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News Flash! Idling Is Not Good for Your Engine
Perhaps the greatest myth about idling is that it's good for the engine. The truth is that excessive idling can actually damage a vehicle's engine.
Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up a vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. Today's electronically controlled engines allow you to drive away after only 30 seconds of idling, even on the coldest winter days.
Excessive idling can be a problem for a few reasons:
First, since an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, fuel combustion is incomplete.
As a result, fuel residues can condense on cylinder walls, contaminate oil and damage engine components. For example, these residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. With more engine idling there is a drop in the average plug temperature and accelerated plug fouling. This can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5 percent.
Excessive idling can cause water to condense in the vehicle's exhaust. This can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system.
There's another good reason for motorists to drive away soon after starting a vehicle. The engine is only one component of a vehicle. Other parts, such as the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires, also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to get the vehicle moving.
Another common misconception is that it's better to let an engine idle than to continually shut off and restart the vehicle. Research has shown that frequent restarting has little impact on engine components such as the battery and starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving, money that can be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.
A good rule of thumb for smart, idle-free driving is this:
If you are going to be parked for more than 10 seconds, turn off the engine. Ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it
Block heaters save fuel and help the environment
Starting a vehicle on a cold winter day can be hard on the engine and the environment. The best way to get around this problem is to use a block heater when the temperature drops below 0°C.
Here's the Problem
When an engine starts up, it pumps oil through the engine block to lubricate moving parts. In a cold engine, the oil is thick and resists flow, so the engine has to work harder to overcome internal friction. As a result, the engine uses more fuel and creates more pollution in the first minutes after a cold start than when it reaches normal operating temperatures.
Fuel combustion is also less efficient in a cold engine, and the air-fuel mixture is richer – in other words, there is more fuel than needed in the mixture, and less air. The combined effect is a sharp increase in pollutants. Since a vehicle's catalytic converter doesn't work when it is cold, all of the engine's emissions pass through the exhaust untreated.
Here's the Solution
A block heater is an inexpensive device that warms the coolant, which in turn warms the engine block and lubricants. The engine will start more easily, reach its peak operating temperature faster and won't have to work as hard to pump oil through the block.
At –20°C, block heaters can improve overall fuel economy by as much as 10 percent. For a single short trip on a cold day, fuel savings could be in the order of 20 percent.
An automatic timer can be used to turn on the block heater a couple of hours before the vehicle is to be started.
, Thu, 8 Dec 2005 13:54:18
, Thu, 8 Dec 2005 12:00:06
, Thu, 8 Dec 2005 10:00:36
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