Shift into neutral for a 1-3 minute stop?

[matthew1]

Once a week I hit a very long light. If I catch it wrong it can be 3 minutes.

At what point does it make sense to save wear on the auto transmission in my 850 to shift into Neutral or Park?

[RobTheModd]

Eh it depends.
because to long of an idle can be bad for your car.
and 1 - 3 minutes doesnt seem good...
I feel bad for you, if I was stuck at a light or what ever for that long I would be mad.

Here is something I found earlier.
excessive idling can corrode exhaust systems and foul spark plugs, which leads to decreased fuel efficiency

Canada recommends a max of 30seconds.

Also idling in winter weather allows this to happen faster.
as well as idling will allow more particles into your oil.

Sorry I cannot be more specific.

All in all, if you have a newer car.. I would not worry. but if your driving an older one.. Id try to cut down on the idle as much as possible.


ALTHOUGH!
I have also read if your car is warmed up, then the above is void and you car should be good. and all your doing now is just pumping more pollution into the air.

[850 Turbo1]

Eh it depends.
because to long of an idle can be bad for your car.
and 1 - 3 minutes doesnt seem good...
I feel bad for you, if I was stuck at a light or what ever for that long I would be mad.

Here is something I found earlier.
excessive idling can corrode exhaust systems and foul spark plugs, which leads to decreased fuel efficiency

Canada recommends a max of 30seconds.

Also idling in winter weather allows this to happen faster.
as well as idling will allow more particles into your oil.

Sorry I cannot be more specific.

All in all, if you have a newer car.. I would not worry. but if your driving an older one.. Id try to cut down on the idle as much as possible.


ALTHOUGH!
I have also read if your car is warmed up, then the above is void and you car should be good. and all your doing now is just pumping more pollution into the air.

I don't believe that idling is bad for the car...I think it's just a way to keep us from polluting (which I'm all for )....

I have friends and family all over the world and recently when I visited some in Africa I was surprised that they let their cars IDLE for minimum 10-15 minutes--20-30 in some cases(overkill). Why is this significant? Some of these cars have over 1,500,000 kilometers...that's almost 1,000,000 miles


That's lot of mileage to me...more than I've ever seen anywhere else in the US or Canada. Mind you the build quality of vehicle in Africa...is very much the worst in the world...A quarter of the cars on the roads there (I estimate)...were made in China by a Chinese companies(Unsafe would be a serious understatement) ...BUT those sporting 1 million miles are usually European(Renault, Peugot, VW, Mercedes from the 60s and 70s,)

This tradition of warming a car up REALLLY well is long standing and it doesn't seem to have caused them any harm(at least mechanically)


One note most of these cars are DIESEL..would that make any difference?

Sorry about the Chinese thing ...got of track..lol..and u thought led based paint on toys was bad!!!

[850 Turbo1]

Once a week I hit a very long light. If I catch it wrong it can be 3 minutes.

At what point does it make sense to save wear on the auto transmission in my 850 to shift into Neutral or Park?

Hehe despite the length of the first post I didn't answer your question... ...In the same part of the world I was speaking of they all shift into neutral at stops or in traffic(THE WORST TRAFFIC IMAGINABLE)...


I shift into neutral at long lights and pull the E-brake...no problems yet

[RobTheModd]

Yeah see id love to know the answer myself actually.

I usually turn the car on in the morning if I need to run back inside real quick or put something in the back seats. gives it time to get ready I guess.

But I have heard both sides of the vine.

Everyone on the web that Ive read seems to say NO IDLING!!! it introducing more dirt into your oil and such.
Which is true, when you idle at START UP, you run on COLD oil.
But when you've been driving a bit and your car is warm. Idling should be fine.

Then my boss, who races ford trucks on the weekends. tells me...
Idling on start up is great it gets the oil moving to SOME of the vehicle. not all the parts.
Which in turn lubes up some of the mechanical parts... with of course cold oil though.

So from a cold start.. id say idling for 1-3 minutes isn't BEST but it doesn't hurt to bad.
and after driving...
I see nothing wrong with it besides more pollution in the air.

But Ive also read that our volvos FROM THE MANUAL. to let idle for 30 seconds before you drive. and 30-1 minute before you turn the car off.
says nothing about actually driving and idling for 1-3 minutes.

Ive got alot of volvo manuals but I will try to find the info and post a photo when I get home from work.

[billofdurham]

Matthew, I'll try to answer the question you asked.

When I was instructing advanced drivers they were always told to select N and engage the parking brake at a red light. By watching the light for the cross traffic they could anticipate when they were going to get a green light and engage gear ready to move off as soon as the light changed.

Our workshops manager was very happy with this as it reduced, quite considerably, the wear on the gearbox. I have always been a believer in practicing what I preach and still do this.

Away from Matthew's topic but continuing what it became - for those who allow the car to idle to warm it up on cold mornings, often leaving it unattended whilst they have a last cup of coffee, I say beware of car thieves. We have had a fatality recently when a car thief found a car idling at the kerbside. The owner tried to stop the thief who ran over her.

Bill.