Should I start car if not using it?

Johnny Utah

I haven't used my car since the snow started. Should I let the engine run each day for a few minutes, or is this a bad idea?

crosstownk

No harm to start it every once in a while to keep the battery charged although its not really necessary. If you do then let it run for half an hour or so but do be sure to give the engine a decent rev every now and then to prevent condensation building in the exhaust which could lead to corrosion.

yermanoffthetv

And leave your handbrake down if its not already frozen shut! Mine froze solid the other day

Yawns

I remembered to pop out today to take handbrake off. Havn't been driving since Friday night! It was grand tho, wasn't stuck. Snow is almost at top of wheel too .

Makes the car look odd now tho as all the snow fell off drivers door! Car was completly covered in snow apart from bottom 3 inches or so

biko

I don't see a reason to run it every day for a few minutes only.
You might as well leave it until the weekends and then take it for a spin until temp is up properly, 20/30 mins or so.

You can get a car cover for it to keep snow and ice off.

peasant

Just leave it, it'll be fine.

Running it for a few minutes in idle just puts additional strain on your battery and only half heats your engine. Especially in this cold with thick oil and condensation forming in the lukewarm engine you will do your engine more harm than good.

If you feel you have to run it, then drive it until it's properly warmed up ...and then drive it some more before you turn it off again.

Else ....as I said, just leave it

CiniO

Johnny Utah wrote: »

I haven't used my car since the snow started. Should I let the engine run each day for a few minutes, or is this a bad idea?

Depends what you want to achieve, and how long you are not going to drive it.

If it's just for couple of days, there's not really any need for starting it.
If it's more than a week, in some cars battery might start to run low, and you will have to jump start your car afterwards. To prevent it, start your car say every 2 or 3 days for 5 - 10 minutes. Otherwise much simpler - unplug the battery in the beginning, and then plug it in again before use.
It's just that all modern cars consume some energy even if they are stopped (to keep radio settings, alarm, some computer memory, etc). If battery is few years old, it might not be that great, and that consumption within something like week or more, might cause battery to run out of power. Also some car's electric system might be faulty and be consuming too much energy while parked, and it will kill any battery in few days.

If you want to leave a car for a month, two, maybe three - there's not really any point in starting it, but always unplug the battery first.

If it's longer then this, I'd try to organize someone to start a car say every 3 months and give it a run for couple of km's.