In (I hope) a once in a lifetime mistake I left my 2012 Honda Fit Sport idling for 6 hours. It seemed fine when I got in and drove it for a mile or so. I had just had the oil changed recently. Turned the car off. Is there any else I should do to make sure it's okay? Note that I beyond love this car...and am feeling very guilty for my transgression. Hoping to buy her some premium gas to make up for it...

 

Idling for six hours is not great (especially for fuel economy), but unless you saw a bunch of warning lights or have evidence that the car overheated (it shouldn't have if your radiator fan works) it should be fine.

Many vehicles (ambulance, construction, farm, fire, military, police, soccer dads/moms in line at Starbucks) regularly idle for extended periods without issue.

If you're worried check all your fluids for proper level and consistency. If your fluids are fine it should be okay.

Just out of curiosity, how did this happen?

 

If you're feeling guilty consider doing your next oil change a little early at 3-5k miles. If you're feeling science-y ("the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence." - google) then keep the oil change interval exactly the same and order two oil analysis kits from blackstone preemptively (free to get, ~$35 for fancy processing) and take a sample next time you change oil, and another sample for the following oil change, then post up those two results!

​​​​​​There's rep in it for yuh!

 

(ambulance, construction, farm, fire, military, police, soccer dads/moms in line at Starbucks)

Except none of those people leave their cars running and unattended at idle for 6+ hours. Leaving any vehicle running and in use (with air flow) and letting it sit running at idle for hours is a big difference. Know about it.

 

I partially agree with you on the unattended part which is obviously dangerous and foolish, but I do know that many vehicles idle for hours at a time while sitting in one place.

Do you think fire trucks are shut off when they show up at a fire? Nope. Do they shut off the ambulance when they arrive at an emergency situation? Nope. What about the police cars sitting in the median on the interstate? Nope, they're running all day, with several hours of that time spent completely stationary. Same goes for military and construction vehicles. Farm vehicles too - we had an old tractor on the farm that was used exclusively to run a grain auger via the PTO. In other words, the motor was running, often all day, but the tractor never physically moved. That tractor was sitting there when I was a kid and it's still there now that I'm an adult being used for the same job.

In some case (e.g., ambulance, fire, police) there is a purpose (e.g., powering electronics, hydraulics, pumps, etc). In other cases it's wasteful and largely without purpose (e.g., idling in long lines for coffee or fast food), but it definitely happens.

Hopefully the OP learned from his mistake and never lets his car sit running for multiple hours, especially unattended, but the answer to his question of whether he damaged his car is still "probably not" and backed up by the many vehicles that do the same thing every day through years or decades of service.

 

There are definitely cops that idle for six hours without any inputs.

 

I can't see how idling for six hours is worse for the car than driving slowly for six hours. Driving puts the engine under load. Idling doesn't. If you drove for six hours at 5 mph you'd have driven 30 miles, so I can't see a need to change the oil any earlier.

 

True stuff.

Wherever there's an absence of evidence based facts there's gonna be diverging opinions. For myself, if I got stuck in slow moving traffic for 6 hours i'd shorten my oil change interval. On the other hand, when we moved to our present house I towed a camper that had way too much drag for our 4 cyl truck. I had to keep the 4 speed auto between 3rd and 2nd to avoid wobbling all over the road. I told myself as soon as I arrived I'd change all the fluids, but i wound up putting it off for well over a year now cuz money's always tight and I'm waiting to pull the engine.. it's been fine with just oil changes I think.

Back to oil. I recently read a newsletter (linked in @Mister Coffee 's recent pcv thread) from blackstone saying that oil gets discolored dark in no time at all from combustion. Darkening was a big motivator for my thinking heat was an issue.

Meanwhile, cop cars had oversized radiators to cope with long idling before hybridization (or so I've read).
You could also read about how the military de-tunes engines from ridiculous numbers down to pretty lame numbers for "severe duty". - motortrend
Can you imagine a 6.5 litre turbodiesel v8 only putting out 190hp?So.. there's news that inclines one to think driving conditions that are unforgiving require special care to be taken, but what qualifies as unforgiving and exactly how much special care should be provided is kinda up in the air.

 

^^Very sensible post, Señor @Pyts . I did not know that about military vehicles, but everything else that you said is consistent with what I have learned, read, heard.

 

I can't see 6 hours idling doing any real harm.

My tow truck often idles more than that per day, day after day.

 

I think you should just drive and enjoy your car and not worry too much about it.

It might not be the best thing to do to a car, but doing it just once like that cannot hurt that much!

 

Thanks to everyone for their relieving responses. The engine was very hot at 11 p.m. when I looked out and saw my lights were on and realized. I didn't turn the car off but instead drove it for a mile or so at 40 mph (in an odd way perhaps trying to work off the car's 'heat?' I know, I know, a car is not a human body and I have no idea...) and then returned and parked it. It was fine in the morning and has been fine since. For my error, I will gift the 'aquamobile', as I call her, an early oil change as some suggested (she'd just had one...) I really do wish this car would last forever...

 

You'll see the picture of where this car is below. I'd just gotten home, got an 'emergency' phone call (it turned out not to be that much of an emergency) and in the rush and concern left the car on and shut the door, forgetting completely and then looking out later that night and seeing the night lights were on.. thank god for those...

 

I might not do all of the above...but I will get an an oil change early...thank you!

 

@Gaia1muse You want to watch the monoxide fumes and the exhaust gases in general. But you know that, right?

 

Just to chime in...

I don't see that a 6 hour idle as being that bad. I agree that's it's not good but it isn't bad either. Since fluid changes are based on miles and not hours, I'd say that the next maint could be done a little early but again, I wouldn't be concerned. I think that stop and go traffic in LA, Boston or Chicago would be worse than a long idle.

For piece of mind, Check the air filter for cleanliness, top off radiator fluid if needed, check the oil level and color, look around the engine bay for dirty, oily, loose connections, what ever. Just a general "well-being" inspection. Spending time with the car you love is always a good thing.

 

Thank you for the sound advice.

 

Fluid changes are based on miles not hours because the car was designed to be in motion. Heat is the issue. Idling for six hours in park puts the engine through heat cycles. Heat stresses fluids like lubricating oils. The radiator cools the engine, but, in this instance, without the added benefit of air moving around the car.

Having said that, I agree with you, @AirborneRATT. This event is not the greatest thing in the world for a car to endure, but I would not toss the car into the Pacific just yet. If you want to do something, change the fluids.