Doors will be locked and I will be inside. It's just to provide heating so I can sleep a bit, max 2 hours? Not overnight. 

 

2l diesel. 

Are you depressed? I was just wondering why you'd want to commit suicide?

Sounds like a terrible idea to me. And why would you need to? If you really do need to, carry a thick blanket or duvet and a good down coat. 

Shouldn't cause any problem at all.

Diesels prefer running under load - I'm thinking back to marine diesels where we were told to always engage the screw and let the motor pull against the moorings rather than idle in neutral, but as taxi's have left them idling on the street for years I can't see it doing much harm. I would wrap up warm and switch off. I don't like to think of the wasted fuel and environmental harm of just leaving it ticking over. 

You could get fumes coming into cabin as the rear exhaust exits before the bumper 🥺

To " @newskodadriver " - I sleep one time in my "Skoda Superb 2 Combi Face Lift" for two or three hours with working engine but for sure with a little open windows..

5 hours ago, Jigger72 said:

Are you depressed? I was just wondering why you'd want to commit suicide?

Sounds like a terrible idea to me. And why would you need to? If you really do need to, carry a thick blanket or duvet and a good down coat. 

Oh no, I'm not depressed at all. I just use it for Uber and have just spent a lot on repairs and with Xmas around the corner. 

 

I think having a nap in your car is fine.

 

****ing in a bottle or having a poop in a plastic bag while camping out at Heathrow is where I'd draw the line 😂

 

1 hour ago, tuningmania said:

To " @newskodadriver " - I sleep one time in my "Skoda Superb 2 Combi Face Lift" for two or three hours with working engine but for sure with a little open windows..

Would not having the air con set to fresh air intake or recirculate be OK also? 

To " @newskodadriver " - It was two years ago and I do not remember, sorry 😞

I used to drive a custom built Mercedes Sprinter for work, it had an onboard power system that was used to power the interior lights and mains voltage domestic sockets. It required the engine to be running, usually at a slightly raised RPM, all controlled from in the back of the van.

 

It would be running most of the day whilst I was working, so up to 8 hours at a time.

 

When setting off home at the end of the day, the van would spew blue smoke out of the exhaust for a few miles, before eventually clearing.

 

I remember thinking that having unburnt oil accumulating somewhere can't be good. I had the van for several years though and it was reliable.

1 hour ago, newskodadriver said:

Oh no, I'm not depressed at all. I just use it for Uber and have just spent a lot on repairs and with Xmas around the corner. 

 

I think having a nap in your car is fine.

 

****ing in a bottle or having a poop in a plastic bag while camping out at Heathrow is where I'd draw the line 😂

 

Would not having the air con set to fresh air intake or recirculate be OK also? 

Recirculate is going to keep the stale in the car inside it, meaning the oxygen concentration will drop a bit over time, and CO2 concentration will go up. Not a good situation.

 

On fresh air, it's bringing in air from outside at least, but if you're parked for a while in the same spot, you'll end up with engine fumes getting in that way, especially on a calm day. Again not great given that you're getting more CO2 into the cabin than normal, though at least CO poisoning is not a big risk any more thanks to catalytic converters.

 

If you really need to sleep in the vehicle get yourself a few good fleece blankets and wrap yourself up, and keep the windows open a crack.

If your car is diesel...... Don't do it. 

I have 2013 face-lift model. 

I was sitting in a queue of traffic that maybe moved 3 metres every 2 minutes. 

I had disabled the start/stop and was just idling. 

 

After about 40 minutes the cabin smelt pretty bad with fumes. We thought the fumes were coming from the big lorries around us. 

The fumes were so pungent it actually smelt like a BBQ had been lit inside the car. 

 

When we cleared the traffic queue, The car felt sluggish. Then a warning light came on. 

 

DPF Diesel Particulate Filter. I'd never heard of it before. 

Took car to mechanic next day. He popped it on diagnostic and said there was a build up of carbon (in the exhaust? I can't remember where). It was showing as 12% build up. So all fixable by driving the car at 60mph for 20min in 4th gear. Its enough to clear the carbon build up. 

He said if the build up had been over 40% the DPF is banjaxed and £3k for a new one. 

 

That recharge thing. I think you can do that a few times. But it won't work if you make it a regular occurence. 

 

I use the start/stop now. 

 

PS it took 2 weeks to get the smell out of the car. 

 

Edited 12 February, 20251 yr by lullable

5 minutes ago, lullable said:

If your car is diesel...... Don't do it. 

I have 2013 face-lift model. 

I was sitting in a queue of traffic that maybe moved 3 metres every 2 minutes. 

I had disabled the start/stop and was just idling. 

 

After about 40 minutes the cabin smelt pretty bad with fumes. We thought the fumes were coming from the big lorries around us. 

The fumes were so pungent it actually smelt like a BBQ had been lit inside the car. 

 

When we cleared the traffic queue, The car felt sluggish. Then a warning light came on. 

 

DPF Diesel Particulate Filter. I'd never heard of it before. 

Took car to mechanic next day. He popped it on diagnostic and said there was a build up of carbon (in the exhaust? I can't remember where). It was showing as 12% build up. So all fixable by driving the car at 60mph for 20min in 4th car. Its enough to clear the carbon build up. 

He said if the build up had been over 40% the DPF is banjaxed and £3k for a new one. 

 

That recharge thing. I think you can do that a few times. But it won't work if you make it a regular occurence. 

 

I use the start/stop now. 

 

PS it took 2 weeks to get the smell out of the car. 

 

When we cleared

The DPF won't get clogged from sitting in traffic for a short period of time like that.

 

What happened in your case is more than likely regeneration cycles were being consistently interrupted so the car was never able to clear the built up soot normally. At a certain point the ecu will warn you (with an orange light) that the DPF needs to be regenerated, by doing a long drive to let it complete the process. If you ignore this, you get a red warning light at which point a mechanic needs to trigger a forced regen using diagnostics. If you ignore this, you're likely to be looking at a new DPF.

12 hours ago, chimaera said:

The DPF won't get clogged from sitting in traffic for a short period of time like that.

 

What happened in your case is more than likely regeneration cycles were being consistently interrupted so the car was never able to clear the built up soot normally. At a certain point the ecu will warn you (with an orange light) that the DPF needs to be regenerated, by doing a long drive to let it complete the process. If you ignore this, you get a red warning light at which point a mechanic needs to trigger a forced regen using diagnostics. If you ignore this, you're likely to be looking at a new DPF.

+1. I monitored my vrs diesel for 18 months using the VAG app, so had a reasonably clear picture of what was going on. DPF only soots up significantly under load, and a normal active regen will clear it when it's full. You don't need to rag it to clear it, in fact the regen can occur at idle as the post injection heats up the exhaust gases sufficiently to burn the soot off. I found the quickest way to regen it was to drive steadily at 3k rpm, speed didn't matter, so even second gear or 3rd around town worked fine. 

If I had to kip in a car for a couple of hours I would get a good sleeping bag, running a car engine to warm the interior is going to be waste of expensive diesel plus depends where you are parked is possibly going to annoy locals in the area too

+ 1 for the annoyance factor but the cost may be insignificant if you are facing sleeping in the car all night in these current conditions, I had to a few years back after running out of diesel so could not use the heater, I carry full survival gear but would not want to repeat the experience, I had done a below ice dive in a quarry and had forgotten my wet suit bootees so had to dive in my hiking boots & socks not knowing that I would be sleeping in the car at minus 2° in them later on 🙁

 

Today by chance while stopped at some roadworks the maxidot was showing instantaneous fuel consumption, I never realised that when not moving it shows litres per hour, idling with the heater & aircon on (AUTO) it was showing 0.5 litres per hour, a very small price to pay for comfort let alone safety if sleeping in the car.

Edited 11 December, 20196 yr by J.R.

On 11/12/2019 at 20:59, seriesdriver said:

If I had to kip in a car for a couple of hours I would get a good sleeping bag, running a car engine to warm the interior is going to be waste of expensive diesel plus depends where you are parked is possibly going to annoy locals in the area too

i can find somewhere next to the sea with no people and higher winds to disperse the diesel fumes, so I think i'll be ok. test is this weekend

Edited 13 December, 20196 yr by newskodadriver

without cross referencing two threads.... are you out of your Licencing area to need to sleep in the car?

I used to run my engine for 2 - 3 hours at a time when I lost my licence (medical) and move it up and down the drive although I did not alter the the AC temperature settings and discovered that my AC gas had gone. It was fine before and has been fine since so I let you draw your own conclusion. So this time that again that I am unable to drive for probably 9-12 months (motor bike accident) I get one of my sons to drive it.

On 13/12/2019 at 13:16, newskodadriver said:

i can find somewhere next to the sea with no people and higher winds to disperse the diesel fumes, so I think i'll be ok. test is this weekend

 

I've slept in my car for a few hours overnight in January and February (on a friend's drive) and had no problems with a car blanket and my jacket over me. Probably even better with my sleeping bag. As others have said get a blanket or two.

 

Anyway, this is not legal on public land in the UK as far as I can see. From an article dated May this year:

 

 

Quote

 

What are the current laws?

Drivers can already be fined for leaving their engine running. 

Under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, local councils can hand drivers a fixed penalty of £20 for leaving their engine running “unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road”, reports confused.com. The penalty rises to £40 if it is not paid within a certain time. 

Penalties can be as high as £80 in certain areas of London “where extra measures to cut road emissions are being undertaken”, the comparison website says.

However, fines can run into the thousands of pounds if drivers are caught by police.

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

On 15/12/2019 at 20:46, spk said:

 

I've slept in my car for a few hours overnight in January and February (on a friend's drive) and had no problems with a car blanket and my jacket over me. Probably even better with my sleeping bag. As others have said get a blanket or two.

 

Anyway, this is not legal on public land in the UK as far as I can see. From an article dated May this year:

 

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

ah thanks for the info, I vaguely remember reading about it in the Daily Mail. Half the taxis do switch off to save fuel, but no one is worried about being fined. It's in the winter now and I would rather run the engine to warm myself even if I wasn't sleeping and just parked up waiting for a fare. In anycase, I wouldn't sleep on a public road, not for the risk of a fine, but for annoying people who sleep in their houses and draw attention to myself while I am incapacitated. Obviously I would never fall asleep in a rough estate anyway due to the risk of some yob sticking potatoes down the exhaust (it happens, people have told me), so it would be on private land like a car park or at the least somewhere remote with very low footfall.

 

On 14/12/2019 at 10:12, olduns said:

without cross referencing two threads.... are you out of your Licencing area to need to sleep in the car?

No, I am just working long hours to pay for car repairs, xmas and general debt (i'm in a lot). I think you would agree with me that having a sleep is better than me guzzling red bull throughout the shift.

On 10/12/2019 at 16:01, VRS_White_Hatch said:

Diesels prefer running under load - I'm thinking back to marine diesels where we were told to always engage the screw and let the motor pull against the moorings rather than idle in neutral, but as taxi's have left them idling on the street for years I can't see it doing much harm. I would wrap up warm and switch off. I don't like to think of the wasted fuel and environmental harm of just leaving it ticking over. 

 

This is very true. Engine in general are happiest when they're working against something. They are also happy when revved as well regularly.