Is it okay to idle the car for an hour or so?

[TornadoRed]

The subject has pretty much been beat to death, but let me add this: in cold weather, if you need to idle the engine to heat the cabin, whether it's just you or especially if you have your family on board, then it is okay. A couple tenths of a gallon of fuel per hour is cheap.

It is much the same in summer. If you need to pull over to rest for an hour or two, but it's too hot without the AC on, then again it's okay.

 

[MayorDJQ]

My 03 Wagon has the battery light on and the battery shows 11.7 volts while running so I am thinking of removing the alternator. the shop wants 170 bucks, can any one direct me to instructions on the site to remove alternator on an A3? thanks Bob

Well that's a bit of a subject change.

Did you look in the How To's at the top of the 101 Section?

 

[Bob Wager]

Well that's a bit of a subject change.

Did you look in the How To's at the top of the 101 Section?

Tornado thanks for the reply. I am new to the site and had to use google to find the link which I did. Wingnut a verteran member has a good instruction manual. I did use the TDI club instructions to do the timing belt change after having a disasterous time withe instructions from the kit I ordered from Blauparts. I cant seem to find a way to search the how tos, as it is not intuitive for me, can you give me a hint? Thanks bob wager

 

[85_305]

My 03 Wagon has the battery light on and the battery shows 11.7 volts while running so I am thinking of removing the alternator. the shop wants 170 bucks, can any one direct me to instructions on the site to remove alternator on an A3? thanks Bob

Wayyy off topic. Make a new thread; you'll get more hits. There are a few things I'd do before tearing out the painstaking alternator (been there, done that).

Tornado thanks for the reply. I am new to the site and had to use google to find the link which I did. Wingnut a verteran member has a good instruction manual. I did use the TDI club instructions to do the timing belt change after having a disasterous time withe instructions from the kit I ordered from Blauparts. I cant seem to find a way to search the how tos, as it is not intuitive for me, can you give me a hint? Thanks bob wager

2007 is new?

 

[MayorDJQ]

Tornado thanks for the reply. I am new to the site and had to use google to find the link which I did. Wingnut a verteran member has a good instruction manual. I did use the TDI club instructions to do the timing belt change after having a disasterous time withe instructions from the kit I ordered from Blauparts. I cant seem to find a way to search the how tos, as it is not intuitive for me, can you give me a hint? Thanks bob wager

Just click on the 101 Section, then on the How To's. Then scroll down.

 

[PDJetta]

In cold weather they let semi's idle all night. Not sure I would do it with a new motor (with less then 10k miles). After something like 2 minutes the EGI value shuts off and the motor only pulls fresh air so I wouldnt worry about cloging your intake. not sure on the set up for the 2011s but constant idleing could make your turbo vains stick if it is set up like an 03. Jest give it a nice red line start when you leave

You can always compromise. get to your parking spot and let it idle 10 minutes. turn it off for 15. then start it up for 10 more before you leave

Years ago I worked for the Maintenance Council of the Americal Trucking Associations and we published a paper entitled "The Evils of Idling" which outlined all of the reasons operators should not idle big rigs. Basically, it shortens engine life by a good bit. I would not do it in a TDI either, any longer than 5 minutes, unless it was an emergency.

--Nate

 

[TDIJetta99]

Smaller motors idle higher then bigger motors.
There's nothing odd about the TDI's idle then the same sized gasser in the 1990 volvo760 turbo that my 06 TDI replaced.
sooo.......

Can't really compare it to a gasser.. Most small gassers I notice idle between 600-700rpm.. Our TDI's idle at 900, a little on the high side for a small 4 cylinder, but right on par for small diesel.. My truck (6.5TD) idles at 500 hot in drive.. Last big diesel I tinkered with (well, I changed the oil and filters) idled at 400rpm, but it had a power curve like this, haha

 

[MonsterTDI09]

The engine is still breaking in.During this time you want to keep pressure or load on the piston rings much as possible.I don't mean stomp on it all the time.When you are relaxing by the river just rev the engine up so once in awhile .Good luck

 

[A_Shifter]

"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"

All good reading - just injecting a little humor

 

[DisturbedTDI]

a diesel mechanic i know (although its ussually larger diesels, cummins/powerstroke)

he lets his idle all the time, he says its cheaper then buying a new starter, never heard of sulfur build up, especially since tractor trailers do it all the time...?

 

[JasonCzerak]

Can't really compare it to a gasser.. Most small gassers I notice idle between 600-700rpm.. Our TDI's idle at 900, a little on the high side for a small 4 cylinder, but right on par for small diesel.. My truck (6.5TD) idles at 500 hot in drive.. Last big diesel I tinkered with (well, I changed the oil and filters) idled at 400rpm, but it had a power curve like this, haha

My 5.9 CR dodge idles at 751. The bigger, the lower the idle. That's natural.

Well, maybe lets get a little more technical. the longer the stroke, the lower the idle

As far as your 10+ liter graph.. my little 5.9 makes more hp at the wheels. Torque, we shall see if it see's 1800-1900 this year at the wheels. I'm sure I'm already there at the flywheel. Wheelhp > flywheel HP

 

[JasonCzerak]

a diesel mechanic i know (although its ussually larger diesels, cummins/powerstroke)

he lets his idle all the time, he says its cheaper then buying a new starter, never heard of sulfur build up, especially since tractor trailers do it all the time...?

I believe it's actually more of a emissions thing. keeping cylinder temps high enough to lower NOx.

 

[TDIJetta99]

My 5.9 CR dodge idles at 751. The bigger, the lower the idle. That's natural.

Well, maybe lets get a little more technical. the longer the stroke, the lower the idle

As far as your 10+ liter graph.. my little 5.9 makes more hp at the wheels. Torque, we shall see if it see's 1800-1900 this year at the wheels. I'm sure I'm already there at the flywheel. Wheelhp > flywheel HP

Haha, very nice.. Those trucks are awesome when they're tuned up..

That caterpillar graph is in bone stock form, LOL.. I'm sure there are some upgrades that can be had for it.. I think CAT rates them for 1 million+ miles before any major service.. Notice it makes that 2050ft-lbs right from the bottom of the graph at 1000rpm..

 

[UFO]

The subject has pretty much been beat to death, but let me add this: in cold weather, if you need to idle the engine to heat the cabin, whether it's just you or especially if you have your family on board, then it is okay. A couple tenths of a gallon of fuel per hour is cheap.

It is much the same in summer. If you need to pull over to rest for an hour or two, but it's too hot without the AC on, then again it's okay.

I agree, however it's a valid point to say the engine doesn't create enough heat to get warm while idling. Of course it may stay warm longer idling after it's warmed up.

 

[TDIJetta99]

I agree, however it's a valid point to say the engine doesn't create enough heat to get warm while idling. Of course it may stay warm longer idling after it's warmed up.

well, Mine will warm up idling.. 3 out of 4 of mine will actually.. The 4th doesn't run so..


also, I had the unfortunate fortune of being 2 hours early for something this weekend so I had no choice but to wait in the car with it running and the heat on.. after 2 hours my gauge was still at 190 and the heat was coming out at 130.. I had the fan on 2 and had it pulling outside air.. It was 28F outside..

 

[manual_tranny]

This forum has a tendancy to relay information, correct or incorrect. People relay it.

Guilty!!

It's been a steep learning curve for me to separate the right from the wrong around here. I've unwittingly repeated a lot of wrong information too... hopefully my misinformation posts continue to become less and less frequent...

 

[manual_tranny]

my 0.02 on this topic is:

If it's a 2009-2011, take the advise of the wise man who suggested that you break the engine in first. I would recommend at least 20K miles of spirited driving before I started letting my engine idle for long periods of time. I think we would all have to guess as to exactly how much time prolonged idling would take to actually do any damage in your newer engine. There probably just aren't a lot of 2009-2011 owners who sit idling like big-rigs!

Of all the good advice given in this thread, this seems to be the most valid in my opinion:

Watch your fuel oil dilution in your OA..

Once you've broken your engine in, go ahead and idle it for extended periods of time. Just make sure that you do an OA (oil analysis, ~$25) and check to see if your oil is being diluted by fuel. This would show you that there is blow-by and that if nothing else, extended idling periods will mean that you should shorten your oil change intervals.

Good luck and stay warm!

 

[spiceredwagon]

Idlers and smokers have about the same mentality. You can show a smoker pictures of rotten lungs, gum rot throat cancer and they continue to smoke. Show an idler pictures of tapered cylinder walls and thick carbon on the backs of valves and they will continue to idle. When the semis used to idle all night they were running about 1200rpm. The smart semi owners now have now APU's. When my Cummins has been pulling a big load it occasionally needs a turbo cool down idle. Instead of idling it I turn on the cruse control and it runs at 1200rpm. Takes no more than two minutes to get down to 300°F and good to shut off.

 

[TDIJetta99]

well, I don't smoke, but I do build engines, LOL... Mine had 245k and it never had any cylinder related issues.. still had 500psi conpression.. piston tops were clean.. I would let mine idle for a while quite often.. even with big injectors and an 11mm pump..

 

[spiceredwagon]

245k is low for a diesel. If it had no damage why did you take it apart?

 

[TDIJetta99]

Long story short, I put a cam in it that had too much lift for the valve springs and it ground itself to bits.. 245k is a LOT for a 200+hp TDI that gets used to tow 4000+lbs on a regular basis (I pull other cars with it).. I am NOT nice to it.. at all..

How long would you expect a 750hp PSD to last if it's beat on every day for 200k?

 

[JasonCzerak]

Long story short, I put a cam in it that had too much lift for the valve springs and it ground itself to bits.. 245k is a LOT for a 200+hp TDI that gets used to tow 4000+lbs on a regular basis (I pull other cars with it).. I am NOT nice to it.. at all..

How long would you expect a 750hp PSD to last if it's beat on every day for 200k?

they get them to 700 before they blow up? lol

 

[85_305]

Idlers and smokers have about the same mentality. You can show a smoker pictures of rotten lungs, gum rot throat cancer and they continue to smoke. Show an idler pictures of tapered cylinder walls and thick carbon on the backs of valves and they will continue to idle. When the semis used to idle all night they were running about 1200rpm. The smart semi owners now have now APU's. When my Cummins has been pulling a big load it occasionally needs a turbo cool down idle. Instead of idling it I turn on the cruse control and it runs at 1200rpm. Takes no more than two minutes to get down to 300°F and good to shut off.

I hate smoking/smokers, but love idling...

 

[TDIJetta99]

they get them to 700 before they blow up? lol

Haha, not with stock internals LMAO... 600 and they'll stay together for a little while, LOL.. but hp/Liter wise that's about how hard we're pushing an ALH at 200Whp/350ft-lb (mine made 195/340), possibly a little more.. That would be like running a 770Whp/1350ft-lb 7.3PSD, or a 620WHP/1100ft-lb cummins (which will probably stay together LOL)..

 

[procupine14]

they get them to 700 before they blow up? lol

I was going to say....some of the new ones don't even stay together at stock power

I jest. Sometimes I idle my car in the winter while waiting to pick up my girlfriend from work but never longer than 30 minutes. If it takes longer than that I usually take it for a quick lap around the block.