Quote:
Originally Posted by tasdrouille
I drive a diesel, very lightly, for 7 miles.
|
For faster warm-up:
- engine block heater
- block a lot of your radiator with cardboard. diesels produce a lot of heat so radiators are way oversized for winter
- change your thermostat - it may be stuck partly open. Seven miles to get warm is huge in a diesel. My VW rabbit was warm within a mile no matter how cold, and my 6.5L diesel is fully warm in two.
For better mileage:
- low viscosity engine oil, I'd use 0W-40 synthetic (makes starting a lot easier, too)
- no warm air intake stuff - diesels like intake air to be as cold as possible
Unfortunately diesels always suffer huge mpg issues in the winter because diesel is heavily winterized with #1 diesel (kerosene), which has much less energy per gallon than #2 diesel fuel.
As a fellow diesel owner I'm sure you already know this stuff, but maybe some other readers don't.