That's why I believe oil smile with every time a new stop light gets put
up.....
On Jun 16, 2012 10:51 PM, "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> I would ask what is meant by 'better' ?
>
> in terms of fuel savings ?
> or in terms of less wear on the engine ?
> or ? ...........how about less impact on other people and the environment ?
>
> I am generally very very possessed to idling engines .( I have big
> diesel trucks that idle, sometimes for over half an hour ...about 120
> feet from my desk, with nothing between me and that truck but an open
> door and a chain link fence. - grrrr.    )
>
> It's surprising how much people do not shut off their damn engines
> sometimes !
> Total waste of fuel - you know , they're  on the phone, they pull into a
> parking spot - some people will sit yakking with the engine running for
> 25 minutes.
>
> Sometimes I do think it is better to keep coolant circulating, rather
> than shut off, if it's going to be a short interruption in driving. .
> If things are hot....when the coolant stops circulating, it just gets
> hotter in the engine for a while.  I don't think that in itself does
> much harm though usually.
> But mostly ..if the wheels are not turning , and it's going to be more
> than a minute or two  , shut the thing off !
>
> Wear on the starter - good Bosch starters last nearly indefinitely
> ....thousands of start cycles in them, I wouldn't worry about that
> factor too much with a healthy starter.
>
> mainly to me, it's just burning fuel, and adding pollution to the air.
> Unless there's a good reason, or it's waiting for a traffic  light to
> change say ...any idling engine is a bad thing I think.
>
> near as I can tell, most people really do not care at all about how much
> fuel they burn, or how much of that stuff they put into the air.  Or the
> noise.  Or how their idling or noisy engine affects others nearby -
> mostly no awareness much at all, looks like to me.
>  We are on the tail end of the age of petroleum-burning for
> transportation ..or nearing the end of that age.
>
> I challenge anyone to come up with a number that approximates the total
> number of running engines on the planet every minute..
> I think it could be 5 million engines ( cars, airplanes, trucks, trains,
> ships , generators, tractors - on and on  )  running at any given
> moment.  Or more even.  I've never seen that figure estimated anywhere.
> I should google it.
>
> On 6/16/2012 4:24 PM, pickle vanagon wrote:
>
>> I guess I'm looking just for the range of educated opinions of the
>> listmembers.
>>
>> In a well-maintained Vanagon, how long does a stop have to be for it to be
>> better to stop the engine and later restart it, versus idling?
>>
>> 10 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc?
>>
>> I'm wondering about the theory of it, not the practical aspects as relate
>> to the needs of actually driving around other vehicles...
>>
>> -Wes
>>
>>