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You might get some fuel dilution if you idle excessively but that's about it. Like someone else said, a properly working cooling system can handle the temperature aspect.
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Originally Posted by unknown00
ok changing topics a little - let's stop talking about fuel consumption, any abnormal deterioration to engine?
Don't think oil dilution is a big problem with today's fuel injection, with a carburetor maybe.
Like someone else said Police cars idle constantly and go hundreds of thousand miles.
Like someone else said Police cars idle constantly and go hundreds of thousand miles.
I don't think that is what he said, and not without constant maintenance they don't. Most of the departments around here get rid of their vehicles at around 80-120k miles. Then they go to poor police departments or become cabs. At any rate, most of us are not going to be subjecting our cars to that kind of duty cycle. Especially not a "hot seat" car that works and runs 24hrs a day from shift to shift.
I had a friend of mine lose power in her house during the winter a few years ago. No fireplace either, so it was extremely cold. The whole city was covered in ice, it was impossible for most people to get out, so she went into her garage (which is detached, not sealed so no worries of carbon monoxide poisoning) and turned on her car and slept in her car all night with the heater on.
Now under different circumstances this might have harmed the car, but when it's 20 degrees outside, the car wasn't going to overheat just sitting there, plus running the heater. Went through about half a tank of gas, or 7-8 gallons.
Even with the garage door open, this was a very dangerous thing to do. The amount of carbon monoxide that is dangerous to life is measured in "parts per million". Your frend is lucky to be alive.
Running a car in a leaky garage with the garage doors closed is almost certainly lethal. No garage is leaky enough to make that safe.
My son is a policeman and has a take home car, so he is the only one that drives it. His previous car- a Crown Vic- was retired from service after he had 220k on it. As a previous poster mentioned, these cars were subjected to a strict routine maintenance program. I have no idea how many hours the car had, but it was typically running for 7.5 hours out of an 8 hour day for several years.
Even with the garage door open, this was a very dangerous thing to do. The amount of carbon monoxide that is dangerous to life is measured in "parts per million". Your frend is lucky to be alive.
Running a car in a leaky garage with the garage doors closed is almost certainly lethal. No garage is leaky enough to make that safe.
Watch the Hyundai suicide attempt commercial on YouTube. PZEV vehicles can run in an enclosed garage and not kill you.
Not in typical situations. Our law enforcement fleet has seen a significant number (~20%) of our Dodge Charger v8 sedans need a rebuild near 100k miles after years of going from idle to wide open. Dodge has admitted there is a problem with the engine design that does not maintain enough oil in the lifters at idle and over the life of the vehicle they wear, eventually giving out. Again, this I not typical duty cycle for these vehicles but pursuit mode in a Charger police unit.
Idle time would need to be substantial and recurring at a regular frequency to be problematic.
Had a dodge dakota with bad lifters by 100k from low oil pressure in the upper oil gallery, must be a Chrysler thing.
Repeating for emphasis, prolonged idling can overheat the catalytic converter and shorten it's life.
It will shorten the life of the alternator, they need airflow to keep the bearings from overheating, and there's not much airflow sitting idling. Of course if it's cold outside this probably doesn't matter as much.
Leaving your car running and unattended also makes it a good target for thieves.
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