How bad is it to sit in car idling in parking lot for 1-2 hrs?

[MikesFiST]

I have school 2 nights a week after work and for the next 3 years or so & ill be getting there pretty early an i was just wondering how bad it is to let my car idle to run my ac/ heat for 1-2 hours.

 

[Thirty-Two]

I have school 2 nights a week after work and for the next 3 years or so & ill be getting there pretty early an i was just wondering how bad it is to let my car idle to run my ac/ heat for 1-2 hours.

There is a reason cop cars are built up for idling. Personally I do believe the FiST needs cooling to function properly, more so if idling with cold air, but running heat for 1-2 hours is excessive, not to mention the gas you'll be running through and possible fumes.

Keep the car off. Invest in a good coat, gloves, and beanie. Crack a window open to circulate oxygen every so often.

 

[Racer83L]

I bet you it's just fine. I would however change the oil more often because your using the oil without putting any miles on the car.

 

[Manta Ray]

back in my days as a mechanic, I was taught that excessive idling leads to premature catalytic converter death. Don't ask me why, but I was lead to believe that after servicing what seems like unlimited catalytic converters, and they all had a few things in common, tons of stop and go, and tons of idling while waiting for their kids from school/someone to get off work.

I wouldn't idle my car for more than 5 minutes personally. I just don't like to waste gas.

 

[Gun_Runner]

back in my days as a mechanic, I was taught that excessive idling leads to premature catalytic converter death. Don't ask me why, but I was lead to believe that after servicing what seems like unlimited catalytic converters, and they all had a few things in common, tons of stop and go, and tons of idling while waiting for their kids from school/someone to get off work.

I wouldn't idle my car for more than 5 minutes personally. I just don't like to waste gas.

There is a lot of logic behind that. When you are idling, your exhaust gas is hotter that during normal driving, and is also moving much slower. This is because your car runs very lean during idle. You also don't get the cooling action of air moving around the car to help cool it. All of these factors cause higher sustained temperatures in the cat, which will reduce lifespan.

Like stated above, I would move to a time based schedule vs. a mileage based schedule for oil changes if I were you.

 

[MikesFiST]

The mileage schedule I'm doing now is mileage based every (5000) and I change my own oil and use the motorcraft synthetic blend...next oil change I'm going to go to full synthetic motocraft or the mobile 1 good stuff so my valves dont get as caked up ..& i drive roughly at least 65-100 miles one way to work everyday and accumulate miles quick and it's mainly highway... I might just cut down to like every 4500 miles or figure a timeframe to change my oil..

could idling be bad for the motor by not getting enough oil to the top end like how it is with coldstarts ?