Unused Engines

[luvflyin]

So we all know it ain’t good for an airplane to not be used. Especially not good for the engine. What about automobile engines? I was just reading about Ford dealerships that have unsold 2023 model trucks on the lot. They could be over two years old.

 

[asicer]

The advantage there is that automobiles don't burn leaded fuel (can use synthetic oil), don't have open crankcase ventilation and their fuel systems have vapor recovery.

There's probably several other things I'm overlooking that factor into an engine designed some time after the stone ages.

 

[hindsight2020]

and, even if they weren't, their replacement cost delta makes it a de facto wear item by comparison. win win win.

 

[Flatiowa]

I’ve left many different cars sitting for decades without much incident. Biggest issues have been dry rotting of rubber hoses/belts etc. but newer vehicles with the soy based biodegradable insulation on the wiring opens another potential problem, my neighbor parked his brand new truck in his machine shed over winter last year when he went to Florida and came back to find mice had destroyed the entire wiring harness.

 

[Zeldman]

I have a 2011 Subaru Legacy that once sat for 3 years. I bought it in 2015.

New battery, fresh gas and it fired up. I drove it all summer in Homer, Alaska, then drove it to Gallup by the way of Billings, Montana. It had been wrecked and rebuilt.

I got 30 mpg out of it on the trip. Now it is a backup car, so it will sit for a few months at a time. I noticed earlier this month some critter chewed the wiring for the alternator so I'll have to replace that. I need to change other coolant hoses but after that I would drive it back to Alaska again.

 

[asicer]

newer vehicles with the soy based biodegradable insulation on the wiring opens another potential problem, my neighbor parked his brand new truck in his machine shed over winter last year when he went to Florida and came back to find mice had destroyed the entire wiring harness.

Perhaps wireless electrical systems will be the wave of the future