Prolonged idle... just sitting there...

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2K2AcuraTL

2K2AcuraTL

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Dec 22, 2002
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Ottawa, Ont CANADA
Ok this happened today..
It was bugger of a day ... in every aspect... I wont bore you to tears with all the hum-drum..

the point......... my son's 08 Civic with the 1.8 locked himself out of the car... and it sat idling for 2.5 hours until someone made it to him, and save the day..

OLM was at 50% or less at this stage..... last OCI was in Nov just in time for winter driving... 6000 km on the OCI now ,and its PP.. 5w20

in your opinion... change early because of this idle fiasco..?? or keep to the OLM...

thx
J.
 
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I forgot to turn my engine off when I went to a church service and a meeting after. Total idle time was ~ 4 hours. Did not over heat or anything bad because engine cooling system are designed to do that. Ed
 
thx for the input.. i wasnt overly worried about overheating .. its still just above 0*C or 32*F lately....
i am beginning to breath easier... LOL
 
I've been stranded dead stop on interstate highways in the dead of winter for several hours while state police do accident investigations. They can be a lengthy process. With temperatures below freezing there is no choice but to leave the engine running for cabin heat. Talk about an inconvenience! The thought of changing the oil from extended idling has never crossed my mind. No need to change the oil...
 
Thx buddylpal... even the waste of gas bothers me...
wink.gif
 
A coworker, once accidentally left his brother in law's car idling all night! No issues. Guess what kind of car it was OP?
 
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Originally Posted by GSCJR
A coworker accidentally left his brother in law's car idling all night! No issues. Guess what kind of car it was OP?


Quite possibly a Honda product..??? LOL
thx
 
Worst case scenario, assume you drove the 2.5 hours instead of idling:

Avg speed for combined streets/highways = 40mph or less. Most likely 35 mph.
2.5 x 40 = 100 miles

+/- 100 miles shouldn't impact any oci. So you should be fine ...

I am assuming idling is much easier on oil and no worse than driving. thats why I said under worst case scenario ... Maybe some of the expert can correct me if I'm wrong.

Curious now what the typical ratio is?
For example is 1 hr of idling = 20 miles of driving?
How do fancy olm take idling into account? What kind of equations are they using?
 
thx i get your logic here...make sense..

but, i have been told, idling is far worse on oil than highway driving.. and in this case it would have been 100% highway
indeed, will let other experts chime in ..
Cheers
J.
 
I recall about possibly more fuel dilution and oil not reaching nominal operating temperatures , etc. However don't recall any typical olm factors like 1:1, 1:3 , 1:x ratio.
 
Originally Posted by irad
I always tell my kids to carry a second key, I do.


I can see duplicates being made in short order... but they are bulky.. maybe a secret hidden key.....
 
I parked at an offsite lot at Philly airport a few years ago and noticed a Grand Cherokee idling away. The lot crew told me that the owner locked it and got on the shuttle bus and left the engine running and no one noticed. The parking lot workers had bets going on how long it would run. Said it was going on a couple days so far. I returned 6 days later and it was gone. Never found out how long it idled or who won the bet.

I wouldn't worry about 2.5 hours at idle. Suppose idling is far worse than highway driving. What does that equal out to? 2.5 hours at idle = 10 hours of highway driving? That's an extra 650 miles unaccounted for in the OCI. At what % do you change based on the OLM? 5%, 10%? You still have some tolerance in there. Change it at 15% if you normally change at 10% if that will ease your mind.
 
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I went to get fresh yard eggs and left dogs in car with air conditioning on then the Chihuahua locked doors. Even with windows cracked I couldn't reach the lock so I left it there then went home and got spare key. I now carry spare with me when by myself with 2 dogs. Never thought about oil change as I idle all the time I have wife and or dogs with me to go to the store.
 
When I used to work in a ski area the equipment would run for a WEEK at a time, maybe shutting off for refuel, but usually not. We got a 150 kw genset up to its 400 hour OCI in two weeks.

The idle time was probably good for the Civic.
 
[q
uote=Leo99]I parked at an offsite lot at Philly airport a few years ago and noticed a Grand Cherokee idling away. The lot crew told me that the owner locked it and got on the shuttle bus and left the engine running and no one noticed. The parking lot workers had bets going on how long it would run. Said it was going on a couple days so far. I returned 6 days later and it was gone. Never found out how long it idled or who won the bet.

I wouldn't worry about 2.5 hours at idle. Suppose idling is far worse than highway driving. What does that equal out to? 2.5 hours at idle = 10 hours of highway driving? That's an extra 650 miles unaccounted for in the OCI. At what % do you change based on the OLM? 5%, 10%? You still have some tolerance in there. Change it at 15% if you normally change at 10% if that will ease your mind. [/quote]

good analogy....! this relieves a little doubt..
cheers
J.
 
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