Should I keep my car running while making deliveries or is it better to turn it off every time?
For about a year now I’ve been using my ONLY car to make a living delivering pizza. (Don’t call Nurse Ratchet just yet. It gets crazier.) My car is a 2006 Jeep Commander with the 4.7 liter V8. It has about 140k on the clock.
(Smile everyone! No matter how bad you think your life is...at least your not stuck delivering pizzas with a seven passenger suv!)
I turn it off as soon as I arrive at my delivery location to cut down on engine heat. I’d rather replace a starter than crack an exhaust manifold, overheat the cats, melt something.or wear the engine due to lower oil pressure as the car sits idle without air to help cool it.
I use Valvoline 5w30 full synthetic high mileage and change it every 3000 miles.
I am wondering, since most engine wear occurs on startup, is shutting it off for these brief periods of time (5 minutes but usually less) going to wear the motor more than just leaving it running.
I am thinking that in just a minute or two of being turned off the oil is not going to settle too much (like it does overnight) and that most engine parts should remain coated with oil. I’m thinking that using a high mileage oil with extra anti wear agents is also going to help reduce wear caused by these start/stop cycles.
I usually make over ten deliveries a shift and am on the road 5 to 7 hours a day. So the motor is going through at least 20 start/stop cycles every shift and could cut that in half if I left the car run.
I’d be looking at an engine idle time of an hour or so each shift (not including traffic lights) if I let it run.
Is it more beneficial to keep shutting it off or to start leaving it running?
Also any 4.7 liter advise? Mine has the revamped pcv system to help combat oil sludging. I keep it tuned, do the fluids, check tire pressure daily, buy top tier gas and occasional run a tank with Lucas “tune up in a bottle” to clean fuel injectors.
You are correct, Ashe. You are obviously saving gas by shutting off the engine (though not much). And it's safer. I don't know what nonsense those guys are talking about. You are putting a little bit more wear on your starter but that's about it. There's a smal trade-off.
In your situation... 5 or more minutes, in dark alleyways behind restaurants, I would shut it off and take the key too.
But, in a customer's driveway, dropping off food for a minute or two, I would keep it running.
Hope that helps.
Hi Joe! Thanks for your insight. Yes, I usually idle my car for a minute or two if I'm delivering to a house; but to an apartment or military barracks, I usually shut off the engine.
But now that you mention about the starter, is that a simple thing to replace should it ever go bad some day?
starters don't fail often. I've never replaced one (20+ years of driving). Replacing them is not a big deal.
What's worse is that your in line at a fast food place where the food will kill you. The only thing you'll do by holding on the brakes is prematurely burn out your brake light bulbs.
I guess no matter what you do, you wear out something.
@doc must be a fan of these blokes - https://youtube.com/c/bbqpitboys
What is a "bloke?"
I think itwt speaks the queen's English
Thanks Mate.
I do.
I think stopping and starting the car every two minutes just to move ahead a few feet is silly. Just idle it.
agreed. Stop and start in short intervals can do more damage than just letting it idle in drive.
Long term, the shifting is worse. You aren't on the brakes for all that long, so I'd go that route. My Accord even has a brake hold function that will keep the brake depressed so you can rest your foot. To go, just touch the gas and it disengages. I wish my Ridgeline had it too.
#2
But I'm not going to sit with my foot on the brake for 3 or more minutes. Transmissions be damned. It's not really worth thinking about.
Which one is good for the engine/gas spending?
All I can think of is the dirt & filth from the other 5 cars in front, spread across your vehicle.. Avoid automated car washes man!
Your scenario though is identical at drive throughs, and I usually just let the engine idle all throughout. You don’t want to have your engine not start when you’re in the middle of it all, do you?!
More like $7000.
Ouch!
I don't have opportunity to wash in my house now. That's why, I'm going to carwash. Probably I'll do it myself in future. Thanks for your suggestion.
Let it idle.
Thank you for the advise 👍🏼
If for whatever reason, your car doesn’t start in the queue, boy there’s gonna be a LOT of pissed off & hungry humans, behind you..
spot on.
Leave it idle and put it in neutral to save your automatic transmission from overheating if you're there a while, especially if it's hot. If it's cold outside, this won't be a serious issue.
I would suggest P instead of N, so you don't roll into someone if you accidentally take your foot off the brake, or bump the shifter.
Also, if your tranny overheats idling in 'D' then it has issues. The amount of heat generated should be insignificant.
Scotty has mentioned that as a bad thing to do to your tranny, like at railroad crossings and such. I was gonna suggest Park, but I have a column shifter and it's pretty hard to unintentially bump it, lol.
Go ahead and measure to see for yourself. I have a readout for tranny temps. It goes up a few degrees but well within normal range. Absolutely nothing to worry about. Cars need to be able to idle for long periods of time (think gridlock traffic).
The transmission interlock requires you depress the brake to shift out of 'P' making it inherently safer. There's no interlock to prevent the lever from being bumped from position 'N' to 'D' which is right beside it. (3 positions away for 'P')
Sure, chances for a column shifter is lower, but not impossible. Driving becomes a habit so it's important to incorporate good practices right away.
I agree with InThrustWeTrust. Leave your vehicle idle. It reminds me of auto start system all over again.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Lose the car wash and fire up your garden hose. You'll do a much better job than they will. And you won't have to idle the car either. And you'll save money and get some exercise.
Yeah I agree, the time it takes him to wait for a wash is more than enough to just do it himself and better.
I don't have opportunity to wash in my house now. Thanks for your suggestion.
Depends on how sketchy the area you deliver to, if it was my neighborhood, I would never leave the car running as it likely get stolen.
I would never let it idle if I was more than 10 feet away! Sign of the times.
Get a second key.
Just idle it.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Depends where youre from. Doing alot of starting & stopping is gonna burn out your starter faster, but im in the suburbs of philly, we dont even let our cars idle in the driveway where there are security cameras XD. If you decide to leave it idle, maybe see if there's a tracker you can get pu ton the car in the event it gets stolen?
I have an extra key and lock my car each time I get in and I have another key that I can take in and out of the ignition because it’s so worn and I have that one in my pocket until I’m done but I just leave the car running so I’m not really worried about getting it getting stolen I’m Worried aboutif I leave it idling for 2 to 5 minutes bad for my car in park or should I just shut it off?
Let it idle.
If you can insure it's not going to get stolen during the time it idles (and if your insurance covers theft in case where you have left the car running - I read many policies and a lot make that exception) I'd let it idle. It ain't no Prius and it's engine and starter isn't meant to be constantly get turned on and off.
Thank you for the help👍🏼
When you are crank an engine, more engine "wear and tear' occurs because the engine isn't fully & evenly lubricated as it would be under normal operating conditions. Scotty has mentioned many times that he doesn't care for these new vehicles that shut off automatically when you come to a stop (for this very reason).
It depends on how long you need to be idling as well as the neighborhood
Leaving a car idling for short periods of time won't really harm it.. it does waste some gas.
Leave it idling at the wrong location might leave you without a car tho...
During these last 8 yrs, dropping off deliveries for elderly folks, I leave my car idling.
You can leave it running for days with no problems, just make sure no one takes it. For quick deliveries, leave it on, no need to restart each time.
Is it ok to idle your car if your only doing it a couple minutes at a time. Like you deliver to a neighborhood and your moving every other minute to get to the next house. You dont stay in one place for more than a minute or two. Also if its ok for a couple minutes
Police and Taxis do a LOT of idling.
Commuters in Los Angeles do this every day 5 days a week. Won't hurt a thiing.
Only risk there is your car can get stolen.
- Scotty, I have 2016 Honda Civic 2.0 that I bought because of the video you did on one that was similar. Anyway, I have started doing food delivery on the side for extra cash and I was wondering if it is worsen or the engine to let the car idle or to just turn it off and on again after the engine is already warmed up? Thank you, I love your channel, sir.
Idling won't hurt it. Unless someone steals it while you're away.
Those are excellent little engines.
In short what my friend said above.
As delivery driver and when you drop the package and if it takes you less than a min i say keep it running.
But if it is gonna take you more than 5mins I say switch it off because you will be wasting gas.
Now the question about starters, over the years companies have perfected the starters and they can last much longer but I wouldn't take my chances. As long as u baby your car it will serve you right. Turing ignition on and off can have impact on engine and can also decrease the life span so just make sure to look at time and see how long it is gonna take you deliver the package. From car to the door step
I use my car to deliver food as well and I leave my car running all the time. My car has aftermarket remote start so I can take the keys with me when I go up to a customer's door or run inside to grab the next order. If someone were to jump in and try to take the car, it'll shut the engine down as soon as they press the brake to shift out of park so that's not really a concern for me. I don't know much about Honda's but considering it's a brand new car, you'll want to see if you can get factory remote start from your dealership if you decide to go that route to avoid voiding your warranty.
Don't fight it. As soon as I shift into park the line always starts to move again anyway. 🤬
it takes at least 40 min to enter the car wash
I would stop it. That's a long time.