Giving my car a good run before the NCT

T McGibney said:
Not sure if it is problem in the first instance. It certainly isn't an issue in terms of a motorist trying their best to get their car to pass an NCT test, which is what we're discussing here.
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There's recommendations in this thread to have a "drive around" to clean the engine (from what is not entirely clear), or to leave the engine running so it is warm when the car is picked up for the test.

I am not aware that there it is a requirement when presenting your car for the NCT to have the engine warmed up, or having done a drive around beforehand. I am sure one can manage to pass an NCT even when presenting the car with a cold engine and without giving it a good run.
Car service maybe, ensure that the engine is properly setup?

It is also possible to modify the on-board computer specifically to pass the NCT. I think we can all agree that this is also a bad idea?
 
newirishman said:
There's recommendations in this thread to have a "drive around" to clean the engine (from what is not entirely clear), or to leave the engine running so it is warm when the car is picked up for the test.

I am not aware that there it is a requirement when presenting your car for the NCT to have the engine warmed up, or having done a drive around beforehand. I am sure one can manage to pass an NCT even when presenting the car with a cold engine and without giving it a good run.
Car service maybe, ensure that the engine is properly setup?

It is also possible to modify the on-board computer specifically to pass the NCT. I think we can all agree that this is also a bad idea?
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Read the previous posts FFS.
 
newirishman said:
There's recommendations in this thread to have a "drive around" to clean the engine (from what is not entirely clear)
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A little reading on the workings of the modern internal combustion engine will clear that up for you.

newirishman said:
I am not aware that there it is a requirement when presenting your car for the NCT to have the engine warmed up, or having done a drive around beforehand.
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The NCT test methods introduce some strain on the engine to simulate performance under load, doing such tests on a cold engine can result in damage, hence the waiver you are required to sign on presenting your car for test.
 
newirishman said:
There's not many things that drive me more mad than people sitting in a parked car (or e.g. waiting in front of a closed railway crossing) with the engine running for no ... reason.
Apart from fuel waste it is a clear sign that the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels just doesn't seem to be registering as a problem.
Apparently petrol is still too cheap.
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Frequently stopping/starting an engine not specifically designed to withstand it is not recommended. Engines with start-stop built-in use more robust starter motors, more deep cycle capable batteries and alternators to handle the increased charging required, along with lower friction crankshafts and bearings to reduce the energy requirement to re-start the engine.
 
Leo said:
Frequently stopping/starting an engine not specifically designed to withstand it is not recommended. Engines with start-stop built-in use more robust starter motors, more deep cycle capable batteries and alternators to handle the increased charging required, along with lower friction crankshafts and bearings to reduce the energy requirement to re-start the engine.
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(I know we are probably a bit off topic now):

That's is not correct, and probably hasn't been for many years (so also for older cars).

Here's a good starting point
http://sustainability.stackexchange...-engine-off-while-standing-at-a-traffic-light
and this one as well
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/57794/calculating-engine-starter-s-energy-use

Funnily enough, idling the car for more than 30 seconds is illegal in many countries in Europe (duration depends on country)
 
I wasn't arguing about fuel savings, just the premature wear of starting components and shorter battery life. I'd prefer not to have my starter motor fail every 3-4 years as the first article proposes, even if it did save me a little overall.
 
newirishman said:
There's not many things that drive me more mad than people sitting in a parked car (or e.g. waiting in front of a closed railway crossing) with the engine running for no ... reason.
Apart from fuel waste it is a clear sign that the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels just doesn't seem to be registering as a problem.
Apparently petrol is still too cheap.
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It's a trade off. Starting a stone cold engine and leaving it running for the duration of the test including the "revving" part of it will use more fuel than one that is at optimum operating temperature. It's an imperfect world and I have no perfect answers. At least there's a purpose to sitting outside the test centre with the engine running as against sitting at railway crossing.
 
newirishman said:
There's not many things that drive me more mad than people sitting in a parked car (or e.g. waiting in front of a closed railway crossing) with the engine running for no ... reason.
Apart from fuel waste it is a clear sign that the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels just doesn't seem to be registering as a problem.
Apparently petrol is still too cheap.
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BUT - A warm engine idling uses very little petrol and starting an engine takes more petrol than when the engine is idling.

Your statement is only true if the petrol saved while the engine is idling, is less than the extra petrol needed to restart the engine.

If you are stopping your engine every time you are idling, you are using more petrol in some cases.
Do you know how long you need to be idling before it is worth doing ?
 
huskerdu said:
If you are stopping your engine every time you are idling, you are using more petrol in some cases.
Do you know how long you need to be idling before it is worth doing ?
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I did not know that. I turn off my engine at the Level Crossing as the gates can be down for a long time and I prefer the silence.

Brendan
 
newirishman said:
Funnily enough, idling the car for more than 30 seconds is illegal in many countries in Europe (duration depends on country)
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Yet keeping a medium sized dog has the same ongoing impact on the environment as two large SUVs. Eliminating idling is a nice easy political win to pretend people are taking the environment seriously, but it's a trivial issue in the bigger picture.
 
Leo said:
Yet keeping a medium sized dog has the same ongoing impact on the environment as two large SUVs. Eliminating idling is a nice easy political win to pretend people are taking the environment seriously, but it's a trivial issue in the bigger picture.
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Well, most people can't fix the bigger picture. But they can do small things that, if you think about it, don't have any negative impact on an individual. So essentially what you are saying there is just a bit of an excuse.

I don't care about politics, but I do care about the environment, and what science might tell us.

Here's a very succinct summary, I recommend to spend 2 minutes to read it. Comes with a warning though, as it might cause a change of mind.

https://www.edf.org/climate/reports/idling
 
newirishman said:
Well, most people can't fix the bigger picture. But they can do small things that, if you think about it, don't have any negative impact on an individual. So essentially what you are saying there is just a bit of an excuse.
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No, I'm saying we need to focus more on the real causes of environmental damage and stop pretending we're taking action by addressing trivial issues.
 
newirishman said:
I don't care about politics, but I do care about the environment, and what science might tell us.

Here's a very succinct summary, I recommend to spend 2 minutes to read it. Comes with a warning though, as it might cause a change of mind.

https://www.edf.org/climate/reports/idling
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Why read an Ahmuhrcan document where engine sizes are bigger and "gas mileage" and gallon sizes are smaller resulting in costs that in no way reflect the cost of European idling? What about some close to home science? And their cars don't take an NCT.
 
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