Now that harvesting is done, ill only be driving my d-max a bit more than a mile first thing in the morning....so im getting next to no warm up time...i let it run for about 2-3 mins at startup...i know im not doing it any favors, espeically mileage but what harm am i doing to it??Thanks-Adam

I would say none but I could be wrong. Mine gets about the same thing, I drive from my house a couple miles to dad's in the morning and then it sits a while usually. I do like you and let it run a couple minutes before I leave. It's not going to get to operating temp unless you get out on the highway anyway so I suppose that's the best you can do for it.

Short trips are hard on any motor, diesel or gas. Synthetic oil would no doubt help.

im running 15-40 rotella in it...

Doing that doesn't allow the oils (both trans and engine) to get hot enough to burn off any condensation. Just keep an eye on the oil and watch it doesn't have a white milky look to it. Also not to temp is a good way to form sluge.

I would go to more regular oil changes and try to plug it in if its in the winter. Probably wouldnt be a bad idea to make an excuse to make a few mile road trip everyso often. Dont worry, you arnt going to blow up your truck;)

...and people think I'm crazy for taking the long way to work just to make sure mine gets up to operating temperature. 91,800 miles and 99% of the time it's up to operating temp. before shutting down. Oil analysis always comes back excellent.

Two suggestions. One, use the block heater so your engine is warmer to start with. Two, once a week, take a 20-mile drive to get the engine and trans completely warmed up and burn off any moisture. I think item two will contribute to longevity more than anything else.

1BADDMAX - You're not the only one. Everyone at work thinks I'm nuts too.

Steve

I just take the long way because I like driving my truck.):h

Thanks for all the responses....this morning instead of going straight to the barn, i took a couple turns and stretched out my drive from abit more than a mile, to like 4-5miles, and noticed that my temp gauge was up off the 160...dont remember exact.... Also, every night when i leave, i try to drive around for like 10mins or so to at least get the engine warmedup, and like a couple of you said just to drive it around....I havent put the winter cover on yet either...waiting for some steady cold weather before doing that...

Any more than you drive it, throw the grill cover on.

You're not hauling now are you?

On mine it will generally get driven more later in the day and warmed up pretty quick then. Plus with the winter cover on it gets pretty warm with just the fast idle running.

The only thing different I've noticed is that the tranny temps with the winter cover on will run about 25°F warmer.

I like to keep engine temp at 207°F which is the normal LB7 run temp.

the only time ill be hauling in the winter will be may 2place enclosed snowmobile trailer, about a 300 mile rd trip...i had no intentions of hauling w/the covers on...

If it's cold enough and the trailer and sleds are light enough, you might be able to get away without removing it.

But putting the winter cover on and off is easy enough that it's just as easy to take off, tow, then put it back on when you're done.

I think if you take it out for a good run once in a while it'll be fine.