griggs95 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 The car is so damn quiet my wife thought she turned it off in a parking garage. Turns out she left it running for 3.5 hours idling in 90 degree heat but out of direct sun. At least the car was locked but I was freaked out. The temp gauge was fine right in the middle as usual but when I went to hit the gas and recirculate the car a bit some white smoke started coming out of the exhaust pipes and some guy told me to hit the AC to help cool the car a bit it didn't make much difference until I just went ahead and took it on the freeway for a while to get some air into the engine and maybe cool everything down. The car runs fine ever since and no oil burned or check engine light on or anything else to lead me to believe it was damaged at all. Anyone know what I might have done to get some white smoke to burn through the exhaust? The car is on a new diet of Amsoil 5/30 with 1k miles when this occurred and the car has 21k miles on it. Thanks for any replies on the matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblues38 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 you are fine. Back in my younger days (late 80's), on the car stereo show circuit, we would leave cars running at idle for 8 hours at a time. Just to keep the alternater charging the car batteries. 1 decent 0-60 run willl tune it up good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve142857 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Maybe you should buy an aftermarket exhaust that is louder... Good excuse to tell your wife. I found the SHO to be too quiet. That way, you'd be sure that it never happens again! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO Rod Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 The white exhaust you noticed may just be condensation from sitting so long at idle. One job of the catalytic converters is to convert some of the unburned hydrocarbons to water. Since the car was idling, you weren't blowing all that condensation out, and some of it may have puddled up. Since it seems to be running fine, I'd suggest you just keep an eye on the coolant level and make sure it's not dropping every few days. Then explain to your wife that the car SHOULD NOT ding when she gets out of it. If it's dinging, something needs attention. Or, go with the aftermarket exhaust as suggested above. -Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 I really think you should be fine, most police cars probably spend that much time idling on an almost daily basis....so I don't think doing it once will hurt it, however, maybe the wife should be banned from the SHO and you should get her an old Chrysler K-car for her daily errands, just to really bring home the point!:fish: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblues38 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Maybe you should buy an aftermarket exhaust that is louder... ! Lol Another great reason to turn on the auto exit function. Where the seat moves back 2 inches when the car shuts off. dont get out of the car untill the seat moves back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash712us Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 I think your fine also, my wife left her truck running in the garage for about 6hrs a couple months back. It never over heated, I just to took it for a drive to air it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Car will be fine, really. For all the reasons stated above. Good tips too re: auto exit feature etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griggs95 Posted September 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Thanks for the piece of mind people. I thought about the police cars and condensation build up but then my mind started to wonder because this is my baby. I checked the coolant too and it's fine and I have my new tune from Livernois sitting in the living room waiting for install. I just didn't want to install it then some sort of warranty issue the next day lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve142857 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Letting a truck running in a garage for 6 hours is a suicidal attempt in my book lol! So, the truck is fine... did you think looking if your wife was fine too? ; ) I think your fine also' date=' my wife left her truck running in the garage for about 6hrs a couple months back. It never over heated, I just to took it for a drive to air it out.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Thanks for the piece of mind people. I thought about the police cars and condensation build up but then my mind started to wonder because this is my baby.I checked the coolant too and it's fine and I have my new tune from Livernois sitting in the living room waiting for install. I just didn't want to install it then some sort of warranty issue the next day lol. Go install the tune and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash712us Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Letting a truck running in a garage for 6 hours is a suicidal attempt in my book lol! So' date=' the truck is fine... did you think looking if your wife was fine too? ; )[/quote'] Lol! No such luck Steve. Joking of course. I couldn't believe she did it either. We where head out to her brothers she pull her truck in the garage and we left. Upon returning home open the garage and thought it was odd her lights where on, and sitting in my car in drive didn't quite honestly didn't know what to think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcoBrick Bob Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Won't hurt the engine.. 99% sure... Keep car & engine.... have wife replaced or re-built!!!!! LOL Just don't consult with Drew Peterson.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4DRHTRD Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Think cop cars, they run 24/7 here in Phoenix during the summer because the cops don't want them to get hot inside while they are outside working. The old Crown Vic and Caprice they used to 1/2 open the hoods to let the heat out. Heck in some parts of Russia you can't shut off the vehicle because the fuel will freeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpd1151 Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Won't hurt the engine.. 99% sure... Keep car & engine.... Have wife replaced or re-built!!!!! LOL Just don't consult with Drew Peterson.... :doh: His fate is in the hands of the jury (finally). Oughta be an interesting outcome... :bolt: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swetrid Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I just had a customer drop off his Windstar yesteday at noon and I walked out today to bring a car in and I heard the cooling fan running on the Windstar. Sure enough it was still running 27 hours later. No damage but it did burn thru an entire tank of fuel. He was pissed because he just filled it up before he dropped it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygse1 Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Greetings! SHO Rod is exactly right! IF the car was running at idle that long the convertors would have filled the rest of the downstream exhaust with water as they do their job and when you hit the gas...POOF!!! Either way, you can leave the car at idle almost indefinately and you would have nothing to worry about! (A few exceptions would be the DI carboning of the pistons, but I believe that is a SHO thing and if you get out and drive the heck out of it, it will blow the carbon out! or piston wetting which only occurs in diesel's left at idle for sustained periods, which again is NOT you! I am curious how the car stayed running that long locked? Did she leave her FOB in the car? It is supposed to auto shut off once you get 5-10 feet away from the car. (of course this is assuming you have the push button start!) Regardless, you will be fine! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.