Bin wondering the effect of short driving distance on a car, seen people who drive less than 3km round trip in a day (i.e 1.5km to work in the morning and same distance back home in the evenin) and wonder if cars are made to cope with such and if no, what measures can be put in place to prolong the engine life.

Drgreatone:
Bin wondering the effect of short driving distance on a car, seen people who drive less than 3km round trip in a day (i.e 1.5km to work in the morning and same distance back home in the evenin) and wonder if cars are made to cope with such and if no, what measures can be put in place to prolong the engine life.

Build up of sludge over time.

To avoid this allow engine run idle for at least 10-20minutes every morning so the engine oil will get to normal operating temperature before taking of on your short 1.5km trip. Same should be applied on the return trip.

P.s I'm assuming there is no hold up or traffic.

Thanks @Gazzuzz, I once heard that allowing ur car to stay on while idle for more than a few mins does more damage than good?

OP, if you value your engine and want it to last then DO NOT idle your car. It's one of the worst thing that you can do to your engine.

Once you start the engine, proceed to drive right away but DO NOT race the engine or put it under high load until it is fully warmed up.

For the scenario that you described you may not be able to avoid sludge but I assure you dealing with sludge ri far more cheaper than idling your engine for extended period when cold.

If you care I can expand on the reasoning behind not racing your engine.

[quote author=CityNG post=29313845]OP, if you value your engine and want it to last then DO NOT idle your car. It's one of the worst thing that you can do to your engine.

Once you start the engine, proceed to drive right away but DO NOT race the engine or put it under high load until it is fully warmed up.

For the scenario that you described you may not be able to avoid sludge but I assure you dealing with sludge ri far more cheaper than idling your engine for extended period when cold.

If you care I can expand on the reasoning behind not racing your engine.[/quote

I don't mind and am sure would be very beneficial to all

I believe the car should be allowed to enter a closed loop before take off. That should be more than 3-5mins in most cases.

CityNG:
OP, if you value your engine and want it to last then DO NOT idle your car. It's one of the worst thing that you can do to your engine.

Once you start the engine, proceed to drive right away but DO NOT race the engine or put it under high load until it is fully warmed up.

For the scenario that you described you may not be able to avoid sludge but I assure you dealing with sludge ri far more cheaper than idling your engine for extended period when cold.

If you care I can expand on the reasoning behind not racing your engine.

Can you explain a bit more on the dmaged caused to the engine? U know we are all learning.

To answer the OP's question, as others have said, no, it's not true, then or now.

That myth perpetuated in the early 70's as cars started being outfitted with catalytic converters. It is true that if you idle an engine for long periods without getting the engine rpm up, the condensation in the exhaust would pool in the converter and if you didn't blow it out, it would rust out the cats prematurely. That's more or less true today as well, but modern cats are much more efficient and resilient to it. It's still the main reason why you should always bring an engine up to operating temperature and drive it for a bit, rather than starting it and shutting it off before everything has warmed up.

Source:http://www.city-data.com/forum/automotive/1771809-does-prolonged-idling-beyond-few-minutes.html

[quote author=Drgreatone post=29314540][/quote]

1) The bearings on both the crankshaft and camshaft will usually be dry (still will have some oil film) when you start the engine. So when you start your engine and you're idling you're really not pushing as much oil into those areas as you woudl if the engine was under light load.

2) Compression rings are also shrunken when cold until they get to proper operating temperature when they will seal tighter. So when you are sitting there idling a cold engine you are allowing "some" unburnt gasoline to wash the bores and get into the crankcase and dilute the oil which will now even cause more damage as the now diluted oil gets recirculated.

There's no positive reason to idle your car when cold. It's just a bad habit from the carburetor days.

The web is littered with write ups.

Though I don't keep my cars for long but I've never had an engine failure in hundreds of cars that I've owned.

GAZZUZZ:


Can you explain a bit more on the dmaged caused to the engine? U know we are all learning.

Not from me you're not. You have all the answers from the web.

http://www.thehcf.org/antiidlingprimer.html

"Myth 1: Cars should run in an idling mode for several minutes before being driven.
Wrong. Modern engines do not need more than a few seconds of idling time before they can be driven safely.
Moreover, the best way to warm up a car is to drive it, since that warms up the catalytic converter and other
mechanical parts of the car, in addition to the engine."

Emphasis on the "other mechanical parts of the car". These are internal parts that are hard to reach. The catalytic converter is a cheap disposable item that can be serviced easily.

http://www.chesterfield.gov/content2.aspx?id=16660

"Myth #1: The engine should be warmed up before driving

Fact: Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle. Today's electronic engines do not need long warm ups, even in winter. The best way to do this is by easing into your drive and avoiding excessive engine revving. The vehicle's engine warms twice as quickly when driven and also warms up the catalytic converter and other mechanical parts of the car. With today's modern engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before driving away. Easing into your drive is also the best way to get your vehicle's heating system delivering warmer air faster.

Myth #2: Idling is good for your engine

Fact: Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption."

if idling isnt good then and all one needs to do is drive off immed after ignition and be gentle on the throttle at first, what sort of maintenance would u advice then in terms of oil change and interval, plug renewal interval and any other as the case may be

Drgreatone:
if idling isnt good then and all one needs to do is drive off immed after ignition and be gentle on the throttle at first, what sort of maintenance would u advice then in terms of oil change and interval, plug renewal interval and any other as the case may be

Change intervals as per owner's manual would be the best

I still beleive that this is what killed my previous car. It was a real waste and it really pained me. The engine went on a car that had done less than 60k miles.
I only did a few miles every day from frozen in the winter and it never warmed up enough. The temp gauge was still on cold by the time I partked it at my destiation . . Same thing on the way back home.
This new car I make sure I drive it as much as possible. I dont want the same thing happening again.