Recommendations For Constant Idling

[thirstyturtle]

Hey guys,
I just got a new job today in which I'll be doing a lot of field work on roadways including constantly pulling off the road and doing some work and then heading on my merry way. I'll be using my personal vehicle for this (4Runner) and will be reimbursed for my mileage. Anyways, I'm wondering if it would be to my advantage to leave the truck always running or to be cutting it off and cranking it up dozens of times a day. Also, I may HAVE to leave it running to lower strobe lights depending on whether or not I decide to add them to my ride. If I do leave it idling for most of the day, is there anything special I should do like add an additional oil cooler or something?

Thanks for your help.

 

[JB.]

Anyways, I'm wondering if it would be to my advantage to leave the truck always running or to be cutting it off and cranking it up dozens of times a day. Also, I may HAVE to leave it running to lower strobe lights depending on whether or not I decide to add them to my ride.

I wouldn't worry about the engine at all for extensive idling. Here's my citation for that and it addresses frequent starting, too.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/218372-post88.html

Q: Is there harm done to the engine by prolonged idling?

A: We’ve had test engines idling for thousands of hours without significant changes. I’m not sure I have seen anything to back up the idea that excessive idling causes buildup in cylinders or fouls plugs

Q: What about idling at the drive through or convenience store? Do repeated starts wear out the starter or other parts?

A: Your modern car is designed to withstand hundreds of thousands of starts without unusual wear on any part. I wouldn’t worry about your starter.



Here's what the manual has to say about idling: A large amount of unburned gases
flowing into the three- way catalytic
converter may cause it to overheat
and create a fire hazard. To prevent
this and other damage, observe the
following precautions.....

Do not allow the engine to run at
idle speed for more than 20 minutes.

My truck has been idled a few hours at a time, many, many times with no apparent ill effects. However, that has always taken place in cold weather. I'd be more careful in warm weather. How careful would depend on how much I really needed to let it idle.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

I would be running a decent synthetic oil like Pennzoil Platinum for sure. I would probably be inclined to change it every 3500 miles.

 

[kao]

Toyota does not recommend to idle engine more then 15-20 min as it is not healthy for catalysts.

 

[Whitebeauty]

If that's gonna b an issue then ditch the cats and go visit gadget at Urdusa.com for the sim so yr engine light is not on. Also if I'm not mistaken it puts more wear on yr coolant..so it might b good idea to get a good antifreeze put in or changed frequently...

 

[Nuke]

I normally would agree with the statement above about using synthetic oil except I'd be inclined to change it at 5k miles instead of the typical ~10k miles due to the idling. But since changing full synthetic at 5k is a waste, I'd go with a good synthetic blend and oil changes at 5k miles which is still below the typical frequency for blends. Other than that, I'd turn off the engine if I knew I'd be idling more than 5-10 minutes.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

I normally would agree with the statement above about using synthetic oil except I'd be inclined to change it at 5k miles instead of the typical ~10k miles due to the idling. But since changing full synthetic at 5k is a waste, I'd go with a good synthetic blend and oil changes at 5k miles which is still below the typical frequency for blends. Other than that, I'd turn off the engine if I knew I'd be idling more than 5-10 minutes.

If you calculate hours of engine idling operation to miles (like on boats or aircraft where they measure with an hourmeter) then you would see 3000-3500 would be the equivalent of 7500-10,000. You can let an engine idle for 100 hours and drive 3 miles. Changing synthetic oil at 5000 is not a waste either. If you open one of my Toyota engines with 150,000 miles on it you will see absolutely no sludge from a 5000 mile synthetic oil change. Which is my goal.

 

[thirstyturtle]

Well I already use Mobil 1 Full Synthetic and change it every 5,000 miles so I'm good there. Sounds like the only other thing would be to keep a close eye on my coolant and change it somewhat frequently.

What about idling on 100 degree days with the AC running? Would anyone suggest an additional oil cooler or would that just be unnecessary?

 

[d2huffman]

With your cats getting hotter, make sure not to park in any tall grasses to avoid fires. While not the best idea, I don't think it is going to do significant damage to your vehicle. If you are running lights while parked, you sure don't want a dead battery. You could install a second battery pretty ease to take care of the lights. If it were mine, I would turn off if time will be greater than 15 minutes and add the 2nd battery if adding lights.