[fireblade007]

Is there is any problem for the engine, if we put the engine on idling and put on the air con for long time, like a few hours?
Sometimes we have small parties in our college ground and for music we put on the music system in the car with engine idling(to prevent the battery from draining out) for one or two hours. will this cause any problem to the car?I feel that the engine is heating up quickly while doing this. My car is an alto lxi.
Mods, please move this post to an appropriate location if this doesn't deserve a separate thread.

[UniqueMods]

1. when a car is idling, at 0 speed, there is no air flowing into the engine from the grill, so the engine will heat up soon and will rely on the radiator fan when the ecm feels the engine temp is rising above a certain temp.
i would suggest keep the hood open during these durations for more airflow.

2. i believe the alternator does not produce 14.4 volts at idling speed. (0.8 to 1.2 K rpm). for the battery to charge you have to be driving or continuously revving the engine. Your ICE will drain the battery eventually or damage it if you keep using more power to the amp than the alternator can produce for the battery.


UM

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by UniqueMods

1. when a car is idling, at 0 speed, there is no air flowing into the engine from the grill, so the engine will heat up soon and will rely on the radiator fan when the ecm feels the engine temp is rising above a certain temp.
i would suggest keep the hood open during these durations for more airflow.

2. i believe the alternator does not produce 14.4 volts at idling speed. (0.8 to 1.2 K rpm). for the battery to charge you have to be driving or continuously revving the engine. Your ICE will drain the battery eventually or damage it if you keep using more power to the amp than the alternator can produce for the battery.


UM

at idle,your battery will continue to get charged - all the electrical load will be taken by the alternator
I have known cases of cars in which battery has been removed with engine running - no probs at all.

don't bother about the engine at idle - the temperature will never cross 45% of range.

[fireblade007]

What air conditioning working for hours with car idling?

[jav]

As long as the alternator is providing enough output to charge the battery at idle there should be no battery problem, at idling the voltage should read 14v (+/- .5v) with ICE on to make sure the battery does not get discharged.

As long as the engine is idling outdoors and the temp needle within limit there should not be any problems.

[zaks]

At idling the car should not heat up ideally since it is not doing any work and any small heat generated should get dissipated fast. And this should be fine except for fuel consumption.

[howler]

well fireblade, if youre having a party then you dont need the ac running right, The ac and music at idle might be a bit too much, but there should not be any problem with jus the music running at idle.
cheers.

[unni.ak]

AC and music system with car on idle is not a problem. Don't worry about the heating problem, because if required the radiator fan will start.

[donzerus]

Fireblade,

Not sure about an Alto, but a Lamborghini caught fire at Chennai airport when it was left idling throught the night.

CHENNAI: Tense moments prevailed at the airport's cargo complex on Monday when a Lamborghini car, kept ready for loading on to an Emirates cargo flight, caught fire.

Sources said that two Lamborghini cars had been brought to the airport on Sunday evening to be taken to Milan on an Emirates cargo flight.

One of the cars had half a tank of fuel. Staff at the air cargo complex allegedly kept the vehicle idling throughout the night to burn the fuel as cars can be loaded on to aircraft only with an empty fuel tank.

An automobile expert said, "Lamborghini cars are supposed to be driven fast. The engine gets heated quickly and the cooling system works only when the car is moving at a high speed. Keeping the engine idling for a long time will heat it up. It is also possible that the car might have been manoeuvred at slow speeds inside the cargo area for loading."

Source: Lamborghini catches fire at Chennai airport, engine damaged - Chennai - City - The Times of India

[kingofmyworld]

There is no problem doing it, I keep doing it most of the times, I attend my tuts right after college hours and I'll have to wait for some 1hour for my tuts to start so I kill that 1hour in my ride playing games in my carputer and with my AC turnedon al lthe time and till date I never had any problem.

[dar3dev|l]

well guys, the above is considering the intelligent ECM for MPFI based cars. How about cars with carb engine ?? Does switching on AC and Music Systems are idle engine state burn out the batteries or any part of the engine ?
Question might sound stupid , but am quite new in understanding the mechanical sysems.

[dushmish]

I have idled my cars 800, Zen LXi and Dzire ZDi for long hours (1 to 3 hrs) many times with the AC on and the ICE also on. No over heating. No issues of any kind. The only thing I have noted is that petrol engines consume less volume of fuel while idling but Dzire (Diesel) consumes more amounts.

[Leop]

The main problem would be overheating. If your car's cooling system is good it should cope.
The ac being on for a long time may not be such a good idea.
If you need to keep you car idling for a while it is recomended you keep the hood up.

[pranil]

Hi,

Any car idling for excessive duration will destroy /damage the catalytic converter . End result can be

1. Lower fuel efficiency
2. Higher PUC values
3. maybe fire from the exhaust at some time if the CAT converter is damaged

Most of the car manauls have a warning over idling for long periods. I recall seeing one in Toyota and Mitsubishi

see following links
Is Engine Idling Damaging Your Engine?
Catalytic Converter

If you want to use music you are simply better of buying a bigger tuck battery and a charging set. IF you are ready to spend 2000 Rs. More you can even buy an inverter and run normal stereo system .
The whole setup is more efficient than running the car on petrol for extended periods of time


Anil