Overheating while idling - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Steve Tinker · 02-11-2010, 04:17 PM

If your friend had rammed some rags up the exhaust tail pipe, the back pressure would have stalled the engine. But I know what you mean - you tend to panic when things spiral downwards.....

We had a rather strange (err unusual) guy working for our company 3 or 4 years ago. He drove a small Suzuki 4 wheel drive thingie to / from work. He was always carrying things - things like like raincoats, lunch boxes, news papers, plastic bags, etc.
He left the Suzuki as usual and went into the office to start the day - when he re-appeared 8 hours later to go home, he found that he had forgotten to switch off the engine

The poor car had been sat idling in the parking lot from 0700 hrs to 1600 hrs. He just shrugged his shoulder and drove home....
Mind you, he was the kind of guy who believed that the car was serviced each time you filled up with fuel!! And you don't need to change modern oils either!!
As I said, he was a little strange.

Anim · 02-11-2010, 04:31 PM

Its interesting you should mention the rags, we tried that for a few minutes but nothing happened so he stopped. Maybe we should have persevered with it.

Lil bastard · 02-11-2010, 05:59 PM

I don't understand how that could happen to your friend because according to several here, it's not harmful to let the car sit and idle, unless of course they're incorrect.

Cheers!

Lobo1186 · 02-11-2010, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

I don't understand how that could happen to your friend because according to several here, it's not harmful to let the car sit and idle, unless of course they're incorrect.

Cheers!

so one car out of thousands which sit idle every day... and this is concrete evidence that idling is bad?

coming from NE ive left cars idling along with pretty much everybody I know for extended periods of time with no issue. I even left (by mistake) my car on all day while I went skiing... car still runs fine to this day.

Samson · 02-12-2010, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobo1186

so one car out of thousands which sit idle every day... and this is concrete evidence that idling is bad?

coming from NE ive left cars idling along with pretty much everybody I know for extended periods of time with no issue. I even left (by mistake) my car on all day while I went skiing... car still runs fine to this day.

It's not that it's necessarily bad, it's just completely unnecessary, wasteful, and illegal in a lot of places.

The cars that overheat likely have cooling system issues that would have popped up somewhere down the line anyway. Any car with a properly functioning cooling system should have no problem keeping the car in spec at idle for a long period of time.

Really sucks about the BMW, but then again, they aren't exactly known for their quality cooling systems. Just the opposite, in fact... they have crap cooling systems that have a tendency to fail.

Lobo1186 · 02-12-2010, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samson

It's not that it's necessarily bad, it's just completely unnecessary, wasteful, and illegal in a lot of places...Any car with a properly functioning cooling system should have no problem keeping the car in spec at idle for a long period of time.

i guess that is my point right there... it isnt necessarily bad and a properly maintained car is fine. unecessary? have you had to get into a car in -30 degree weather? and illegal... never heard that but i dont doubt it.

Samson · 02-12-2010, 07:19 AM

-30? No, but -10 or so. In that case, I give it 20-30 seconds, and off I go. Warms up much faster that way. As for warming the interior, that's why they invented coats and gloves (and heated seats). In that kind of weather, the heat is warm within 3 or 4 minutes of driving.

That and people who live in places where -30 is commonplace typically have block heaters.

As far as it being illegal is concerned, it's not a law in too many places around here, but it damn well should be. Do you let your car idle at train crossings or in a stopped traffic jam? That's another waste. I prefer my gas to be wasted in the form of tire burning fun.

Anim · 02-12-2010, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

I don't understand how that could happen to your friend because according to several here, it's not harmful to let the car sit and idle, unless of course they're incorrect.

Cheers!

I guess some cars can and others can't. You would have thought that a BMW would have some kind of over heating cut-off.

landrovered · 02-11-2010, 06:01 PM

Man what a horrible thing that would have been to go through! I suppose I would have tried to pinch off the fuel line somewhere but would have probably ended up catching the whole thing on fire. It is funny that the cars that no one cares about can idle for eight hours without an issue and the nice ones self destruct. It is the way of the world I guess.