Is it better to push the clutch in when starting the truck?

Oh dear Christ....I replied and said I STAND CORRECTED, when you said they had auto's before CDL's...I bet that if I said poop stinks, you would probably make the statement that I was a fecal matter odor expert. And I still don't see how my knowledge of autos (or lack there of) pertains to the OP's original question. The whole argument over auto's started because you confused me with someone who held a CDL with an auto restriction, which I never have and never will.

I still stand by my original statement about hitting the clutch pedal before starting, and I base this on my decades behind the wheel in a multitude of various truck makes/models and engine/transmission combinations. Whether it was as a company driver or O/O, makes no difference...a machine is a machine. The ONLY truck I ever drove that needed a new starter was the last one I owned (for real not in whatever fantasy game you mentioned) and it had over 700k on it when it went. Many of the company trucks I have had over the years had in excess of 500k when I got out of them (most of the miles I drove), including a fair number that had the opti-idle system and NONE had to have the starter replaced. And I also stand by the statement that if it were so damaging to the starter, truck manufacturers would have had devices devised to to disengage the clutch on trucks with AMT's and manuals with opti-idle systems...which to my limited knowledge, they don't...

This is the last statement I will post on the subject since it inadvertently hijacked the Op's original thread. You may argue more on the subject, but you will only be arguing with yourself.

 

Opti idle isn't used when the truck is sitting cold. As in driver is off.

Is it?

Usually the motor is warm and the truck is being used.

I had 3 starters replaced at my last job. The first one was worn out. The 2 replacements had crappy solenoids and didn't last.

 

They didn't start as often in winter as they did in summer on ours. We had the Airtronics/Webasto bunk heaters so the battery monitor would start the truck periodically to charge the batteries and the colder it was the more often it started.

 

As far as starting with the clutch depressed, I very rarely did that. I just make sure the stick is in neutral.
Drove a 23’ Mack with a 10 speed, it cranked right up without depressing the clutch.
As far as wear and tear on a clutch goes, riding a clutch is far worse than anything.

 

The question was about the starting and wear on the starter, your pointing out of wear on the clutch workings themselves changes that discussion by directing it in a new direction. I was waiting to see who would point this aspect of things out.

 

I don't know anything from wear on clutch OR starter. It was beat into me to push in the clutch before starting for safety reasons. If getting smacked in the back of the head is considered beating, then it was beaten into me, always use the clutch when engaging the starter!

 

I’ve been around tons of old White’s, White-Western Stars, Diamond T’s, Petes, and Freightliner’s my whole life. The interesting thing about them was they installed the compression releases, ignition switches, and starter buttons along with hand throttles if so equipped on the left side of dash or seat so the engine could be started by standing on ground outside of truck. Tachs and most of the engine related instruments were always on the left side too so they can be read outside the truck while working on the engine.

 

I think the thing that kills starters these days more than anything is the constant shutting down and restarting. The more you use it the more chance you have at loosing it. Also heat soak is a bad thing for them. Anyone with an old 60’s thru 80’s GM V8 knows this first hand. Tap tap crank. Temps rise on a shutdown engine and starters and solenoids soak it right up. Weak Batteries and bad ground cables have a huge play in starter motor destruction. And we all know how many threads are started due to bad grounds. I’ve played with many old diesels that had 40 and 50 year old Delco 40MT’s that still worked great with good solid power supplied at them. These starters were on these engines for so long that they usually had to be dug out of the built up dirt and grime with a chipping hammer. Lol.

 

There is no additional wear and tear on the starter.

 

Back that up with something.

I would argue that turning more would put more strain on anything. This can be easily proven by science.