ok so this morning i get off of work at 12:30 am and i go to best buy to meet up w/ my lil bro and cousion who were waiting in line for the xbox 360. so i get there at abut 1:15 am and there in a tent, its raining like hell. so at about 3 am i said its too cold im going to sleep in the tc. so i go in there flatten the seats and go to sleep. i had the car started and the heat on. i was in there for about 3 hours and it was started most of the time. when i started it then i was normal. so at 6 am i go back out and we clean the tent up and then get the console and then when we come back out, i go to start it and the engine keeps on turning for about 30 sec b4 it starrts. and then i was like wtf so i turn it off and start it again, same thing. after i got home i did it and it was normal. so now my question is did i mess anything up by having it on at idle for like 3 hours in the cold? thanks.

 

it's never good to let an engine idle that long. how did you get the car home?

 

This is just not true.

You can let your car idle idefinately.

Let's think for a second, you can drive for 24 hours straight at 80mph and your car handles it just fine, that's at 3,500 RPM. It's perfectly alright to let your car idle that long.

In fact on the NPR show Car Talk a guy once called in and asked the car talk guys if he could leave his car idling for 72 hours (was a judge in dog sled race in alaska) they said it was fine for the exact same reason.

That said a start like that once is no big deal.

 

umm i drove the car home...

 

umm you weren't clear...

and I never said it would do damage, it's just not ideal to leave your car running at a constant RPM for that long. it's best to vary engine speed. no car is gonna run 24hrs straight, unless they enough fuel to do so.

 

It is perfectly fine, i am sure it is 'ideal' and of course you need to refuel your car if you leave it on for 3 days.