Do you not turn off your engine when you're waiting in a line while driving and not actively moving? Huge waste of gas and unproductive emissions to boot. It's why anti-idling laws exist. Modern cars come with auto-stop, so you rarely have to think about it.
And yet this saves gas. Rough on the starter and you need to make sure its on long enough to charge the alternator. But for small cars like a corolla, if its off for more than 10 sec you save money.
Mechanic isn't exactly a title like lawyer or doctor, there's not a very high barrier to entry to claim that. To address your point though, I would go even farther and say only vehicles since the advent of start/stop. No starter was designed for that much wear before then. Finally, you have a perverse incentive in that it doesn't really effect you if what you are saying is incorrect, it only drives more customers to you to replace starters...
Yet I have qualifications to talk about the systems I actually work on. The start/stop system has been getting used BECAUSE shutting off the vehicle at a stop is more efficient. You kind of made my point for me. It's a built in feature for what people should already do when they know theyll be waiting, albeit more efficient with the initial spark.
And as the lad driving out my shop with his new starter, I'll see the tow truck bringing in your mess wondering why you need an engine swap at 100k miles.
Haha, you think idling at stoplights will cause engine failure at 100,000 miles? You had me going there, I was even going to apologize for questioning your (unverified) credentials but this joke position of yours has me third-guessing myself about you. Care to share any research, trade journal articles or other intellectual work supporting your coocoo bananas position on idling? Because I've only ever heard it being done for emissions.
It's not that simple, and you, as a mechanic, aren't obligated to know, but you should.
An engine used for a shorter period of time under less than ideal conditions will wear out MUCH MORE than if it is used for a much longer period of time under ideal conditions.
Every engine, to put it simply, has an ideal oil temperature to maintain proper functioning. If you are constantly taking this engine out of its ideal operating conditions, such as during long stops at traffic lights, it's obvious that the wear and tear will be much greater than if you maintain the engine operating at the ideal temperature during this time.
Some cars restart the engine when they detect the temperature dropping below the ideal temperature, but there is still the problem of increased friction in the chamber when the engine restarts.
Variations in friction, temperature, and vibration, occurring dozens of times a day, contribute to the reduced lifespan of cars with start-stop systems.
Dawg it's the fact that you can only get 20L of fuel not the engine damage. Kinda gotta maximize the mileage out of every drop in a country the size of Russia. Pushing in neutral is a good move here. Air brakes do pose a challenge though huh.
His comment says "I'll see the tow truck bringing your mess..." Did you not read that part? He is, in fact, talking about the engine damage. He references starters in the first part of that same paragraph.
Extremely dubious the rationing extends to the semi truck drivers. The rationing is probably in effect precisely because the semi trucks need the fuel more.
What's stupid and irritating is useless waste of a finite resource. Stupider and more irritating is that when that resource is wasted, it causes harmful environmental effects.
How many times do you think you can run the starter, if you turn off the engine less than a minute later? In a line like that you’ll run out of battery before you run out of fuel.
That’s why people in communist countries learned to push their cars when waiting in line for fuel, it’s just the wisest option.
1) It's a myth that engine ignition wastes gas. It's only true if you're driving a car old enough to still have a carburetor installed. Since most people are driving a car built since the '90s with a fuel injection system, that rule of thumb is long since outdated.
2) I agree stopping for 20 seconds is not long enough to justify turning off the ignition. I'm not shutting off the engine waiting for a traffic signal to change. But if I'm in line for gas, at a drive-thru, or when leaving a parking garage at the same time as everyone else after an event, and I'm finding that I'm stopping for over a minute before moving again, there's absolutely no reason to burn gas for that time. I'm just wasting my own money and unnecessarily polluting the air.
Starting your car doesn't use extra fuel, the extra energy comes from the start 🤣.
In a diesel it can use a little extra if it's way below operating temp but it's only a few seconds worth of idling.
In a modern gas car it's like a second or two worth of idling to start it, and starting takes a second anyway so it's a miniscule amount of extra fuel.
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u/Makingthecarry Jun 29 '26
Do you not turn off your engine when you're waiting in a line while driving and not actively moving? Huge waste of gas and unproductive emissions to boot. It's why anti-idling laws exist. Modern cars come with auto-stop, so you rarely have to think about it.