Car Forumidling car for too long?
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Car Forumidling car for too long?Posted:

Gnarcotic
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I have a bmw 116d 2.0 2012 and was wondering if just sitting in my car w the engine on for too long damage the engine or is a bad thing to do?

for example, if i was bored and went for a drive and decided just sit in my car for a couple hours, would it be bad for anyting if I let the engine run? I know the battery would die if it didn't run, but is there anything to worry about?

thanks
#2. Posted:
Hi
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I had a Honda back in the day. I left that thing on for hours with no oil in it trying to blow it up. Lol. So from my experience, I think you'll be fine.
#3. Posted:
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Its gonna cause less wear and tear on your engine compared to driving it around since its going to be sitting on lower revs. Its completely fine.
#4. Posted:
002
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Other than wasting fuel, idling doesn't hurt anything unless it's a turbo diesel.

Some will go so far as to say that idling for a few minutes before and after driving actually helps your car. Idling before you drive allows everything to warm up and let the oil get everywhere it needs to be and idling after you drive allows everything to cool down a little slower. The idea is that the heat and cold expands and contracts things so you want to do it as slow as possible.
#5. Posted:
JZX
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Well, I suppose having the engine running constantly is much less harmful to the engine components as opposed to stopping it and starting it, due to the oil being in constant flow. The amount of wear that takes place is so small that you probably wouldn't even notice it, even after years of doing it.

Perfectly fine to idle a car and unless I'm trying to save fuel, that's exactly what I do. Unless I'm in a place where there are lots of pedestrians/animals, in which case I will try to keep pollution to a minium.
#6. Posted:
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Dont let it run for hours you'll kill your battery and waste all your gas lol
#7. Posted:
Disc
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002 wrote Other than wasting fuel, idling doesn't hurt anything unless it's a turbo diesel.

Some will go so far as to say that idling for a few minutes before and after driving actually helps your car. Idling before you drive allows everything to warm up and let the oil get everywhere it needs to be and idling after you drive allows everything to cool down a little slower. The idea is that the heat and cold expands and contracts things so you want to do it as slow as possible.
idling causes carbon build up actually. and can damage various of things
#8. Posted:
Tom-The-Gamer
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Disc wrote
002 wrote Other than wasting fuel, idling doesn't hurt anything unless it's a turbo diesel.

Some will go so far as to say that idling for a few minutes before and after driving actually helps your car. Idling before you drive allows everything to warm up and let the oil get everywhere it needs to be and idling after you drive allows everything to cool down a little slower. The idea is that the heat and cold expands and contracts things so you want to do it as slow as possible.
idling causes carbon build up actually. and can damage various of things


I let mine idle hour and half a day while on break at work been doing it 2 years now...
#9. Posted:
Apollo_98
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As disc said above, idling your engine for an extended amount of time does cause carbon build up which can damage internal components. But it's always good for the car to let it warm up before driving and to let your car idle after driving it. Especially with cars that have turbo's, letting the car idle for a little bit before turning it off will cool all of the components and let the oil settle as well. This is why some people have turbo timers in their vehicle, which allows them to turn their key off, lock their doors, and walk inside, and allow the car to turn itself off when it's ready and has gone to safe temperatures to turn off. Turning your car off right away after driving it for a while is a big reason why people have turbo failures and can wear your turbo after some time.
#10. Posted:
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Unless you dont have oil in your car then itll be a problem, but other than that you're just wasting gas and maybe if you left it on throughout the whole day you might overheat the engine.
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