6 Things You Should Know About Car Idling

by Guile Canencia

A lot of people, and I mean a lot of people, think that it’s perfectly alright to let their vehicles idle. Everyday, we see people leave their engines running while they’re picking up a snack at the fast food drive-thru or when they’re dropping their kids at school. A few even leave their cars idling for a few minutes in order to “warm up the engine” before going out for a drive. With the rising gasoline prices, many resort to car idling in order to save up on fuel. Unfortunately, car idling does more than harm than good in the long run. Here’s why:


Idling is never good for your car’s engine. An idle engine actually causes incomplete fuel combustion, which in turn causes undue accumulation of fuel residue that will ultimately damage vital engine parts like cylinders, spark plugs and even the car’s exhaust.

Idling is not an effective way to warm up your car, even in cold weather. Idling is never the best way to warm up your engine. The best way is surprisingly simple — drive. Start driving and the engine and essentially all your car’s moving parts will get all the warm-up they will ever need.

Idling wastes fuel. Say you’re idling your car for about fifteen minutes. For that amount of time, you have already consumed 0.20 liters of fuel and you haven’t moved an inch at all. Now multiply that with the latest gas prices and the number of times you’re idling your car in a day, in a year. The numbers won’t look good.

Turning off your car and starting again is actually better than idling. If you’re thinking that this will only cause unnecessary wear and tear, you worry too much. Restarting only causes minimal wear to your starter motor and battery, which are designed to withstand constant restarting activity in the first place.

Idling is hazardous to your health. Fact: Idle cars produce emissions that can cause various respiratory illnesses and even cancer. Exhaust components like ozone have been proven to aggravate asthma and lung and throat cancer. Pneumonia, emphysema and bronchitis have been linked to car emissions. The list goes on and on.

Idling is bad for the environment. Idling cars emit tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere every year — just ask Al Gore. Unchecked carbon dioxide emissions have resulted to smog-filled cities in several countries. Fortunately for some select countries, environmental groups have convinced their governments to take “Stop Idling” campaigns seriously.


And it’s time we do, too. Car idling is bad for our health, the economy and the environment. So the next time you want to grab a cheeseburger, park your car instead of using the drive-thru. You’ll get better mileage that way.