idle stick?

klippencott · Mar 23, 2006

Draco,
You said,
"I did some checking and since I have a boxer that rides w/ me I can idle my Sprinter with no problems. Strange that pets have more rights then people in that retrospect."

Where did you find that information? Maybe I will get a pet to travel with me.

Kathy

x06col · Mar 23, 2006

Try cuttin' one off a tree for free.

theoldprof · Mar 23, 2006

This idle stick thingie sounds like a hi tech gizmo that was on cars and trucks when I was a kid. It was called a throttle cable. You grabbed hold of a knob on the dash, gently pulled out, and the engine revved up. The the cable was connedted to another gizmo on the engine called a carburetor. Kind of like what is on lawnmowers today. :+ :+

Moot · Mar 25, 2006

Kathy, I think a wood clamp would be too heavy and cumbersome. Why not keep it simple. Do the dowel thing. All that is needed is enough pressure on the pedal to run the engine up to 1100 -1200 rpm. It sounds like it is working for ftp000.
Otherwise keep looking at truckstops for an idle stick. I'm sure thay are still available.

Professor, most pre-elctronic diesel truck engines had a cable like you described. You would pull the knob out to the desired rpm and turn it to lock. I have also driven trucks with a bolt and adjustable wing nut that fit into the toe of the pedal. You would have to bend down to the floor to hook it up. I have even use broken snow/ice scrappers as an idle stick.

For checking the brake lights on my van I wedge an ice scrapper between the seat and the brake pedal.

Kathy, I will keep an eye out for an idle stick when I'm wandering through truck stops.

Draco · Mar 30, 2006

>Draco,
>You said,
>"I did some checking and since I have a boxer that rides w/
>me I can idle my Sprinter with no problems. Strange that
>pets have more rights then people in that retrospect."
>
>Where did you find that information? Maybe I will get a pet
>to travel with me.
>
>Kathy

Kathy, I was talking w/ a police officer out in NJ and he said that when you have a pet they make exceptions to the "no idle thing". He said he also heard that several other states out east are doing the same thing. I've idled out there a few times and never have had a problem.

Moot · Mar 30, 2006

Get a snake for a pet. Feed it Viagra and use it as an idle stick. Just a thought.

cheri1122 · Mar 30, 2006

It's possible that my brain is in idle, now, but my understanding of the "no idling" law is that it refers only to diesel, and the pet exception is because animals cannot let themselves out if the temperature gets too high or low. (Except for Moot's snake - give him Viagra, & he will be out & cruising in a hurry, lol)

Moot · Apr 19, 2006

Found an idle stick at Petro in Oak Grove, MO. I-70 exit 28. Actually they had 5 hanging from a peg. No packaging, so no manfacturer's name or distributors name. The price sticker contained the following information-

80550
CR. Throttle Set
$3.50

I'm guessing that the number is Petro's stock number.

These may become popular with company drivers as an override for trucks with fleet spec'd idle limiters and no cruise control. Anyway they do still exist. And the proper term is throttle set.

DannyD · Apr 19, 2006

I have this urge to waste pixels, so nothing substantial to add here, cept to say that gawd, Moot & Cherri's posts had me rolling!!! Those were hillarious. Thanx for the laughs!!

finney · Apr 21, 2006

You guys are driving vans, right? What, then, is this fascination with truck stops? Ever consider going to AutoZone or Pep Boys or just your local NAPA store?
I use an idle stick for my Sprinter and run it around 1200 RPM or so. Seems to work fine, and if it's costing me much in the way of fuel, it's hard to complain about getting 23.932729624838292367399741267788 MPG (as of yesterday's [4/20/6] check). Nobody wants to hear you cry about that. Go figure.

BTW, I got it at a truck stop. LOL

finney

FIS53 · Apr 23, 2006

I have a piece of dowel for an idle stick and works fine. Very little fuel used for a 4 hour sleep. One nite though I couldn't find the stick (fell between seat and goodies box) so I grabbed a light box from the cargo area and stuffed it between the dash and the pedal. Worked fine!!
Rob Fis