Idling is bad for your engine..

[Picard]

Taken from a Canadian website... Mejo kakatamad basahin kasi mahaba but it makes sense.

Idling: Myths Versus Reality

Ask Canadian motorists why they idle their vehicles, and you'll likely get a simple answer: to warm up the engine before they drive away. It's one of the most commonly held myths in Canada about driving. And it costs you money, wears out your vehicle's engine and generates unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Contrary to popular belief, idling isn't an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm it up is to drive it. In fact, with today's engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before you start to drive.
The notion that idling is good for your vehicle is passé – in fact, it hasn't been the right thing to do since the advent of electronic engines. The truth is that excessive idling can damage the engine.
The reason? An idling engine isn't operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel doesn't undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residues that can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate oil and damage parts of the engine. For example, fuel residues are often deposited on spark plugs. As you spend more time idling, the average temperature of the spark plug drops. This makes the plug get dirty more quickly, which can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5 percent. Excessive idling also lets water condense in the vehicle's exhaust. This can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system.
Besides, what's often forgotten is that idling warms only the engine – not the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires. These parts also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to drive the vehicle.
Perhaps you're concerned that continually shutting off and restarting the vehicle is hard on the engine. But studies show that frequent restarting has little impact on engine parts such as the battery and starter motor. The wear on components that restarting the engine causes adds about $10 a year to the cost of driving – money that you'll likely recover several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.
So, when should you turn off the engine? Believe it or not, more than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. As a rule of thumb, if you're going to stop for 10 seconds or more – except in traffic – turn the engine off. You'll save money. And your vehicle won't produce harmful emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

[Picard]

If you want to read more...

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportatio...?attr=8#wastes

[j_avonni]

Once I started the engine, I immediately but slowly drive away. I read similar article about idling years ago. Since it really makes sense, I follow it.

[Picard]

Ako ngayon ko lang to nalaman. I usually start the engine and let it idle for mga 2-3 mins bago ko idrive sa umaga. Hindi pala maganda.

[silhouette]

Yup, I do the same. Start and go, but not pushing hard.

[boybi]

how about for diesel engines? wala naman spark plug ito get dirty.

[NazQ]

hmm.. nice article.

[XTO]

personally, no need to warm up for minutes as long as

the engine will not be put to it's limit after starting.

[Psylocke]

I warm up...


10 seconds only

[niky]

I hardly ever idle more than half a minute, and sometimes, not even that long. It takes too long for the engine to come up to temperature when idling, even here in the Philippines, so I just drive off.

Cold running temperatures are very very BAD for your car. That's why it's annoying that some mechanics take the thermostats out of older cars... it's a slapdash solution to overheating that often does more harm than good.

[mbeige]

My 83 300D manual does not recommend idling to warm up the engine. I guess idling to warm up the engine was already bad 23 years ago. Fourth bulletpoint on the list:



One should drive the vehicle slowly to warm it up. From there keep a minimum rpm until you reach the operating temperature. At least that's what I do. Once it's up to operating temp, nararamdaman ko na mas may hatak na siya.

[mbeige]

how about for diesel engines? wala naman spark plug ito get dirty.

Some diesel engines have glow plugs especially earlier ones, they can also collect carbon deposits kaya when one buys a used car sometimes it's also good to ask kung dahan-dahan lang parati pagtakbo ng kotse dahil kung ganun halos puro carbon deposits siya so one needs to drive it hard once in a while.

[Mamar]

Totoo po ba yan?

ako kasi ginagawa ko pag ka start ng oto hinihintay ko umabot ng half ung temperature bago ko gamitin!

[CVT]

Taken from a Canadian website... Mejo kakatamad basahin kasi mahaba but it makes sense.

Idling: Myths Versus Reality

So, when should you turn off the engine? Believe it or not, more than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. As a rule of thumb, if you're going to stop for 10 seconds or more – except in traffic – turn the engine off. You'll save money. And your vehicle won't produce harmful emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

In Canada's traffic siguro. Pero dito sa Pilipinas, 15minutes kung nagpapa-counterflow ang mga Traffic Enforcers, not 10seconds+. Hindi mo naman mapatay ang makina rin, dahil mainit.... no choice!


:starwars:

[niky]

Yup... idling isn't the time when your engine is happiest.

RE: For diesels... pareho lang talaga. Any engine has to get up to operating temperature to operate efficiently, and if you cut down idling time, you cut down cold running time.

Kung sigurista ka sobra, you can even put an engine heater and a pre-lube pump in your car. This ensures that you will spend nearly no time running on cold lube or dry parts.

[mbeige]

Yup... idling isn't the time when your engine is happiest.

RE: For diesels... pareho lang talaga. Any engine has to get up to operating temperature to operate efficiently, and if you cut down idling time, you cut down cold running time.

Kung sigurista ka sobra, you can even put an engine heater and a pre-lube pump in your car. This ensures that you will spend nearly no time running on cold lube or dry parts.

Para namang naka-dialysis yung makina mo kung sobrang segurista ka. Yup, diesels idle cold. I can idle my engine for a good 15 minutes without it reaching half its operating temp! Lalo na pag malamig yung panahon. This is also partly due to how diesels are built, matibay talaga and compression is high so they're made to withstand so much abuse.

Well, that's why some diesels in cold climates have block heaters para isasaksak mo sa outlet so it will warm up the block para when you start it, much easier. Nung una ko nakita yung plug (looks like a normal plug) akala ko may naiwan na electrical appliance sa loob ng makina! That's when I found out about it.

[inchcockie]

if i wait for the temperature to go halfway after starting it would take more than 5 mins, which is not good. my car's manual says to warm the vehicle up for 60 secs before driving. i guess that's good enough then.

[finchy18]

the manual says less that 1 minute is ok...

[theveed]

Basically ganito lang:

Open door,
Enter Car
Start Engine
Close Door
Lock Door
Check Mirrors
Turn on Radio
Wear Seatbelt

The car is good to go by then... Any longer, you'll be wasting fuel, adding wear on the engine due to lube deprivation etc...

Karamihan kasi satin mas naniniwala sa kwentong barbero ng mga mekaniko kesa sa gumawa ng makina/kotse mismo hehe.

[Picard]

I remember when i had my HONDA Dream motorcycle i used to warm the engine up ng mga 20 mins. hahah!