I remember reading posts where people said it was bad to let a car warm up and idle while stationary. The problem I have is my Z is not on the road yet and won't be before this winter. I had bad condensation last year and want to be able to get the heaters going inside the car but obviously have to let the engine run.

 

What damage does it do if left to idle?

 

Thanks

 

Vijay

Not a lot I would say so long as you don't rev the guts out the car has to idle when at a stand still say in traffic jams and such like

 

[bet some one comes up with a better answer]

the oil pump is only running as fast as the engine, so the top end can get starved of oil, i.e. not enough pressure to push it up top, I'm in the same boat, I leave a window open, and when I start her I just let it sit about 2500 rpm or 3000 till warmed up, with the odd bit of a rev to break things up a bit, then when warmed up, i'm happy to let her run for a bit, with the odd rev and fettle, that's what i do anyways.... hth.

(that was regarding starting it from cold, i.e. overnight for instance as the oil has drained out of the oilways back to the sump, plus the oil will be thicker too)

I'd be more than happy to gently rev it to simulate driving.

 

Wish I had a nice garage to be able to leave a window open :(

in my unofical unexpert opinion, as long as you dont rev the death out of it, letting it sit there esp with the bonnet open to leta little extra heat escape wont do to much harm its no real differnt to dribbling along in town traffic at 10 miles an hour

i only mean from cold, when it's been stood overnight etc.... once warm, the only thing i can think of is condomsation building up in the exhaust, but i would still give the odd rev and fettle...

I took an extention lead out side with an electric fan :)

I'm in the same boat. I cured it by getting a couple of dehumidifiers from Focus. They're basically big silica gel bags in plastic boxes. Put one on the dash and another in the boot and it did the job.

tried one of those too but still found drops on the windscreen :(

 

At the moment I have one of those plastic box things, 5 x 6" silica bags on the dash and I've just ordered 2 x long demudifier bags to sit between the dash and the screen as I'm worried about drops running behind the dash :(

the previous discusion about not leaving the car idling to warm up was in response to those that start their car 10 minutes before they go anywhere to "let the turbos warm up" to avoid shortening the life of the turbos

 

the counter argument was start the car and drive carefully for 5 minutes without booting it is better for the car. when driving gently the car will warm up slightly faster than sat at idle, therefore the oil will become fluid quicker and therefore protect the engine fully slightly sooner.

 

that said its unlikely that the occasional difference between 10 minutes at idle and 5 minutes at gentle driving will affect the life of the car to any obvious amount, much less so than booting it to red line from cold anyway

what about these oil filters with one way valves to stop the oil from draining down the lines? am i making sense? would this help get the oil up there quicker and help jonny vg block a little

just found the thread - http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=134546&highlight=rev

 

I'm assuming as already said, keep the revs up to simulate driving?