OP. Just remember that all this stuff about this or that being bad or having a bad design or you MUST NOT do this or that is GREATLY exaggerated.
Many many guys come here only to complain. These are very much the minority of very happy Dodge or Ram owners.
 
OP
OP
Oliver Closehauf

Oliver Closehauf

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Posts
718
Reaction score
457
Location
Cincinnati
Ram Year
2005 Laramie
Engine
Cummins 5.9
Right, thanks. I'm taking in everything and making my own decisions. I'm new to diesel, but not new. Cars and bikes have been one of my hobbies since forever. Have even gotten paid for it a few times in the past. Just didn't want to overlook something "every diesel owner knows" to do and have a pile of junk come spring.
 

CVX20

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2015
Posts
792
Reaction score
476
Location
Ont,Ca.
Ram Year
2019 Classic Express
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Worst thing you can do is treat it like a gas engine.They don't like stopping and starting,short trips etc...They liked to run and be worked.Harder worked the better.
 

powerhour

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Posts
270
Reaction score
34
Location
Clearwater County, Alberta
Ram Year
2005 and 2019 Classic
Engine
5.9 CTD and 5.7 Hemi
I live in Canada and I only plug it in the night before I go anywhere, thats overkill. You only really need a few hours before you start the truck when plugged in. I dont even bother to plug mine in until its at least 10F. 40F is still Tee shirt weather. Just make sure your batteries are good and you run a quality synthetic like Rotella T6
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
194,925
Posts
2,864,171
Members
155,296
Latest member
VLG6963
Top