How to override idle shutdown in Freightliner Cascadia 2022

Turned on the massager on the seat. Every time the seat inflates and deflates the squeegee stick nudges the override button slightly. Used tie to hold stick over button. Fastened tie to brake release button.

 

There are ways to override the idle shutdown. EVERY way will show your idle time to be WAY over every other driver so beware of "winning the battle and losing the war."

https://www.amazon.com/SwitchBot-Smart-Switch-Button-Pusher/dp/B07B4D9KVX

 

I had a dealership override my idle cut off. Took him 5 minutes.

 

A company driver doing that could get them fired.

 

Everyone understand, there are at least 2 issues with idle-override. There is the gimmick that will let you idle the engine until you decide to shut it off. There is the 2nd issue that if your truck is electronically connected back to the company while you drive, with Qualcomm, ELD, cameras, etc it is almost certain that your truck is reporting how much time you idle to the company.

When you find the gimmick or trick or get another shop to let you idle the engine more than the 3 minutes, or whatever time limit is decided, your company will know about it and your idle time will stand out like a big flag at a Texas car dealership. If the company imposed idle restrictions on your truck and you defeat that restriction and rack up the idle time you will be getting a call or a message about how & why your truck is idling some big number compared to other trucks in the company fleet. There is a phrase "winning the battle, but losing the war." You may get your truck to idle, and nobody idled their truck more than I idled my truck, but that increased idle time is going to quickly lead to a conversation where you admit to doing something not allowed by company rules or get a warning you will be punished or fired if the idle time isn't in line with the company allowed amount starting now. I think the way to do this is only work for companies with APUs or unlimited idle times. Only 1 of those is easy to find. I guess you buy and operate your own truck. It's unlikely you will win this argument with your company. Even if you win that 1 argument you likely will soon discover that you got fired for something else to stop other drivers from doing the same thing. You get to choose where you work, but the company decides what the rules at work will be. Unless you are a manager or supervisor AND a driver you don't make the rules at the company.

 

Are you afraid someone will open the door?

 

Don't work for a sleazy company that won't let you idle.

 

I had a trick where I would use a broom stick.
I would duct tape one end to the throttle and the other end would be propped between the drivers chair and upright armrest.
Every 4 minutes or so I would give it a little push to blip the throttle.
It was used when I was in the bunk watching shows so I would not have to go all the way up front.

It was good for keeping the truck running while I was cooking, not so much for when I was asleep.

 

the old trucks used to have a nipple like censor in the front bumper and in the chassis behind the fifth wheel. You could take a hand warmer, bandana, some electrical tape, a ski glove and a plastic sack and secure it and it would idle till the hand warmer died which was usually about 11-14 hours.

Now they're hiding them inside the mirror housings and other discrete locations because they caught on to what drivers were doing.

Best bet is to move the seat all the way forward and put a stick up to the pedal and wedge the stick in between to keep th rpm's just high enough to idle.

 

Modern trucks with max anti-idle settings, will not keep running just because the engine RPM is at or above a certain magic RPM. The 2nd to last truck I drove would shut off the engine even if both brake valves were pushed in, engine RPM was say above 700 RPM (pick any RPM you like) and the engine had idled 3 minutes. It didn't matter if I was sitting at a traffic light with my foot on the brake pedal, waiting to turn, or in a parking lot with wheel chocks applied to keep from rolling. If the RPMs had not changed in that 3 minute period, then 3 minutes since the last RPM was changed the truck would shut down.

Whatever trick worked on anyone's particular truck is not always going to work for another person's truck. I've had about 5 different ways to keep trucks (Volvo, Peterbilt, Freightliner, KW, White-GMC) idling. It is often some combination of using the cruise-control and setting the RPMs to some number, brake valve manipulation, or something else. Just because a trick works on 1 truck it does not mean that trick will work on another truck. There are many trucks that are setup to never idle for more than say a couple of minutes, no matter what you do. Some trucks have the ECM programmed to idle as long as you want just by having the engine start.

Think of how a camshaft on an engine works. A lobe on a shaft as it rotates gets closer and then farther from a pushrod or lifter causing the rod or lifter to move. You can use a lobe made of wood disc and spun by an electric drill running at slow speed to press and release the "gas" pedal which varies the RPMs. That will overcome the 3 minute timer and allow idling. BUT YOUR IDLE TIME WILL BE MONITORED BY THE COMPANY and you risk being fired for too much idle time or altering the truck, or something else like being late for a meeting 3 years ago.

When you look for an employer you have to pay attention to their idle policy, not just look for a company with the truck you like and hope to change any company policy you don't like. You wouldn't expect to work as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant and change them into a seafood restaurant. The employer has their policies and if you don't like the policy you work somewhere else. Winning an argument with an employer, like arguing with your wife, is unlikely to make life better.