Leaving the engine run All night long (all night)

[Robertslowpoke]

this is not "trolling" whatever that means! or a joke!

my friend, just retired. drives a semi trailer from the scrap yard to another place a few miles away to deliver the metal. sometimes during the day, they fill his truck with scrap. he then drives to the other place, where they unload it.

he runs his engine all day long. we live in Mass. i THINK he did it in summer, too. waste???

 

[Vikas]

Do you keep block heaters on all night or put it on the timer to come it on few hours before?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
Good to know.
Thank you.

Wait. When you said:

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
There are people in Alaska and Canada's deep north who do it all the time.


You mean you didn't really know that? You just made it up?

Post that pic of your Challenger yet?

 

[SHOZ]

It use to be common to leave the diesel trucks idling 24/7. But a couple years ago UPS set a new policy of if you aren't in the drivers seat the engine should be switched off. May even have a switch on the seat like a lawn mower.

With the pickup coal rollers the Cummins engine guys like to leave their engines running because they are so clanky I guess.

I heard that the auto start/stop will be a standard feature on cars soon.

 

[Jetronic]

auto start/stop is a standard feature on many cars already.

 

[4WD]

My cousin owns a small oil & gas services company - those guys spend long hours in Chevy 1500 4WD's with engines running in over 100F - (laptop jocks, running the AC) ...

 

[veryHeavy]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
There are people in Alaska and Canada's deep north who do it all the time.

You mean you didn't really know that? You just made it up? Post that pic of your Challenger yet?

I guess you don't watch Ice Road Truckers.
They leave their cars running.
In the past I have had Alaskans/Canadians tell me they run their cars all night.

And I have no clue how to upload a photo to this site, and frankly I'm not wasting an hour of my life trying to figure it out unless you PAY me to do it. I don't work for my boss for free, and same goes for you. (I had another word typed here, but the forum censors the word [censored]... a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments.)

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Do you keep block heaters on all night or put it on the timer to come it on few hours before?

I leave mine plugged in all night, simply to have less heat cool cycles.
I get home, plug it in and the engine cools to the equilibrium point (90-110F depending on ambient)

It would take about 4-5 hours to warm from dead cold if you did want to put it on a timer. Would save about 4 kwh to do that (400w * 10 hours).

In total Im using 5.6ish kwh per night. I usually use it about 6 days a week and so this is about 135kwh a month. For me, this is only $6.08 in electric bill.

 

[silverrat]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
There are people in Alaska and Canada's deep north who do it all the time.

You mean you didn't really know that? You just made it up? Post that pic of your Challenger yet?

I guess you don't watch Ice Road Truckers.
They leave their cars running.
In the past I have had Alaskans/Canadians tell me they run their cars all night.

And I have no clue how to upload a photo to this site, and frankly I'm not wasting an hour of my life trying to figure it out unless you PAY me to do it. I don't work for my boss for free, and same goes for you. (I had another word typed here, but the forum censors the word [censored]... a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments.)



So how about backing up your claim that Civic CNG "needs a different CNG-only oil, that is quite expensive, because normal oil doesn't work?" If you are going to state "facts" be prepared to back them up regardless of whether you feel you should get paid for your time. Otherwise just admit you were wrong and not purposely spreading misinformation.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
There are people in Alaska and Canada's deep north who do it all the time.

You mean you didn't really know that? You just made it up? Post that pic of your Challenger yet?

I guess you don't watch Ice Road Truckers.
They leave their cars running.
In the past I have had Alaskans/Canadians tell me they run their cars all night.

And I have no clue how to upload a photo to this site, and frankly I'm not wasting an hour of my life trying to figure it out unless you PAY me to do it. I don't work for my boss for free, and same goes for you. (I had another word typed here, but the forum censors the word [censored]... a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments.)



Yeah, there is TV shows about living up in the frozen north, and then there is those of us that have actually done it for more than just a season and not in front of cameras. Kinda like there are movies about war and then those that actually remember the true smell of it. I lived 10 years just South of Fairbanks in Delta Junction (the location for the U.S. Army Cold Region Test Center) where I worked as a civilian employee for them. Drove heavy trucks up there for most of those years to many locations in Alaska. No... never left vehicles, small or large, running all night. And it was not uncommon to have mornings where temps were below -50F. Used a healthy dose of common sense in setting up vehicles right for the cold they would endure. Some used plug in setups, some used fuel fired heaters that kept things warmed. Some a combination of the two. Some on timers. When I went home each day, first thing after pulling in drive and shutting off, things got plugged up.... block heater, oil pan warmer, battery blanket. That '79 Bronco with a 351M V8 did just fine for most of those years, and primarily on conventional oil. Only a interior heater fan took a dump on that ride. The plastic parts of the interior did look like they had been beat up with a sledge hammer after several years of that frigid cold. Hind sight is always 20/20. Should have used some sort of interior heater on the poor thing when it was shut off.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
And I have no clue how to upload a photo to this site, and frankly I'm not wasting an hour of my life trying to figure it out unless you PAY me to do it. I don't work for my boss for free, and same goes for you. (I had another word typed here, but the forum censors the word [censored]... a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments.)


You seem to have figured it out OK in other threads, like the one with the Amsoil filter efficiency chart. Can you go back there an comment on my question?

 

[seanf]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Do you keep block heaters on all night or put it on the timer to come it on few hours before?


I have a 250w oil pan heater, its plugged in all the time when the cars parked. When I had a car with a coolant heater it was plugged in all the time the car was parked as well, there was always a noticeable difference starting a car that only had 3 hours of plug in time vs all night (was always told 3 hours is all you need)

 

[Vikas]

I presume all the block heaters have thermostat to control the temperature and turn themselves off if not needed?

 

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
Northern Montana, I know a couple guys that will let their diesel idle all night when they are out in the open at -20°C.



That is the reason for doing so. At 20 or more below, diesels can be difficult to start after an entire evening turned off.

 

[CBR.worm]

Years ago, I worked at large airports. It was not uncommon for them to leave the luggage tugs running overnight.

 

[Leo99]

I parked my car at an off-airport lot a couple years ago. Noticed a Jeep running at 6AM when I got in the shuttle bus to take me to the airport. Wasn't in a rush and was the only one on the bus so I told the driver we could wait for Jeep's occupant(s). He laughed and said that driver forgot to turn off the Jeep and it has been running for 4 days now. The workers were starting to take bets on when it would run out of gas and stop.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Northern Montana, I know a couple guys that will let their diesel idle all night when they are out in the open at -20°C.



That is the reason for doing so. At 20 or more below, diesels can be difficult to start after an entire evening turned off.


Especially if they are too tight to actually do things right, like put on a Wesbasto or Espar diesel fired coolant heater. Uses about 1/8th gallon per hour. Set on the timer to fire up 1 hr before needing to start the truck, can have a 13-15L diesel engine up to 140F in about an hour. Let's see... a coolant heater that will last for many years for about $850. Idling all night, 100 nights a year, using about 1.5 gallons of fuel an hour on a heavy diesel, at $2.50 a gallon... $3750 a year minimum. Some folks just love to throw money away.

And Webasto and Espar make units for small to large diesels and gasoline engines also. Better than a block heater and no need to find a plug in.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Yep, Halliburton and Schlumberger folks around here have done this for decades ... and years ago the 3k OCI mentality took care of the "un logged" miles ... guess better oils have their backs now ...

Schlumberger? I remember the name from IC automated test equipment. I never quite understood how it fit into their primary business in oil exploration.

 

[SEBZX79]

A friend of my did it with his bosses range rover. Parked it in the middle of his front yard opend the door fell out and passed out on the grass. The mother in law beat him like a step child. When she saw it in the morning.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy

I guess you don't watch Ice Road Truckers.
They leave their cars running.
In the past I have had Alaskans/Canadians tell me they run their cars all night.

Well then, it's on the idiot box reality show, so it must be true. Glad you pointed that out to everyone.

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy

And I have no clue how to upload a photo to this site


Now that's a bit odd, since you managed to figure out how to upload photos in other posts. But I'll enlighten you-there is a button that looks like this:


When you press the button, a dialogue box will open with three buttons: Choose File, Add File and Done. Press Choose File and browse to the picture and selected it. The press Add File to add it to your post. Then press Done, and like magic the picture of your Challenger will appear in your post.

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
I'm not wasting an hour of my life trying to figure it out



My sincere apologies. It wouldn't take anyone of normal intelligence an hour to figure it out, so I don't think anyone here knew of your cognitive impairment. It must be fairly significant if it would cause an hour's worth of time trying to figure out something as simple as adding a picture (which you've already done). I hope you find the information above helpful, and we're all waiting to see pictures of that Challenger of yours. I'd like to see the engine bay, and if you'd kindly put the key on the engine in the photo, we'll know it's not something you scraped off the internet somewhere.

I might add that sitting around watching reality television (like you pointed out that you do) doesn't do anything to improve your cognitive function.