Leaving engine running for long...

[truxx]

...periods of time?

I'm wondering if it would do any harm to the engine by leaving it running for a few hours?

The radiator fan works (never overheates) and has just had a service if that matters.
I know ice cream van's are left running all day even on really hot day's but i'm not sure if they have any cooling mods or anything else to help?

Thanks
Dave

[winterheating]

with a diesel really they need to be under load, leaving ticking over for too long will cause cylinder wall glazing, rings become clogged. obviously thats icecream van idling times.

i know a guy who left his diesel vectra running for about 2 hours to dry the damp interior, we went for a 100 mile drive afterwards and it was smoky and hessitant most of the way

[AndyG]

Why would you want to

No different to London traffic I guess

[truxx]

with a diesel really they need to be under load, leaving ticking over for too long will cause cylinder wall glazing, rings become clogged. obviously thats icecream van idling times.

So ice cream van engine must have a REALLY hard life then? So how long would it be safe to leave it then? i'd be planning on doing this at least twice a day over 2-3 day's once every month or so.

Why would you want to

I do greenlaning trips with my motorbike in the van.After a day's laning i'd like to run the engine to warm the inside up as i'd then be sleeping in the back of the van overnight might have to do this several times during that night.

[madmark]

this is a tricky one does it do damage or doesnt it! i know plenty of people on here that includeing myself have run there engines for a long time ticking over

[truxx]

this is a tricky one does it do damage or doesnt it! i know plenty of people on here that includeing myself have run there engines for a long time ticking over

How long's long and how often

[winterheating]

well, with runnning an engine in, if uder too much load it glazes and under too little load it will cause engine oil coating cylinder walls to ignite and leave uneven gaps and glazing.

but an engine thats been ran in correctly, will still have negative effect if left to idle as heat build up will be constant instead of varied, so may not allow cylinder rings to operate correctly,allowing oil build up on cylinder walls because because rings will stick allowing back pressure, meaning more oil consumption and fuel consumption.

but continued operation under load will make sure rings and cylinder will expand together and maintain tight.


but the real question is how long idling is ok i wouldn't like to leave an engine running for an hour
but surely 10 20 mins wouldn't cause problems

[truxx]

So why is it different from a diesel generator then.There designed to be left on for hours: temporary traffic lights are usually run from genny which are left on for day's!

It's not a big deal if i can't be safely done as i'm fitting a second battery with split charge relay from ebay,and i have a invertor and fan heater but i can't see the second battery lasting long when it's running a heater and lights.
Would just be easier using the engine for heating...

Thanks for the reply's

[winterheating]

generators are the same, they need load to work with, and work best when cut in and out when needed.
but some generators maybe 2 stroke so more controlable for low load

[ake]

winterheating is really quoting worse case scenarios, I really don't think it will do any harm however, a Di has to idle for a very long time to generate any heat, and at this time of year leaving one running from a cold start for say half an hour will barely generate enough heat to defrost the windows. What you really need is a night heater

[fastmower]

I'd agree - for a fairly modest outlay you could fit a nightheater and avoid any possible future engine problems AND have a much better heater at the same time. Eberspachers and the like are meant to heat stuff up to a nice temperature and are very effective at it - whilst using fractions of a litre of fuel per hour. Transit Di engines are fairly slow to warm up to a decent temperature and will take ages at tickover plus I'm guessing you'd use a lot more fuel for a lot less heat.

You can fit a night heater very easily and run it from a jerry can in the back with a suitable fuel take off fitting. Mine didn't have any timer modules or anything - just a thermostatic switch. All it needed was a single 12v feed to it that came straight from the battery - job done. Turn it on - instant hot air -and I mean hot - not warm!

For kipping in your van it's the best option by a long chalk.

Andy

[psv-hgv-flt]

with a diesel really they need to be under load, leaving ticking over for too long will cause cylinder wall glazing, rings become clogged. obviously thats icecream van idling times.

So ice cream van engine must have a REALLY hard life then? So how long would it be safe to leave it then? i'd be planning on doing this at least twice a day over 2-3 day's once every month or so.

Why would you want to

I do greenlaning trips with my motorbike in the van.After a day's laning i'd like to run the engine to warm the inside up as i'd then be sleeping in the back of the van overnight might have to do this several times during that night.

this is what you need. look on ebay for a cheaper one or buy new..??
http://www.eberspacher.com/products/air ... ic-d2.html
and if you live near me i could fit it for you.

[fastmower]

Them's the bunnies!

And look at the fuel consumption figures - on the low setting you can get 10 hours running on a litre of diesel

Andy

[psv-hgv-flt]

Them's the bunnies!

And look at the fuel consumption figures - on the low setting you can get 10 hours running on a litre of diesel

Andy

hell yes, and you can have a 7 day program timer. i would not live without one, and i got two.

[psv-hgv-flt]

yea, look at power req its nowt, and 2200w =2.2kw @ a quater of a ltr an hr.
passenger areas and in proximity to dangerous substances.

Diesel Variant (D)
Voltage V 12
Heating Levels Power High Medium Low
Heating Capacity W 2200 1800 1200 850
Air Throughput m³/h 90 75 52 36
Power Requirements W 34 22 12 8
Fuel Consumption l/hr 0.28 0.23 0.15 0.10
Dimensions (L x W x H) mm 310 x 115 x 122
Weight kg 2.70
Diesel Variant (D)
Voltage V 24
Heating Levels Power High Medium Low
Heating Capacity W 2200 1800 1200 850
Air Throughput m³/h 90 75 52 36
Power Requirements W 34 22 12 8
Fuel Consumption l/hr 0.28 0.23 0.15 0.10
Dimensions (L x W x H) mm 310 x 115 x 122
Weight kg 2.70