Extensive idle - bad for the engine

[pacem]

Toyota Camry 2.2L with 5spd

I idled it 2-3 different times for 30-40 minutes until I realized that the top of the engine is likely not getting enough oil, and won't do that again.

Increased engine wear I suspect.

 

[-Clayton-]

More than likley didnt do much harm if any, I just wouldnt make a habit of it like I do.

 

[mechtech]

If it's not getting enough oil at idle, something is wrong.
Cop cars can idle for long periods of time .
Your mixture in a modern car is feedback controlled, so carbon build up won't be a problem.
I'm not a big fan of prolonged idling, but I see no harm if the temps stay within normal parameters.

 

[Hajoca]

You should have enough oil at the top. I stupidly cranked the engine with the ign coils disabled, trying to build oil pressure before starting after an oil change. (sump was filled) I just wanted oil to be in the filter too.

BUT I left the cap off and when cranking , some oil did splash about.

 

[sxg6]

Fuel dilution would be a concern from extended idling as well.

 

[mechtech]

Not with an O2 sensor feedback system.

 

[OriginHacker21]

At highway rest stops you'll always catch a few truckers idling all night. I'm no engineer but both engines (diesel/gas) use oil... So it can't be THAT bad.

I know on my 2.2L Ecotec if I let the car idle the temperature guage gets 3-4 notches hotter then a fan turns on to bring it back down to operating temp. (Normal temp: 196F - heats up to 230F then fan turns on to cool it back to 196F).

So that might be a bad thing - temperature going up and down repeatedly.

 

[olympic]

I run a small fleet of cabs and every year November through March a couple of them NEVER shut off. Were talking many hundreds of hours of idling time. It just takes too long to warm them back up when it's -20C or lower so they stay running. I've never had a problem with top end damage, sludge, overheating, etc.

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by friendly_jacek:
LOL, there was a somewhat similar call to Car Talk some time ago. There was a female caller that stated that she forgot to turn the engine off and left the car idling in airport parking for a few days.
While it's unclear if she was a blond the consensus was: not harm done.
Carb engine, different story.

---

A moderate sized 4 cylinder engine will use roughly 1/3 gallon per hour when idling. A "few days" sounds like an exageration unless she had an unusually large gas tank.

 

[Dave]

As others mentioned, fuel dilution is a concern when idling because cylinder temps aren't high enough to ensure that all fuel gets burned, so some still slips past the rings, even when the O2 sensor is reading 14.7/1.

 

[Eddie]

Fuel dilution can be a problem as UOA conferms. Often Blackstone labs comments the the increase of fuel in the oil could be caused by slow speed in town stop & go driving.

 

[Papa Bear]

"Extensive idle - bad for the engine"

Bad for the wallet.

 

[friendly_jacek]

LOL, there was a somewhat similar call to Car Talk some time ago. There was a female caller that stated that she forgot to turn the engine off and left the car idling in airport parking for a few days.
While it's unclear if she was a blond the consensus was: not harm done.
Carb engine, different story.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

The only damage I've ever seen done is clogged cats. I saw many Pontiacs come through my shop that quit running and refused to start...the mystery was solved when the owners told us that they had left the car idling outside overnight to keep them from freezing up. One Grand Am I remember managed to stay running all night, but wouldn't accelerate enough to get out of his apartment complex parking lot. Towed in, new cat, done deal. Extensive idling: Not the greatest thing for your exaust system.

 

[Ken4]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pacem:
Toyota Camry 2.2L with 5spd

---

What year is your camry? I know the late model 2.2L 5SFE uses waste spark ignition, so it's very unlikely you could damage your CAT.

 

[Mighty HD]

I don't think iding is too bad.

I have an 05 F150 4.6v8 work truck 4wd. IT's not at all out of the ordinary for me to be idling/leave it running for hours at a time. It's my office so paperwork, laptops, etc is all in there. I'm not about to sweat while I do my work in the field.

Typical run times each day is about 12-16hrs, and about 60-70% of that is idle time, the rest is from 0-75-80mph, then fast stops to idle again after I merge out of traffic.. It's extremely hard onthe oil but it has not failed yet in 50k.

I use jiffy lube, or the mobil quick change with regular 5w-20 dino ....thats what the company wants so thats what i do.

My personal vehicles---no idling over 5-10 minutes..lol

 

[thinshavings]

During last year's hurricane Rita evac I took 22 hours to go 200 miles.
At least 21 of those hours was mostly all idle / creep along moving.
Changed that oil right after that even though it still looked clean. '04 Toyota Tundra.

 

[Thermo1223]

I can idle for roundabout 60 hrs. in the TDI on a full tank.

I use .2-.3l/hr which is .015 gallons/hr or around there.

The bad though is it lets the oil seal on the compressor side seep since it only seals 100% under boost. I haven't left it idle long at all yet but I would if needed. I leave it idle in the winter when we go into a store quick because it would lost just about all heat if I didn't. At least if I leave it on it still stays half way to oper. temp.

That is the bad thing about having a small diesel, they make extremely little waste heat at idle. So it can get cold in the winter if you don't keep driving it.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

---

Originally posted by CBDFrontier06:
I saw many Pontiacs come through my shop that quit running and refused to start...the mystery was solved when the owners told us that they had left the car idling outside overnight to keep them from freezing up.

---

Were these carbureted or fuel injected?

 

[ITSMR2U]

Don't go there unless you have to, but in Fairbanks, AK in the winter, if you cant find a plug-in for your block heater, you had best let your rental car run all night. The next AM there will be an ice fog (moisture freezes out of the air) in the parking lot from all the cars running. All that and there's no daylight! 50° below keeps the riff-raff out and freezes dino oil solid!