Start car and run engine to avoid freezing problems - good idea?

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I've no intention of driving anywhere in this weather, but I was wondering if it would be better to start the car and run the engine every day or just leave it well alone until the weather clears up?

Thanks for any advice.
 
I think every day is a bit excessive. I would be happy with every 3-4 days. Make sure the engine gets to full operating temperature. It's better for the car to drive it rather than just letting it idle so if at all possible, I would do this.
 
If you don't want to drive it, I would run it everyday for a few minutes, but keep the revs up a bit so that your running it off the alternator and not the battery. Also if you can take the battery out each day and keep in warm place in house would help or better still hook it up to a trickle charger if you have one.
 
70 to 80% of engine wear occurs in cold-start situations. If you don't intend going anywhere, don't start your car. If it is protected by the correct engine oil and coolant, use a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up.
 
a car never runs off a battery when the engine is running. The battery is only used to start the car. If you only intend to turn the engine on for a few mins as you say, you could end up draining the battery as you are not giving it a chance to recharge properly. Its best to leave it run for a good hour at least in the driveway, keeping an eye on it at all times are they are stories of cars driving away from houses with the owner looking at it going down the road.
 
I'd say to leave it unless your car has a history of the battery discharging. A decent rule of thumb is that every start takes ten minutes of driving (not idling) to recharge.

No point putting the engine through the wear of a cold start for no reason. Bear in mind that disconnecting the battery may result in losing settings, locking the radio etc.

Don't leave your car idling unattended under any circumstances, you won't be insured when it gets stolen.

SSE
 
Don't start the engine if you don't intend to drive it. (In many countries this is actual illegal).
A cold engine is the worst, and it will not get warm when it is not under load.
If you don't use it for longer (that is, several weeks), disconnect the battery.
Anything else doesn't make anything better.
Make sure there is a anti-frost liquid in the cooling system as well as wind screen washer system.
 
Caveat said:
I think every day is a bit excessive. I would be happy with every 3-4 days. Make sure the engine gets to full operating temperature. It's better for the car to drive it rather than just letting it idle so if at all possible, I would do this.
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I was doing it every 2nd day, but is so cold now that its killed the battery (which is a relatively new one) in under a day. Lots of cars on my road have had the same problem.

Problem is if you move the car out of the drive so you can pull along side and jump it. You might not be able to get back in the drive if it still doesn't start.

I'm thinking once the battery is charged either by jumping/running the car, or by trickle charging the best idea might be to keep the battery somewhere warm.
 
newirishman said:
...A cold engine is the worst, and it will not get warm when it is not under load....
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I don't get that. Any engine once started gets warm. How could it not? What has load got to do with it. Theres loads of explosions going on in the cylinder, even at idle.

They recommend leaving a cold engine tick over for a bit before driving off/ or reving it. This is to let the oil come up to temp and other things.

Cold starts are harder on an engine and wear is increased. But it happens over a long time, not a week or two in a cold snap.
 
AlbacoreA said:
... What has load got to do with it. ...
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or as Tina Turner might say -

"What's load got to do, got to do with it?
What's load but your vehicle in motion?"

An engine under normal load warms up faster and is less likely to develop ignition hot-spots or excessive wear than one that is left to tick-over at rest, and won't waste fuel.
AlbacoreA said:
... They recommend leaving a cold engine tick over for a bit before driving off/ or reving it. ...
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I'm not sure who "they" are but IME "they" don't know a whole heap about anything.

Leaving engines to tick-over is intrinsically bad for them and wasteful of fuel (modern vehicles have "stop / start" technology built-in to avoid this).

I agree that engines should not be placed under heavy stress until
they reach normal operating temperatures, diesels and turbo-charged engines in particular.
 
Also in this vein, we heard about someone this week who started their car to heat it up and went back in to do something. Car ticking over with keys in the ignition. Car gone. CCTV showed 2 hoodies driving it away. Be careful.
 
The vast majority of modern cars do not have stop start technology.

It charges the battery quicker driving it for 15~30 mins than idling it. How much longer I don't know. Something like 4 times quicker was one thing I read. I've not seen any facts on it. A cold start is more harmful than a warm start. But its not going to make a difference over a couple of days. That effect is over years. A modern catalytic converter might be damage by a lot of idling, I don't know. Do you have any stats on that?

However these are not normal conditions, its -6 and lower last night. Which is killing batteries, maybe even freezing them internally. Also with the road conditions. You might not be able to pop out for a quick spin for 30 mins. Ideally in temps that cold you'd keep the car inside. Alternatively have an engine/battery heater, and even a float/trickle charger. Even remove the battery and keep out of the cold.

Not sure how many people in Ireland would have that, or the skills to remove a battery. So whats the last option than everyone can do. Charge the battery on idle. Ideally run the car at higher revs than idle. Same thing as driving it down the road.

Its obviously not something to do a lot. Not sure why people would do that a lot.
 
MandaC said:
Also in this vein, we heard about someone this week who started their car to heat it up and went back in to do something. Car ticking over with keys in the ignition. Car gone. CCTV showed 2 hoodies driving it away. Be careful.
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Would the insurance even cover that? I dunno.
 
AlbacoreA said:
Not sure how many people in Ireland would have that, or the skills to remove a battery. So whats the last option than everyone can do. Charge the battery on idle. Ideally run the car at higher revs than idle. Same thing as driving it down the road.
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This may be a stupid question but do you mean start the car and keep you foot on the accelerator for a while???
 
AlbacoreA said:
I was doing it every 2nd day, but is so cold now that its killed the battery (which is a relatively new one) in under a day. Lots of cars on my road have had the same problem.

Problem is if you move the car out of the drive so you can pull along side and jump it. You might not be able to get back in the drive if it still doesn't start.

I'm thinking once the battery is charged either by jumping/running the car, or by trickle charging the best idea might be to keep the battery somewhere warm.
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I'm confused now - there's no such thing as summer and winter batteries or cars and in most countries in Europe people use their cars in winter without any bigger problems. Any chance you'd get your car to service to have it checked? My car started after 3 days of standing outside in the snow without any problems.
 
AlbacoreA said:
I don't get that. Any engine once started gets warm. How could it not? What has load got to do with it. Theres loads of explosions going on in the cylinder, even at idle.

They recommend leaving a cold engine tick over for a bit before driving off/ or reving it. This is to let the oil come up to temp and other things.

Cold starts are harder on an engine and wear is increased. But it happens over a long time, not a week or two in a cold snap.
Click to expand...

What I mean is that it take much longer for an engine to heat up to normal temperature when you are not driving the car. I wouldn't rev a cold engine, only drive it with low rev until warm - the oil only gets proper liquid once it warms up. Reving up a cold engine is not a good idea.
 
Lived in a country with winter temperatures regularly falling to -20 Centigrade for quite a few years. Had to switch the battery on average every 4 years in any car (new or used, diesel or petrol).
Never started the car without driving it, and tried to avoid trips where the engine is not getting up to standard operating temperature.
2 main reasons: You need a lot more petrol when engine is cold, and it creates much more toxic emissions. (But I don't think that in Ireland anyone cares about the environment too much anyway. Hardly anyone stops the engine when waiting at a level-crossing for example).
And loading the battery after a cold start takes longer as well.
I never had any problem after leaving the car untouched for weeks at sub-zero temperatures. The cars are usually engineered to take this kind of weather.
When driving a diesel, let the car pre-heat the diesel for a few seconds even if the manufacturer says it is no longer necessary with those new engines. Engine just starts easier.

Here is a nice page w info around cold engines: http://www.wolverineheater.com/engine-oil-heater/cold-engine-start.shtml
(NOTE: this is a commercial side, I neither recommend or not recommend the stuff they are trying to sell. But they explain the matter very well imo).
 
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