Those were EXACTLY my thoughts on the subject too... andI never went to engineering school, just the school of hard knocks.

 

For a change, both Drac and V1 are correct. It is truly a magic moment (or maybe a sign of an impending apocolypse). I also note that V1's recent post was post #666. Does any else feel chills?

Frequently sliding between neutral and drive would cause a lot of wear on your tranny - don't do it.

Re: the issue of whether you should shut the car off, versus idling, if you stop for 5 minutes. I read somewhere that a21stcenturyfour cylinder engine idling would, if you ran it for an hour, go through less than1/3 ofa gallon of gasoline. So let's say it is 0.33 gallons in an hour of idling. Doing the math, that means in 5 minutes, you would use 0.027 gallons of fuel. At $3 per gallon, thats $0.08 worth of gas. Also consider that if you shut off, and then restart, the restart would use some extra fuel ... so the net saving would be somewhere under $0.08.

Even if the 1/3 of a gallon value is wrong, and let's say idling for five minutes would use twice as much as I have calculated, it would still cost you a mere $0.16 (less the cost of the restart).

If you are an Al Gore devotee, of course you would want to save the 0.027 gallons (less the restart), but to anyone else, it doesn't really matter.

If it's 105F outside, and you want to give your engine a break, you might want to shut it down for 5 (though that would potentiallyleave you sitting in the car with no AC ... unless you feel in need of sweating out some toxins, probably not a good idea).

Final point, yes, most engine wear occurs at start-up ... but itisthe COLD start up that causes the wear, because the oil is colder and thicker, and all the oil has drained down to the crankcase in the many hours (or days) since the engine was last run. If an engine is noticeably warm (or hot)to the touch, it is not a cold start up.

 

nice post count Virgin!
666!!!
FTW!!

 

Ever wonder why Delivery Guys cars don't last as long? It is because of the HORRIFIC wear and tear put on your engine. You have an increased fuel supply to ignite the cynlinders and that causes more air AND more pollution. Not allowing your engine to go through a heat and cool cycle for a vast period of time is like continuous heat and less heat. Ever seen a metal smith at work? They never bring the metal down to cold then heat up again...this allows the ultimate bond of plyability and workability.

 

I have never heard that delivery cars last a far shorter number of odometer miles than other vehicles.

If you are putting 3000 to 4000+ miles on a car every month (as delivery companies will), you are going to, in time terms, burn it out faster.

Just like Avis or Hertz, down time costsdelivery companiesa lot (in lost revenue), so just like Avis and Hertz,most will trade the cars out after about 2 years (at which point they'll have 70 or 80K on the odometer), before the major repairs start happening with greater frequency.

Fact is, most private vehicle owners trade their cars out at about the same odometer reading, for a similar reason - they don't want to put up with a vehicle which is older and more likely to break down.

 

Even I was scared that the Drac and I were agreeing so much, and seemingly having a good time doing it too!But Ididn't realized what my last post # was. That's great!! And no, I am not a devil worshiper. I only worship Stevie Ray Vaughan, wherever he is now.

Well D, you have more posts than I do, therefore you musta' been im my shoes @ some pointin time too.
Edit: BTW: This is post 667 for me. By-bye 666.

 

This is interesting, I was always taught to shift to neutral at lights longer than 30 seconds..

Although, while we're on the topic, would the results of a crash be any different if a car was in neutral? I ask because I was in neutral the other night...was rear-ended by a Tahoe going 35, sent my 6 feet forward despite my foot being on the brake. I didn't get hurt at all, to the mechanic's suprise..would things have been different if I was in gear at the time?

 

That's a good practice w/a manual transmission so that you do not wear out the throw-out bearing prematurely, but an auto?

Sorry to hear about your accident though, and glad you came through it OK. Coulda' been much, MUCH worse.

 

Oou! Oou! I'm catchin' up to lupae3s.
I need to post-***** a little here.

[/threadjack!]

 

Well, my father was the one who taught me to drive...and he drove stick for most of his life. That must be where his habit's from then.

Oh, and the damage to my car? $5500. I couldn't look at my car without crying for 3 days.

Ban huge SUVs! [:'(][/threadjack]