Tag: idling

You might need this valve to get out of someone's way.

The rough idle in a rarely driven car could have a few causes. Ray sorts out the potential culprits and solutions.

Richard is getting ready to replace his Toyota Tundra and likes the Subaru Forester. But has Subaru resolved their head gasket problems? Car Talk's answer here. 

Patrick's town is full of idlers. The worst offender is the illegal 18-wheeler that idles for 30-45 minutes at at time, in his neighborhood. Can Car Talk convince people to just cut it out?

John manages an RV park and he wonders why his guests run their engines for 30 minutes before they roll out each morning. Tom has a few choice words for these folks (see above). And Ray explains why this is not only unnecessary, it can actually cause damage to the engines of the RVs.

Kunaal loves his 2011 Skoda Fabia and wants it to last forever, so he takes care to always warm up the car before he drives and he never runs the AC during the first few minutes of the trip. Tom and Ray think this is unnesessary for someone who lives in Mumbai, unless temperatures drop to well below freezing....in which case Kunaal will have much bigger problems. Find out why, right here.

Why in the world is "excessive idling" defined as "severe duty" in all owner's manuals? I read in one column that idling is harder on the valve train than running at red-line is! What's the explanation? Lower oil pressure? Hotter...

I am a valet at a local country club in Wisconsin. As you well know, it gets very cold here in the winter months, and that leads to my question. As a favor to the members who choose to valet...