Originally Posted by A_Harman
I have idled my '01 Ram overnight on a few occasions when the temperature was predicted to drop below -15F. The engine burns about 5 gallons during 10 hours of idling.
Oil analysis reports have not shown serious fuel dilution problems.
Fifteen and 20 years ago while working on the North Slope of Alaska, I used to idle my Alyeska Pipeline Service Company assigned PU trucks and diesels of all shapes and sizes for DAYS and DAYS on end -- when it was -30 deg to -35 deg F or colder. I've personally seen -65 deg F cold, unreal blizzards where couldn't see past your hood, and gusting to between Cat 4 and Cat 5 hurricane-force winter wind storms that few in the Lower-48 would believe.
All workers would fill up their trucks 2 to 3 times daily, and return them to the vehicle "bull rails" so we could plug them in. All of these vehicles were outfitted for "Slope" duty, which included all synthetic fluids and greases, block, battery and oil pan heaters, metal covers for brake lines and such (gravel roads), an arctic-grade grille cover, a supplemental cab heater, and specially-siped Bridgestone tires. Oil changes were scheduled for every 4 to 6 weeks, or every 2nd or 3rd two-week hitch. All trucks were installed with an LMR radio and a CB.
It was a heck of a ride the 2-1/2 years I worked up at the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk fields and along the northern 1/3 of the trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS). I have 25,000 miles on the Dalton Hwy, otherwise known as the Haul Road. Know that road infinitely better than any of those Ice Road Trucker dudes... I maintained the fiber-optic telecommunications network that carried the SCADA system controlling the pipeline back in the day.
In one or two cases, how a survived two crazy storms was either Providence or sheer dumb luck.