Idiling with heater. Is it good for the car?

It'll be ok. I believe I've read that protracted idling will start to run down the 12 volt battery, just not enough charging ability. But I'm grasping at straws. Also, at idle intake manifold vacuum is high, and that tends to get oil higher up the cylinder walls, which is actually a plus. Both of these factors could be more applicable with a conventional, non-hybrid vehicle, one that doesn't shut down, start up, when sitting.

The only time I'll have the car sitting and running is if the windows are fogged or frosted, just as long as needed to clear them. But that's me.

 

No damage.

 

Anytime you stop whether at a stoplight or in a parking lot, the car... is doing what?
Idling.
Why would think it would damage the vehicle?
Trust me, Toyota designed the system to handle this.
Can't really sell a vehicle that can't idle with the heater on.

Before you ask next summer..yeah you can idle with the air conditioning on.

 

Duplicate Delete

 

Maybe he's asking for long periods (extended) time? Like sleeping in it or something? I have heard that some people lived in their prius.

 

Yeah, I watched a National Geographic like special on them. They are called the Priusolites. They lived in Prius, and recycled everything and started fires using bit's of broken bottles and the sun.
The tribe disappeared when gas prices fell.

 

Duplicate Post (again) Delete

 

This involuntary double-posting could lead to site melt down: runaway post fission, lol.

 

[QUOTE="Mendel Leisk, post: 2430664, member: 69191"I've read that protracted idling will start to run down the 12 volt battery, just not enough charging ability.[/QUOTE]

That might be possible in some car that isn't a Prius. In a Prius, charging current to the 12 volt battery comes from the car's DC/DC converter any time the car is READY ON, no difference what the engine is doing or even whether the engine is running at all.

The engine wll come on as needed to top up the traction battery, which is where that charging current is coming from.

-Chap

 

I am in tech and wondering why the double posting is happening. Looks like the delay in consecutive posting has not been implemented well.

 

The Prius doesn't "idle". You won't find the engine running at less than about 1000 RPM. That's above "idle" on any other car.

And no, it won't harm the car to let it run while parked. I've done it many times for hours. The engine will shut off from time to time, and start up when necessary. If it's cold inside, and the engine coolant is below 50C the engine will run until the coolant gets above 50C. Then it will shut off, and restart when the coolant drops below about 45C. The coolant pump will run to force hot coolant through the heater core even when the engine isn't running, and the interior air fan will run if the coolant is above about 40C, if the A/C system is calling for heat (interior temp below your set temp).

As a famous series says, "DON'T PANIC".

 

please pm @Danny with some good advice.

 

Did it. Thanks.

 

we're counting on you!

 

Idling in a parking lot is fine. Idling in a parking garage, at least in your home, is dangerous because the CO can concentrate. Prius has very low CO emissions, but you should still be careful about it at your home. In a giant parking garage, they have exhaust fans and stuff.

 

Having a cheap CO alarm can give you peace of mind in situations you might not be sure are safe but are ... and also, of course, alert you in cases you assumed safe but aren't.

I have some at home that just honk at levels over 400 ppm (the basic save-your-butt alarm) and also one that displays ppm on a little LCD on the front. That one can show you CO levels far lower than the low-hundreds level where you'd worry about safety.

I was surprised by some of the things it showed me; for one, I was quite safe (in my old, less-than-tight house) using my gas oven for heat while working on the furnace (reading never went above 0). The other time, I got a definite reading (several tens of ppm, anyway) when the neighbor across the street was having carpets cleaned, and their carpet cleaner truck was parked on the street with the diesel running for a few hours.

-Chap

 

CO is generated by incomplete combustion. The Prius completes any combustion using the catalytic converters, once they are warm.
CO will be produced when CO2 builds up at the air intake, reducing the availability of oxygen (to complete the combustion). For example, if you somehow routed outside air to the air intake, but exhaust was confined to the closed garage, you would get CO2 buildup in the garage, but very little CO. Not as dangerous, but still not good.
Properly installed home furnaces have a "fresh air intake" from outside. Too many people died from CO poisoning so installation standards were improved to make it safer.
What CO does that is so bad is it bonds to your hemoglobin in your blood. Once it does that the blood cell is useless, so to recover you must make new cells. Recovery is slow and so CO poisoning is very dangerous.

Never take the chance. Always make sure you run the car in a properly ventilated area.