I was in a car park a few days back, when somebody parked beside me. I don't really know what the car was, but it had a few Subaru stickers on it. One of the stickers suggested that the driver was part of some World Team or other (I doubt that because he was a skinny, pimply, 17-ish, chav...I won't describe his female friend, out of kindness).
Anyway, they got out of the car, locked it, and walked off into a nearby take-away. The thing is, it sounded for all the world like he had left the engine running.
I can't imagine why he would do that (expect that we do stupid things when we are 17), and I wondered if it was something other than the engine. It certainly looked like he might have modified it heavily, so I wondered if there could be some modification that might continue to run for a bit once the engine was turned off, and sound somewhat engine like?
Can anybody shed some light?
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they run to allow the turbo to cool down properly.
cut out after 30 secs
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cooling fan(s)
they run on after the engine is turned off.
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Probably had a "simmer switch" as mentioned above - allows the engine to idle for 30 secs or so - cos the turbos will be well hot innit from racing.
Almost certainly illegal, but as useful as a noisy 'dump valve' (ie. not at all useful)
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Funny, I saw the same thing in a Tesco car park last year and that was also a Subaru (Impreza). It was definately the engine and not the cooling fan.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Fri 11 Mar 11 at 18:23
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I've actually walked into the supermarket, taken a trolley and only then realised that I've left the car unlocked and the engine running. Twice.
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>> I've actually walked into the supermarket
I wish there was talent that distracting in Scotland :-(
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>> I wish there was talent that distracting in Scotland :-(
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It can be bad news, I used to live in Queenscliff at the north end of Manly beach in Sydney, The route from the town centre was either along the beach front road or a road a couple of blocks inland. The inland route was always safer, there were many rear enders at the pedestrian crossings along the beach road. Dangerous kit those bikinis!
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 11 Mar 11 at 19:00
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"there were many rear enders"
Just for a minute I wondered what you meant.
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Cheers Chris, tea splatted all over keyboard again !
:-)
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I ws a a sailor then, but a married one.
At least if she was in the car I could use the beach road as she would yell "STOP" before thumping me. :-)
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Our ambulances and RRVs have 'runlock' which enables the engine to be left running to power all the stuff in the back. The vehicle can then be left but can't be driven off without runlock being deactivated with the key.
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One of our Prius hire cars in London was left running for 3 days over a weekend, running out of fuel eventually.
The last user had forgotten to use the engine kill button, locked the car with his smartcard and went on his way.
My bike's fan runs on after the ignition has been switched off if it's hot. I suspect that's common to many these days.
Ted
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I wonder how long you could leave an engine idling without doing any damage? I remember someone in t'other place left his car running on the drive overnight without any apparent harm.
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Following my recent flat battery, I took the car for a belt to charge her up.
Rather than drive around for the sake of it, I stopped for diesel, planning to leave the engine running while I paid.
I thought the car would be safe enough because I would lock it with the spare key.
Problem: remote locking won't work while the engine is running.
No option but to leave the keys in, engine running, and car almost certainly uninsured while I paid for the fuel.
Last edited by: Iffy on Sat 12 Mar 11 at 11:09
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>> I wonder how long you could leave an engine idling without doing any damage?
When I drove a minicab on the overnight shift, I would frequently let it idle for hours at a time (company was paying for the fuel!) if there were no jobs and it was a cold night. Never seemed to do it any harm, although from about 150,000 miles onwards the exhaust fumes took on a strange, acidic smell - I sometimes catch the same whiff when my neighbour starts his clapped-out diesel Galaxy.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Sat 12 Mar 11 at 18:39
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>> >>
>> My bike's fan runs on after the ignition has been switched off if it's hot.
>> I suspect that's common to many these days.
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Standard on cars, I gather. The usual warning is that the fan might have switched off with the engine, but residual heat in the engine can circulate by thermo-syphon and switch the fan on again after a few minutes. You might be replacing a belt or making some other adjustment at that moment.
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>> Standard on cars, I gather. >>
True, My Mk2 Focus was recalled to make the fan power supply ignition controlled as the "always on" system was prone to catching fire when the car was unattended. This was caused by road salt corroding a component.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 12 Mar 11 at 18:14
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>> True, My Mk2 Focus was recalled to make the fan power supply ignition controlled as
>> the "always on" system was prone to catching fire when the car was unattended. This
>> was caused by road salt corroding a component.
Pugs were prone to combust (and did) for the exact same fault
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Was the engine still running? - nyx2k
