Mood:
irritatedA comment I overheard by a driver today really chapped my ass........... the drivers bus had shut off due to the Low Idle Shutdown feature, and as I was walking away from restarting it I heard the driver say to someone "the is the stupidist thing I have ever seen, Greyhound is probably spending a fortune on those things and they aren't nothing but trouble."..........Well, here's the deal.....what Greyhound is spending a fortune on is Diesel Fuel......... Over a million gallons a year of which are from engines idling unnecessarily......... They do not spend a fortune putting idle timers on the coaches because they were all made with the idle timer in place already........the idle timer is a feature in the engines ECM, and it is simply turned ON, or activated......... What this means is it wasn't Greyhounds idea to have idle timers shut engines off after they are left at idle.......... The idle timer is from the factory on all DDC engines....... Most all over-the-road transportation companies use them........ the idle timer saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and unneccessary engine wear, as well as other component wear........... Idling isn't the perfect conditions for those engines anyway........ Going 70 mph, at 180 degrees, with 55 people and a belly full of luggage is when that engine is at it's happiest, and that is what that DDC Series 60 is made for........ when it isn't working hard, it would rather be sitting still, not wasting it's life and power idling............. But through all the bitching I hear about the Low-Idle shutdown feature......the question I never get tired of asking a driver is, "why don't you just make sure the fast idle is on??????????????? It is called the Low-Idle shut down feature for a reason.......because it only shuts the engine off if it is on low-idle.........if it is on fast-idle, it will not shut off..........Now, that being said, checking to make sure the fast-idle is on is slightly more difficult than just looking over at the switch to see if it is pushed up....you may actually have to push the switch off and back on again to engage the fast-idle.......I know, I know, that is difficult for a driver......sometimes I wonder how drivers manage to get both shoes tied, but anyway........it isn't that hard to turn the fast-idle switch off and on again, and you will hear the difference in engine sound between low-idle and fast-idle...........Remember, the low-idle shutdown feature only works when the coach is parked with the park brake applied, transmission in neutral, and the fast-idle switch OFF.......also remember, if your coach is parked more than 10 minutes, you should shut it off anyway...........
Posted by DogHouse
at 4:10 PM EDT
