[sindabad.sailor]

A ship engine can run for months can it not? But it has special cooling requirements

Yes indeed! Ship's engines can run for months but again has to stop while refueling.
I had once sailed 42 days at a stretch from Vancouvre to Mumbai with 10 hrs stoppage at singapore for refueling.
There are no special cooling requirements. These engines are also water cooled with chemicals dosed to make the coolant slightly alkaline and maintain nitrile reserves from corrossion viewpoint.
Any loss due to evaporation is topped up with plain distilled water and additional chemical dosing to retain nitrile levels of cooling water.
Only difference as against an automotive radiator seemingly is that automotive radiaors are aircooled and marine engine's coolant is cooled by Sea Water.

I have one four stroke engine used for running generator (4200KW) on one year old ship reading 7256 running hours today.
Bottomline is engines can run for quite a long time priveded well maintained.

Rgds.

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Every engine is conscious. ITs self aware. Somewhat like skynet. (Infact, one day I think engines will take over the world).
So once its aware that warranty is over, it dies. Its a part of the great plan to increase stress in the owners, and make it easier to take over the world.

OT:
ROFL!!! bro, you shouldn't voice such opinions out loud or they'll they term you insane and lock you up.. as they did Sarah Connor


back to topic:
is it safe to run non-stop distances in excess of say 300kms? the reason i ask is because i get this feeling (while driving) the engine might need rest and i stop the car for about 30mins before resuming the journey.

our car is a Getz GLS 2006 December model which has been regularly serviced every 6months. we're gonna be embarking on a Chennai and (two weeks later) Pune trip and i wanted to know if non-stop driving can affect the engine and its life.

[swiftdiesel]

I've done Chennai-Nagercoil, a distance of 740 kms in my Swift diesel non-stop. It was a duration of 10 hours. I've also done Kodaikanal-Chennai, Rameswaram-Chennai non-stop. I don't believe in stopping the engine during a refuel. In all these trips, the engine was as good as new. Ideally, I reckon, there's no reason for an engine to stop if all the parameters (fuel, coolant, oil) are met. Especially, diesels are built tougher and thereby last longer.

[ravikn]

I have done 500KM non-stop from Bangalore-mumbai trip. nothing has happened so far. I hope it could have gone even more, but we were really tired and took a lunch brake at that time.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

...
is it safe to run non-stop distances in excess of say 300kms? ....
...... i wanted to know if non-stop driving can affect the engine and its life.

Hey IronH4WK, 300kms is perfectly fine for any modern car - As long as the essential fluids are up to the mark. Even now, I do Bangalore - Ernakulam non-stop. The last such trip was with the odo at ~95k kms. Engine and car is as good as new.

[thedreamcatcher]

Modern cars do not require that the car be switched off after a period of say 8 hours or so, or till the fuel lasts in the car tank, (one full tank cycle). As a caution, during long drives I always switch off the car during every stop I make and even at fuel stops. This is more during hill drives, where I prefer to stop and cool the engine a bit.

But considering the way modern cars are built, we can go on for prolonged periods, as the various systems like oil, coolant keep the engine cool and within effective operating temperature. But if the car is driven rashly, high speed driving, incorrect gear usage, excessive clutching and so on, and if it is a very long drive, this could have adverse effects. But this is again because of misuse, and not the fact that the engine cannot drive long continuously. Also, do give thought to the opposite scenario. How damaging it is to a car to do several small trips. Take two similar cars, run one for 10 hours daily for say 6 months and the other car making say 10 very short trips in a day for the same period. Leaving wear and tear aside, I am sure the car that has made the shorter trips will be more susceptible to engine damage.

Isn't this one of the goals of the Le Mans 24 Hours race; to test the ability of teams to drive their cars constantly for 24 hours without sustaining or limiting mechanical damage.

Now this is something I need clarification on. As a few have put here, that the car was left overnight and by the morning it was switched off, since it ran out of fuel. But isnt this obvious. A car needs fuel to run, and the second it is not there it stops. Are we attributing this in any way to say, the car is designed to run only to the extent of fuel it has in its tank, then switch it off, refuel and go? Thanks in advance for clarifying this

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

If driven sanely,yes engines can run for longer periods without any problems,perfect example would be the diesel locos that run continuously for more than 48 hours even more(comparing as it to has a diesel IC engine) but again it depends upon a number of factors like engine oil quality,cooling efficiency etc etc

Talking about Diesel locos they keep them running even when fueling. It is a common practice to lock the engine and keep it idling overnight.
If you have been at any station (mostly Railway Junctions) in the dead part of the night, you might have witnessed this i.e. a diesel loco with the engine running , but no one inside all locked up and still going on.

[AVR]

Additional factor that need to be considered also include ambient temperatures. I have driven 450 kms nonstop in the Safari in the monsoons with cooler temperatures but last week a 250 km nonstop journey from 12 PM-4PM in the peak summer (~42 degrees) with full-blast AC on did get me a bit concerned as it surely would have stressed the engine more. The sound of the engine fan at idling before shutdown surely made me feel that the engine was cursing me quite badly

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

. Especially, diesels are built tougher and thereby last longer.

diesel mills can run longer because they are built stronger owing to the nature of cycle they employ(C.I).

[m-hawk]

I have driven on a stretch of 800 plus kms in one go except for just a pee break mind u engine was running then too. It did nt complain at all .Sir H V Kumar can put light to this provided he isn't rocketing to or from somewhere !!

[motor_brullen]

First requirement for engine in Clean Fuel, Clean Air, & Proper Lubricants. Basically engine's enemy are Heat & Dust. If one ensures that it is safe from both, engine will run non-stop till next maintenance. This doesn't means engine will be best executed when started. Engines deliver best performance specific temperature range and RPM, i.e., best

However engine's life depends on maintenance and use of engine. Properly used and maintained engine would run for 2-2.5 lacs kilometers (depending on engine quality).

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Talking about Diesel locos they keep them running even when fueling. It is a common practice to lock the engine and keep it idling overnight.
If you have been at any station (mostly Railway Junctions) in the dead part of the night, you might have witnessed this.

Yes this is not an unusual sight. But I was once told that it was done mostly on long goods trains, to keep the exhauster running. Otherwise it would take a long time to raise the air pressure for the attached wagons to run, which might even take an hour, if there was any leakage in the pipes with no provision of any immediate repairs.
Regards,
Rahul Biswas
Calcutta

[rajeshchand]

I have done 26 hours non-stop in a Scorpio (except for fuel and loo breaks when the vehicle remained switched off) from Bhubaneswar to Siliguri via Kolkata which I believe is a 1200 km run, it was fun and the vehicle never complained.

[raycers_honda]

Interesting topic.I too have always wanted to know how many hours it can go on for.But then whether the car engine is just idling or driving around continously, it all depends.Now when the Le Mans races are on i am guessing thats 24 hours continous at a stretch and that too at high speeds,strenous braking,accelerations etc.
It also depends on climatic conditions like if its a hot climate the engine could overheat.But has anyone ever driven their cars continously at a stretch.Which car and how much of time.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Talking about Diesel locos they keep them running even when fueling. It is a common practice to lock the engine and keep it idling overnight.
If you have been at any station (mostly Railway Junctions) in the dead part of the night, you might have witnessed this i.e. a diesel loco with the engine running , but no one inside all locked up and still going on.

Ship diesel engines run 24x7 for far longer - for weeks at a stretch when sailing across the Pacific Ocean that spans nearly half the Earth (>19k kms) from the eastern most point of Indonesia to Colombia in South America. That goes not just for the prime mover but the generators as well.