Driving short distances - how bad is it for your car?

[copynpaste]

from what Ive read its a lot of wear and tear on your engine over time and it can shorten the lifespan of your engine? Driving short distances wont allow the oil to get up to proper temps, which would just lead to early oil fouling. You might even experience advanced piston ring wear. When the car does not get well warmed up acids and moisture accumulates in the engine and tranny and causes problems..Trannies go early from constant shifting in traffic..IMHO.

so what are the ways of lessening the wear on the engine from short distances? How about warming up the car for 5mins each way first?

So am I the only one who tries to avoid driving really short distances if I can?

[slinkie]

i think as car enthusiasts a lot of us sweat this kind of stuff way too much, since unlike 90% of drivers we actually have a clue what's going on in our vehicle.

i have heard the best way to warm up the car is simply to drive it lightly. :dunno: however like you i like to think i'm treating my vehicles as well as i can. To me it makes sense to let the oil warm up a bit so if i'm not in a hurry i always let my vehicles warm up for ~30s while i pick out music or whatever.

[Iceman_19]

Warming up your car too long does the same thing. Engines arent made to idle.

[copynpaste]

Originally posted by Iceman_19
Warming up your car too long does the same thing. Engines arent made to idle.
True, i heard the italian tuneup, doing it oncre a week is good for the engine cause it gets rid of carbon build up from short distance driving.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Iceman_19
Warming up your car too long does the same thing. Engines arent made to idle.

What about when it's so cold that the oil has the consistency of molasses?

In that case, would it be less wear and tear on the engine if you let it it idle for a few minutes?

[Kardon]

I have always given my cars at least a minute or two of idle on the first start, and I increase the idle on the diesel when its cold out. Also avoid passing half on the tach while its cold.

[tictactoe2004]

Some people even say the same thing about HID headlights... :rofl:

[copynpaste]

Originally posted by tictactoe2004
Some people even say the same thing about HID headlights... :rofl: HIDs is only affected if youre constantly flicking it on and off.

[revelations]

Whats your definition of "short" distance? My vehicle's engine is warmed up to operating temperatures after about 3 minutes of driving so I consider anything less than that to be "short".



Regardless, this qualifies for severe service in your oil change guidelines. I might even consider using a synthetic.

[copynpaste]

Originally posted by revelations
Whats your definition of "short" distance? My vehicle's engine is warmed up to operating temperatures after about 3 minutes of driving so I consider anything less than that to be "short".



Regardless, this qualifies for severe service in your oil change guidelines. I might even consider using a synthetic.

from what i read on a honda forum, anything less than 7miles....basically 15km or so. I think thats bit steep IMO. I think anything over 8km is out of the short distance range.

[slinkie]

honda-tech are all in cali/US, they probably drive a lot longer distances than calgarians

[2002civic]

Only really bad for diesels from what I've seen/heard.

[copynpaste]

Originally posted by 2002civic
Only really bad for diesels from what I've seen/heard.

Dont know who told you that but thats completely false, diesel engines can handle short distance driving a lot better than gas cars.

[01RedDX]

.

[Awd-Tsi]

If it's cold I let it warm for 5 to 10 mins and then shift around 2500rpm till it's warm.

[Alak]

Originally posted by copynpaste


Dont know who told you that but thats completely false, diesel engines can handle short distance driving a lot better than gas cars.

Modern Diesel Engines can handle short tripping better than old diesel engines. Diesel engines primary source of ignition is heat. You can short trip a volkswagen without much issue, but I wouldn't short trip anything bigger than that repeatedly.

[texasnick]

Originally posted by Iceman_19
Warming up your car too long does the same thing. Engines arent made to idle.

I've actually been wondering this question myself. Is idling bad for the engine? I'm sorry, but I've heard way too many "idling's bad, but I can't tell you why exactly" comments and I would like to know for sure.

How are engines not made to idle? You don't think Honda and Toyota designed their engines to be able to idle?

I read one thread on BITOG that basically said there are 2 things that can happen
(a) plugs will foul more
(b) blowby will dilute the oil slightly with fuel.....apparently not even that much....so....again......

anyone have any empirical or scientific evidence that would suggest that idling is bad for an engine?

How does everyone up north get away with idling their trucks 24 hours a day? Are the engines in those trucks worse off (wear wise) than trucks that shut down every day?

[copynpaste]

Originally posted by texasnick


anyone have any empirical or scientific evidence that would suggest that idling is bad for an engine?

How does everyone up north get away with idling their trucks 24 hours a day? Are the engines in those trucks worse off (wear wise) than trucks that shut down every day?

Heres a good read
http://ezinearticles.com/?Letting-Your-Engine-Idle-and-Why-Its-Bad&id=2606684

[texasnick]

I have read that.....but it still doesn't back anything up with anything other than because I say so.



How often do you allow your engine idle while you are in the car? Most people will let their engines idle or "run" due to cold weather or due to the fact that they are listening to the radio. However, letting your engine idle is not good for your car or for the environment.

When you let your engine run, you are wasting gas. A few years ago, a couple of friends and I were sitting in my car on a cold night and I had the engine running so that we wouldn't be sitting there freezing. The weather was cold, and by allowing my engine to run while I was in the parked position, I was still able to run the heat in my car (which was the whole point because this was during the winter time). Suddenly, I remember one of my friends telling me that I shouldn't really run my car like that because it was "bad for my car."

There are many people who speculate that allowing your engine to idle is bad for your car, though it is up in the air for debate. When your car is idle, it is going 0 mpg. You aren't moving; you are simply burning fuel. When you are sitting at idle for long periods of time, it can actually do bad things for your car. Keep in mind that vehicles were designed to move, not to just sit and run. Often you might hear people say that turning off you car at idle won't actually save any gas. But with fuel injection technology, if you are going to have your car idling for more than 10 seconds, you will save fuel by turning it off. Depending on where you live, you might notice that someone is stopped at a light and their car is apparently inoperable. However, just before the light turns green, you'll suddenly hear them turning the ignition to put the car into 'drive' again. Again, this is not recommended if you live in a high-traffic area such as New York or Atlanta.

When I was in the police department, during the summer when we were out on long calls- often we would leave the engines running in the event that we needed to get out to get to another call in a hurry. When this was the case, sometimes we would prop open the hoods on our police cruisers. We would do this because when you leave your car running, the engine is running. As a result of the engine running in hot weather, it is extremely easy for the engine to overheat. Therefore, when you open the hood up, it allows more air to get in so that the engine stays a little cooler. Again, this is not recommended for regular people. If you know that you are going to be somewhere for longer than 10 minutes, then it is best to turn off your engine. If you leave your car running, your engine will eventually overheat and will stop running anyway!



So.....

(a) wastes fuel....that's a given....but that doesn't mean it will harm the engine...plus newer diesel engines use hardly any fuel at all while at idle.
(b) could overheat? Not really a concern up here.

I'm looking for something more substantial than that. I'll try to dig up the BITOG thread I saw.....at least they used an oil analysis to come up with their conclusions.

[Shlade]

Meh..... Your car was meant to be driven.. Im pretty sure if older vehicles can surpass 300k and keep going a newer technology vehicle will be fine aswell..

[bjstare]

It might be harder on the engine, but I could almost guarantee that the rest of the car's components will wear out and break, causing you to get rid of the vehicle before the engine fails... so really, why stress about it? Unless you're planning to break the 500K mark or something...

[bspot]

You'll have to replace your exhaust way earlier. It'll never get very hot, so all the condensation won't be boiled off and you'll have water sitting in your exhaust system all the time and will rust it out much faster.

[2002civic]

Originally posted by copynpaste


Dont know who told you that but thats completely false, diesel engines can handle short distance driving a lot better than gas cars.

Just the numerous decarbs done on VW diesels at my work prematurely for the carbon build up due to the excess sulphur in our crappy diesel that doesn't burn off due to shorter trips. I guess ti doesn't really damage the engine persay but the fuel savings off the diesel is lost with the decarb.

[maxwinedog]

im probably the only person on here who tries their best to avoid driving short distances. It will shorten the life of your engine. EVen if its -30 out i will walk if the place is within 15min walk.

[g-m]

I do that because I like to be healthy. Short trips are essentially a non-issue. Just like idling.