imported_gatherer

proper maintenance combats against engine wear causing an engine to last longer...

also the question was how to get civics to last longer... well when the engine dies you replace it therefore starting the cycle again... my car (93 hatch) was not maintained by the previous owner the engine went at 135000 km....I got a new engine (from the dealer that was cool) and the car now has 220000 km on it ... idling and everything else... I predict with proper maintenance on this engine it will last longer then it stays in the car (because I'll do a swap sometime in the future)an engine idling was taken into consideration when the engine was designed....the engine engineers expect the engine to idle in traffic for a certain amount of time.

Joker, I apologize for highjacking your topic here but I just can't stand someone that tells me something that still after explaining it doesn't make sense.

once again I ask can anyone else exlain how idling an engine that when the engineers designed it, expected this to happen and created a proper maintenance cycle for it.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

Idling does not damage the engine. Not at all. There is neither load, nor internal stress on the engine. It would be like saying you are shortening your life by sitting down for a few minutes. You are breathing to keep yourself alive, so that must be bad, right?

NoSpleeny

Agreed. Idling your engine does not damage your engine.. HOWEVER... if you do a lot of idling.. your timing belt apparently goes faster than if you were to drive at highway speeds at all time.

Just like how you're going to get fat and need to visit Jenny Craig or buy Slim Fast if you sit down (and idle) a lot rather than running.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

The timing belt is directly tied to the crankshaft...the speed of the timing belt is in fixed proportion to the speed of the crankshaft. Crankshaft speed is measured in revolutions per minute. 600 -700 rpm (normal idle on a stick car) < 2500 rpm (average engine speed of a stick car at cruising speed). This has nothing to do with the timing belt. Engine wear is the wearing down of engine internals, like main bearings, rings, cylinder walls, valve seats, valves guides and valves, etc. Timing belt changes are due to the material of it - mostly rubber - and natural rubber breaks down with time and heat cycling (like a 20 year old tire that was never used will still be all cracked up), and that's regular maintenance. At idle, with ample oil pressure and clean oil the bearings actually ride on a film of oil, and the 3rd ring on the piston is the oil ring, which provides lubrication for the rings to ride on. Thus, everything is riding on oil and hence there is no wear on the engine (very, very minimal). Also, the geometry is all perfect since there is no load on the engine to throw any tolerances off...so basically unless your cars internals have been neglected for 100K kms straight, idling will not hurt your engine. Probably the only thing that still sees a bit of wear would be your camshaft lobes, since the spring tension is still the same....BUT the speed of the cams is at a minimum.... Now, I'm not saying that leaving your car idling for 1/2 hour is a responsible thing to do, esp if you drive the car daily. But a traffic light won't cause your car to die. When my car is in storage, I start it twice a week and run it for the duration of one cigarette (outside the car of course). Then, I rev it a bit to about 2700 rpm, and let it idle some more. Then I run through the gears, work all the ***** and buttons, hit the brakes a few times, and leave it be again till next time. Not the right way to store a car, but it's the best I could do at this point

NoSpleeny

Ohh.. muh bad.. it must be that way for the inline-4 engines we have. If I am not mistaken.... Inline 4 cars and V6 cars all use timing belts made from rubber and compressed paper or something... While V8s timing belts are a form of a chain or something.. and they require service earlier if you are doing a lot of stop-go driving and idling.

imported_gatherer

thank you for pointing this out, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind... anyways there was a report I read from doctors where they "suspect" free radicals of oxygen created from the breathing process slowly contribute to aging. (for those don't know oxygen is naturally found as O2... two oxgyen atoms bonded together.... free radicals would be O or just an oxgyen atom on it's own) I dunno if this free radical theory is worth anything as it's in the initail stages of testing (discovery channel is great)

RCBH

dont worry about the engine. you can put another one in in a couple hours. rust is the problem. get a windex bottle. buy a jug of winter chainsaw oil and big jug of paint thinner from canadian tire. mix and spray the under side and inner fenders. its too thick to spray so you add paint thinner. when the thinner evaporates it goes back to its original viscosity. chainsaw oil is specifically designed to stick to metel and protect from corrosion. what more can we ask for?

AzimuthX

Can someone veryfiy this, I guess you spray the wheel wells very good... but definately not on your brakes. BB.....?

imported_gatherer

the dude didn't say about spraying the brakes....I'd need to know the oil weight of the winter chain saw oil before I make any claim .. I've never tried it personally...

RCBH

i use the winter weight cause is thinner than summer weight. just makes it easyer to spray. its designed to stay on a chain saw blade that is movin at a very high rate of speed. sticky yes. stick to your car yes. the blade of a chain saw is raw steel. does it have rust protection qualities? yes. thats all i know. you can buy a 4 litre jug of crown rust stuff from crown but its 40 bucks. chain saw stuff is 7 i think. im just cheap. that way you can doo it every couple months. cheap enough why not.

silver_sedan

so i suppose going WOT at every traffic light isn't helping my civic?...LoL

SilverCRXSi

No its not helping. The streets are not a race track.(not that I'm saying you're racing)
Besides just look at the price of gas. when you go WOT not only are you burning gas, but you're also burning your funds away too.

Besides if the light ahead is gonna be red anyways, why does it matter if you're gonna sit for 40 seconds instead of a minute. You don't always have to be #1!

NoSpleeny

Hey.. if you're like the mayor of Woodbridge area.. you can run the redlights! ...! !!!!!!!

IN YOUR CITY-LEASED Acura 3.2TL Type-S... and write it off.. and get no points for it!!!!

****er ****er ****er...