How much fuel consumption of OM617 at Idle?

[deerefanatic]

Does anybody know what the gallons/hr consumption of an OM617 Turbo is at idle? Just wondering about it for this winter and over whether it's worth it to let car idle at short stops, etc versus shutting off and wearing out the pain-to-change starter.....

Plus, I just think it would be cool. specs with AC off would be preferrable as that is what most idling is done in my car, just parking lights on.....

[sailor15015]

I don't know the exact numbers but don't diesels use way less fuel while idling than gassers? You can hook the supply and return lines up to a half gallon milk jug or something like that and see how long it takes it to empty the container.

Originally Posted by sailor15015

You can hook the supply and return lines up to a half gallon milk jug or something like that and see how long it takes it to empty the container.

You may be there for a while if you use a 1/2 gallon.

I don't know the number either, but it doesn't use much. I tend to leave mine running if it's only a few minutes. I wouldn't bother leaving it running very long times unless it was -10 F without a block heater.

[Jeremy5848]

Fuel consumption is supposedly very low at idle, although I've never measured it either. There are threads in this forum in which people in cold climates write about letting their diesel M-B idle while they go shopping or even work all day. In situations where it's extremely cold and the car has to sit out in a parking lot, it's the only way to go.

Even when it's not cold, I sometimes leave the engine on while I run a short errand. I carry a spare key for just such situations.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

Fuel consumption is supposedly very low at idle, although I've never measured it either. There are threads in this forum in which people in cold climates write about letting their diesel M-B idle while they go shopping or even work all day. In situations where it's extremely cold and the car has to sit out in a parking lot, it's the only way to go.

Even when it's not cold, I sometimes leave the engine on while I run a short errand. I carry a spare key for just such situations.

Yeah I idled the car over 25 mins on a few ounces of fuel before, I leave mine running during short (less than 5-10 min) stops usually too. Gassers use a ton when idling compared to diesels.

[Brian Carlton]

My guess is the fuel consumption will be approx. .35 gallons per hour.

I have not measured it.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

My guess is the fuel consumption will be approx. .35 gallons per hour.

I have not measured it.

When I left my car idling off a half gallon jug that was about half full....I came back after 25 mins at it hadn't even used half of that yet....so that'd be less than 16 oz of fuel in a 20-25 min span. or roughly 40oz an hour is my guess, and with 128oz in a gallon, thats right around .29 to .32 gallons per hour...so I agree with your estimate...

It depends on what load is on the engine, eletrical goodies and A/C on would probably increase it quite a bit, and removing all belts except one for the waterpump/cooling fan would probably increase it slightly.

Our minivan probably uses just over 1.5 gallons PER HOUR. We idled it for about an hour before for electrical power (inverter) and the thing drank over a gallon. That means even with a full to the brim tank (21gallons) it'd barely run for a day! Our diesels could probably idle over 3! Pretty sad considering they're both 3.0 liter engines, and the gasser one is "far newer and supposedly more sophistocated" Sure it is...