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Cool down after towing.

Yeasty McFlaps

Yeasty McFlaps

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Howdy, I feel like an idiot sitting in the truck for five minutes while whoever I'm with goes into the store/restaurant/etc. Obviously I'm letting the turbo cool down like the manual says after heavy towing and getting straight off the highway.

2021 3500 SO, SRW.

What do you do? Just shut er down? Do you have a timer? Thanks in advance
 
By the time you pull off of the highway and drive into a parking lot, your truck has cooled down enough unless it was running really hot after pulling a long grade.
 
I have a banks idash gauge just because it is fun to watch a few more things than the OEM instrument readouts show. So I can see EGT1 temps and much more. Although occasionally there is someone that says 2 minutes getting into a parking lot is cool down enough, I have always read do not just get off the highway and turn off the engine. I did a little searching and there is a lot saying it is important to cool down for a few minutes but there is little stating what temps are good. This is likely because unless you have a gauge, you don't know what actual turbo/egt1 temps are. What I have been able to find makes me feel like cooling the EGT1 temp down below 500 degrees is very important. Below 450 is even better. Since I have not towed long and hard yet, I have not seen real high EGT1 temps so I don't really know how long it takes to cool down. The one towing trip I have done so far, when I reached the campsite, I had already been below 25mph for a while so EGT1 temp was below 500 already and after backing in and adjusting it was even lower. But after taking an off ramp from a freeway, idling down to the stop light and waiting a couple of minutes for the light, EGT1 temp was the same as when towing up the hill on the freeway. It was not until I had driven slowly about 5 minutes down the road to the campground that temps dropped much. I will watch it on my upcoming longer trip and see what temps I am seeing when pulling right off the highway. I plan to try for under 450 before turning off the engine but that may take a long time under certain circumstances. The problem I see with saying "cool down for a few minutes" is the same few minutes will end at vastly different temps if EGT1 starts at 550 degrees vs. if it starts at 950 degrees. I know one person who says he always lets his truck cool down for 10-15 minutes before shutting off and never turns off the engine when stopping only for fuel. Another person told me he never cools down. Just gets where he is going and turns off even at a fuel stop. I don't plan to be either of those two types and having one of my gauges showing EGT1 temps should help. But...

Does anyone who watches a gauge showing EGT1 temps have a target temperature that they shoot for before shutting off? And how did you arrive at that number? Does my 450 degrees seem OK, or is that still too high?
 
AEV_CUMMINS said:
If it really bugs you, then get out.. remote start the truck and it will turn off after a period of time if you forget to just click the button to turn it off again after your usual 5 minute wait time. Works like a charm.
Click to expand...
Ok, so click remote start while it's running? Then it goes into it's 15 minutes of idle?
Or shut it down then remote start it?

As I understand it, you need oil flowing over the turbo bearings until it cools off. Otherwise it's like oil burning onto a cook stove.
 
Yeasty McFlaps said:
Ok, so click remote start while it's running? Then it goes into it's 15 minutes of idle?
Or shut it down then remote start it?

As I understand it, you need oil flowing over the turbo bearings until it cools off. Otherwise it's like oil burning onto a cook stove.
Click to expand...
Yes, turn the truck off then right away remote start. I agree with cooling the engine down in all circumstances.
 
Five-Oh said:
I haven’t towed yet but I use the suggestions mentioned here and try to get EGT1 to 400 or less before shutting down. I am a Cummins newbie so in no way an expert.
Click to expand...
Good video. Shows that it can take a while to come down if you want it all the way to 400 before turning off. His 2nd example I guess shows that he is one that does not shut off his engine to get fuel so that makes things easier for him on a quick fuel stop. If you want to turn off the engine to get fuel, and you want to get to 400 before doing that, I think you would spend a lot of time idling before entering the fuel lane and that would be a pain for sure. I am glad I got a 52 gallon Titan tank so fuel stops will be a little less frequent.
 
I let it idle a minute (no, I don't actually time it so it's probably less) every time I shut the truck down. My wife is usually standing outside the truck waiting to go wherever we are going, "It's fine, it cooled down, let's go!".

If I'm towing, it always gets to idle at least a few minutes before shutting it down (I do look at the time for this). Wife is usually jumping out of the truck as soon as we stop to use the restroom. I meet her inside after I've let it cool, takes about the same amount of time. :)

I never shut it off when getting fuel.

I used to live by the EGT gauge in my 6.0L PowerStroke. But I had that thing all hopped up on Mt. Dew (injectors, turbo, fuel, etc.). But that is an excellent way to make sure she's cooling down.
 
No shut off for fueling.

I usually do a walk around anyway when we stop so it's rarely an issue that extra cool down time is needed.

In some cases. Cruise - to idle it up and lock the doors.
 
“I never shut it off when getting fuel.”

I don’t shut down when stopping for fuel. Or rest stops. Or food. I turn it off when I am stopped for the night.

When I am know I will be pulling off the highway I throttle back and go easy on it by doing everything slow. If my engine temp is approaching 210 I like to see it come down while I am preparing to exit. These engines seem to come down pretty fast even when it is Arizona hot.
 
Like many, I don't shut it down for fuel but if I need to leave the truck when the motor has worked hard I just lock the doors and leave it running. On other vehicles I've had in the past, if you do that then some dirt bag breaks the glass and gets in, if they put it in drive the motor shuts off. Is that the case with Rams?
 
All of my older diesels always had gauges because of chips or tuners , I guess the new rams don,t come with egt gauge, not important enough i guess, I always let them cool down below 400 ,you can boil the oil in the turbo not good for bearings, at least thats the way with my 5.9 Haven,t looked into gauges yet , don,t know what 2021 will have, Don,t think I need a tuner with HO but we will see. i was kind of hoping RAM would put in a shutdown timer , guess not, may get one of those or do what AEV does , does anyone know if the new diesel will defuel or limp mode if the egts get to high or do they get high
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
https://ca.bddiesel.com/products/6-7l-cummins-cool-down-timer-kit-v2-0?variant=30033945231424

Here is what i run just turn truck off as you normally would it will shut off when cool enough if setup with the temperature probe
Click to expand...

Found this in the owners manual. I wonder if this could work? Dealer programmable also.

IDLE SHUTDOWN
This feature can be enabled so that the truck
will automatically shutdown when the truck has
been idling for a set period of time when the
engine is at operating temperature. Idle time
can be set in 5 minute increments between
5 and 60 minutes. See an authorized dealer to
enable this feature.
NOTE:
The idle shutdown timer is disabled while the
PTO is active
 
Yeasty McFlaps said:
Found this in the owners manual. I wonder if this could work? Dealer programmable also.

IDLE SHUTDOWN
This feature can be enabled so that the truck
will automatically shutdown when the truck has
been idling for a set period of time when the
engine is at operating temperature. Idle time
can be set in 5 minute increments between
5 and 60 minutes. See an authorized dealer to
enable this feature.
NOTE:
The idle shutdown timer is disabled while the
PTO is active
Click to expand...
You have to go and turn the ignition off after as the truck will be still in the run position from what the dealer told me
 
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