Am I Hurting My Rx400H?

[cduluk]

Hey guys,

As many of you know, I'm a college student and every day I have class I get to school about 45 minutes early to sit and poach for cars to leave so I can park for the day. On a typical day, I'll sit in the car parked with the ignition "ON" for about 45 minutes until class starts. During this time, the engine will go ON and OFF as needed like the Rx400h usually does, maintaining about 50% on the engine temp meter. I usually leave the heat/AC on low fan setting, and listen to the radio and such while I wait.

Do you think this pattern is hurting the Rx400h at all? Are there any specific components that are likely to go out prematurely because of it?

I have the oil changed with full synthetic twice a year, usually spring and fall. I put about 12k miles a year, about 90% city and 10% highway. It's approx 7 miles to school each day, all city.

Thanks for your input!

[katzjamr]

Hey guys,

As many of you know, I'm a college student and every day I have class I get to school about 45 minutes early to sit and poach for cars to leave so I can park for the day. On a typical day, I'll sit in the car parked with the ignition "ON" for about 45 minutes until class starts. During this time, the engine will go ON and OFF as needed like the Rx400h usually does, maintaining about 50% on the engine temp meter. I usually leave the heat/AC on low fan setting, and listen to the radio and such while I wait.

Do you think this pattern is hurting the Rx400h at all? Are there any specific components that are likely to go out prematurely because of it?

I have the oil changed with full synthetic twice a year, usually spring and fall. I put about 12k miles a year, about 90% city and 10% highway. It's approx 7 miles to school each day, all city.

Thanks for your input!

[katzjamr]

my personal feeling is you are not hurting your 400h, your mpg yes perhaps but this vehicle starts and stops during normal driving an incredible amount of times during the average trip. i think the 400h is more suited to this kind of driving than any other vehicle. would be interested to see what others think

[maseace]

Can't you just park further away and walk? Seems like a lot of wasted time and gas. Is parking that hard to come by near your school?

[riwyle]

Can't you just park further away and walk? Seems like a lot of wasted time and gas. Is parking that hard to come by near your school?

7 mi be an easy bicycle ride if weather at all decent.

[cduluk]

Oh yeah, definitely not able to go to class on a bicycle, it's a long 7 miles! It takes 17 minutes to drive to and from via car.

And there's no way to avoid the time waiting for a parking spot :/ it's literally THAT bad here. There's only one strip where people parallel park and that's where I try to get. There's a regular parking lot, but it's even more busy and ill get too many door dings!

I really don't mind waiting in the morning, in fact I like it. It gives me time to "wake up" and let the coffee kick in! I just want to make sure the RX400h can take it.

[Buk]

Yes, the car is built to start and stop the engine, so perhaps not a problem. However let's say there is a finite number of starts, how many are you making every day that would subtract from that finite number. Would you allow a non-hybrid to idle for 45 minutes? You may wish to evaluate your oil changes. How many miles would you be driving in 45 minutes every day?

I have no clue what can happen and I remote start a lot in the winter and it idles a lot, but not 45 minutes daily.

[tigger777]

I'd suggest just skip class. :whistles:

[SW03ES]

I would change the oil more frequently, at least not let it go past 5k miles a change. A lot of idling classifys it s a "severe" maintenance situation. Maybe change the oil 4 times a year instead of 2.

That being said, I think really you're fine. Like others have said, especially because its a hybrid, a lot of that time you sit there just on battery power, and the engine cycles on and off again routinely throughout the drive cycle. In my line of work I sit idling a good bit sometimes too, if I show up 20-30 minutes early for an appointment or something I'll just sit there and idle. When I was in high school I had to get to school really early because I didn't have a lot space and needed to park on a neighborhood street, they filled up fast and I probably sat there and idled for 45 minutes. That was in an old Explorer...and it was never worse for the wear.

What it is doing is killing your gas mileage and wasting fuel, if you care. If that doesn't bother you I say change the oil more frequently but you're fine.

[cduluk]

Thanks guys, that's what I figured! I've been using the synthetic oil but I agree it needs to be changed more often.

And as far as wasting gas, I think my getting to school early and parking waiting for a spot to open up beats what everyone else does; most people get to school 15 minutes early and just drive around and around for a spot to open. I've gotta guess that parking for 45 minutes is using less gas than driving around aimlessly for 15!

[jaswood]

Hey guys,

As many of you know, I'm a college student and every day I have class I get to school about 45 minutes early to sit and poach for cars to leave so I can park for the day. On a typical day, I'll sit in the car parked with the ignition "ON" for about 45 minutes until class starts. During this time, the engine will go ON and OFF as needed like the Rx400h usually does, maintaining about 50% on the engine temp meter. I usually leave the heat/AC on low fan setting, and listen to the radio and such while I wait.

Do you think this pattern is hurting the Rx400h at all? Are there any specific components that are likely to go out prematurely because of it?

I have the oil changed with full synthetic twice a year, usually spring and fall. I put about 12k miles a year, about 90% city and 10% highway. It's approx 7 miles to school each day, all city.

Thanks for your input!

Provided you don't need a serious level of cooling you should disable the A/C (compressor) functionality to prevent the engine heat from being used to moderate the level of cooling. That way you will get the full benefit of the engine water jacket heat not being "watered down" via refrigeration. The need for the engine to be cycled on should be significantly reduced. By the way, that's not a bad overall, disabling the A/C except for the need for actual cooling will extend your hybrid's FE.

Personally, when I have the need for A/C cooling I always set it to MAX cooling(***) and then use, lower, the blower speed to moderate the cabin atmosphere's comfort level.

In MAX cooling the reheat/remix/blend door remains fully closed to the use of engine heat to moderate the cooling level. Then the A/C compressor runs, needs to run, a lot less often, and the ICE doesn't need to keep the water jacket "warm".