Will long idle times hurt my tdi?

pearing

Active member
Joined
Sep 16, 2019
Location
Ashland WI USA
TDI
2015 Golf TDI
Bought a 2015 tdi this summer. Now that winter has showed up I have a question about idling... my wife likes to sit by the lake (frozen) and read with the car running while my daughters are at swim team practice-like 2 hours or so. Will this damage the diesel engine in any way??? (I go to the pub when I take them, which seems more practical) Any advise welcome.

Thanks in advance

Pat
 

ranger pete

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Location
connecticut
TDI
2011 JSW 6MT
Can't she find a place to go?

Home? Starbucks? McD's?

Will it kill your car? Maybe not, but it sure as hell won't do it any good.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
It's actually doing some damage and over time will lead to turbo failure. Emissions components dont like it either and can cause premature replacement. Other than that it's not healthy for a new engine to idle or run at a constant rate, but it's broken in so no need to worry about that bit. You do however need to factor that time idling into your service intervals. 2 hours is like 120 to 150 miles highway. If you do that every 5 days you need to do and oil change accordingly. For people who sit for an hour in traffic every day going to work vs a 30 minute drive actually need to do the same.
Point is, treat it as wear and account for it in your service
There are many threads about this. You dont need to open a new thread, go read some of the other ones, 5 pages on the last one. Do a search and get to reading.
 
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jmodge

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Greenville, MI
TDI
2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
Go together, she can read in the warm pub while you get twice the pub time and the TDI gets a break, win, win, win.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
It is not good, no. Unfortunately, unlike many other modern diesels that are quite often tasked with commercial vocational work where extended idling is common, there is no "tactical idle" feature for that car. So a condition sometimes referred to as "wet stacking" (old term, but still applies) and it is not good for the engine, for the exhaust system, or for the emissions (environment).

It would be better to just shut the car off and go inside somewhere.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Yes, ask her to shut car off and go inside, it's always warm in the swim place.
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Bought a 2015 tdi this summer. Now that winter has showed up I have a question about idling... my wife likes to sit by the lake (frozen) and read with the car running while my daughters are at swim team practice-like 2 hours or so. Will this damage the diesel engine in any way??? (I go to the pub when I take them, which seems more practical) Any advise welcome.
Thanks in advance
Pat
it'll shorten the DPF life for sure.
 

vwexpress

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2019
Location
Davenport FL
TDI
2015 Golf Sport Wagon
Watching this closely, I'm an idler. I live in Florida, construction guy, eat in my car, everyday. I idle for about an hour a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it's going to happen. We do a lot of jobs in the middle of no where, and there is no way I'm not taking a break without the AC blasting.
 

red16vdub

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Location
(617) City of CHAMPIONS
TDI
03 JSW 5spd
Watching this closely, I'm an idler. I live in Florida, construction guy, eat in my car, everyday. I idle for about an hour a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it's going to happen. We do a lot of jobs in the middle of no where, and there is no way I'm not taking a break without the AC blasting.


I’m also construction guy , I idle at least 2 hrs a day every morning. My Tdi is approaching 400k . You do what you gotta do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Watching this closely, I'm an idler. I live in Florida, construction guy, eat in my car, everyday. I idle for about an hour a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it's going to happen. We do a lot of jobs in the middle of no where, and there is no way I'm not taking a break without the AC blasting.
Make sure you account for those lost miles on your service. I do the same on my daily gasser. I drive 1 hour each way for work about 50 miles each way. So I make sure to count that at 150 miles, not 100. By the end of the month it's an extra 1000 miles I put on in hours. Oil changes are 3 months apart, not 5 for me.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I’m also construction guy , I idle at least 2 hrs a day every morning. My Tdi is approaching 400k . You do what you gotta do.
Older TDIs are far more accepting of long idle times. I don't even like to drive my DPF equipped diesels on short trips: Tend to save them for longer drives. I use the older cars for daily and local driving.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Older TDIs are far more accepting of long idle times. I don't even like to drive my DPF equipped diesels on short trips: Tend to save them for longer drives. I use the older cars for daily and local driving.
while emissions wont suffer much and the engine will be fine, the turbo journal bearing will wear down some on its face due to the lack of pressure. i think this specific problem was only an issue with long idles on AHU, ALH and BEW engines and the like that use a journal bearing turbo.
 
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