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Idle hours?

Clayinfl

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So on the clock that counts idle hours, what are the parameters for an “idle hour”? Is it based on rpm’s? Being in park? Is a red light “idle time”? I was just looking at it at a red light today. Anyone know how it works?
 
This has been discussed but I have not seen definitive answers. I just know that my idle hours are way higher than reality. My truck is used almost exclusively for towing so many long days at highway speeds followed by maybe 15 of idle when at a campsite. But my idle time is almost 40% of total engine hours. Makes no sense at all.
 
I had 15 hours on mine when I bought it new. I have 20 now three months later. I also know there is no way it has idled for 5 hours in park. I mean that’s a lot of three horn chirps to deal with! Lol. It must be rpm based and include red lights, stuck traffic, etc.
 
I’ve noticed my 2022 counts idle hours different that my 2018 did. The 2018 seemed to be anytime it was stopped, in gear or in park. The 2022 seems to also count slow speeds, I wonder if it’s the same parameters for when you can use the keyboard on CarPlay. Even using the CC buttons for fast idle counts as idle time.

That being said, my 2018 was in the 8-9% idle range and my 2022 is in the 11-12% range.

40% seems crazy high, even with how they calculate it now. 15 minutes of cooldown is also more than needed. 5 minutes is the max on the turbo cooldown chart.

Cummins considers anything more than 10 minutes per hour of total time excessive. That’s 16.67%.

@Clayinfl how did it have 15 idle hours and be new? What was the total time? I was annoyed the dealership put 2 idle hours on mine before delivery.
 
It must be rpm based and include red lights, stuck traffic, etc.
Not sure about this as mine has the abnormal high idle hours also. My towing is here in the west where there are almost no red lights or reasons to slow down. It is not unusual to be on cruise control at 65mph for hours at a time with only a few 35 mph or 45 mph zones.
 
I’ve noticed my 2022 counts idle hours different that my 2018 did. The 2018 seemed to be anytime it was stopped, in gear or in park. The 2022 seems to also count slow speeds, I wonder if it’s the same parameters for when you can use the keyboard on CarPlay. Even using the CC buttons for fast idle counts as idle time.

That being said, my 2018 was in the 8-9% idle range and my 2022 is in the 11-12% range.

40% seems crazy high, even with how they calculate it now. 15 minutes of cooldown is also more than needed. 5 minutes is the max on the turbo cooldown chart.

Cummins considers anything more than 10 minutes per hour of total time excessive. That’s 16.67%.

@Clayinfl how did it have 15 idle hours and be new? What was the total time? I was annoyed the dealership put 2 idle hours on mine before delivery.
No idea, and it was not something I checked or asked about in the buying process. Once I started reading here, I started paying attention. I can only guess they had it running every chance they got. It was on the lot 3 months.
 
Not sure about this as mine has the abnormal high idle hours also. My towing is here in the west where there are almost no red lights or reasons to slow down. It is not unusual to be on cruise control at 65mph for hours at a time with only a few 35 mph or 45 mph zones.

None of that should be idle time. Do you ever watch it on a long drive to see how it adds up?

How much average warmup and cooldown idle time do you do?
 
40% seems crazy high, even with how they calculate it now. 15 minutes of cooldown is also more than needed. 5 minutes is the max on the turbo cooldown chart.
I was just estimating and given my tendency for slight exaggeration, I thought I should do the actual math. It is not 40%, it is 29% idle time. Still given the truck's use, seems way off.
 
I was just estimating and given my tendency for slight exaggeration, I thought I should do the actual math. It is not 40%, it is 29% idle time. Still given the truck's use, seems way off.
That’s significantly better.
 
None of that should be idle time. Do you ever watch it on a long drive to see how it adds up?

How much average warmup and cooldown idle time do you do?
No but I can and will watch that screen. I just drove from Oregon into Montana and had long stretches of open roads. I will have the same on the return trip so will set the evic on that screen and see if any idle hours are set.

No, I don't really do warmup but do usually let the egts drop a bit before shutting down. That is usually about 5 to 10 minutes max though even after 2 or 3 hours at highway speed.
 
I would just leave the mystery alone, and chalk up all aspects of the hours as a novelty feature. I’ve witnessed my idle hours jump 2 hours before while stopped at a red light, and I’ve seen drive hours not move at all. There are plenty of instances across ram forums of inconsistencies and hours even resetting.
No way would I put any stock in the hours menu in the cluster on any ram truck.
 
I would just leave the mystery alone, and chalk up all aspects of the hours as a novelty feature. I’ve witnessed my idle hours jump 2 hours before while stopped at a red light, and I’ve seen drive hours not move at all. There are plenty of instances across ram forums of inconsistencies and hours even resetting.
No way would I put any stock in the hours menu in the cluster on any ram truck.
Novelty feature! I like it. Like those big wax lips at Halloween. I knew for sure I had less than 15 minutes of parked idling ( hooking and unhooking trailer) when it jumped an hour. This makes more sense. Thanks Jimmy.
 
I upgraded to an Evic 7 and the hour meter was about 1/2 of the engine hours. Does AlfaOBD or JSCAN have the ability to set the hour meter? If so, can anyone link or post the procedure? Thanks!
 
My meter shows 150 total hours, and my idle hours are at 50. This is complete HOGWASH, theres no way my 2024 truck with only 3800 miles has anywhere near 150 hours on it, and certainly not 50 idle hours. I'm pretty neurotic about idling my truck and yet the meter claims 33% of the hours is idle time? Total nonsense, all of it. Not sure how it counts hours but its crazy wrong. Its so offensively incorrect I'm almost offended.
 
my 2024 with 7600 miles has 24 hours idle time. ill auto start in the morning for 5-10 minutes max maybe once a week when its super cold. other then that i get in, let it warm up a few minutes then im driving. other idle time is when hooking up trailers or what ever. but i honestly dont pay attention to it as i really just dont care lol.
 
My 22 2500, which I bought new, has 17K miles on it now. 41 idle hours, 361 drive hours. Seems reasonable.
 
Mine has about 102k miles, over 1,000 idle hours, about 3,900 total hours. Idle time seems way off too. Divide the 102k miles by 2,900 hours only equals about 35MPH average speed....
 
I ordered my 22 3500 from Mark Dodge picked it up two days after it came in. And it had 14 hours idle time.
 
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