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One of the easiest ways to identify whether or not the engine of your car is performing at its best is by looking at its idle speed. Maintaining and adjusting a proper idle speed is crucial to avoiding overheating or stalling your engine. Overworking your engine can lead to component damage, the burning of oil and gas and ultimately engine seizure. Running a car at idle speed can also result in adverse environmental effects such as waste of gas and an increase of carbon emissions. These factors also contribute to the need for proper adjustment and conservative idling. Developing an understanding of how the idle works in relation to a car performance and how to keep it adjusted properly can add years of life to an engine.
What is Idle Speed?
Idle speed is the rotational speed of a combustible engine running while disengaged from the driving mechanism and throttle. The idle is measured by revolutions per minute or RPM. Idle speed can differ depending on the type and size of engine as well what the engine is being utilized for. An idle speed can be adjusted to fit the needs of a particular engine or action the engine needs to perform.
Automobile Idles
The proper idling speed for an automobile is 600-1000 rpm, varying from engine size and car model. The idle speed is programmed into the Engine Control Module, (ECM) which is the mainframe of any car, controlling each aspect of the cars performance. As a car is driven over time changes in timing and wear on engine parts can increase or decrease the idle speed, the ECM works to prevent these changes. The idle can also be manually adjusted to perform to standard.
Adjusting Idle Speed
Idle speed adjustments can be made to improve the quality of performance of an engine. Adjusting an idle requires maintaining the cars engine at operational speed. When a cars engine is cold it uses more gas to operate. Idle adjustments are made by manipulating the idle mixture screws that control the airflow in the carburetor and the process is performed while the engine is running, so only trained personnel or a professional mechanic should perform an adjustment.
Environmental Impact of Excessive Idling
Environmental agencies at the state and federal levels, along with private research tanks have discovered that excessive idling might be more harmful than simply shutting a car down. While it remains true that a cars idle is a good way to determine the health of an engine for the purposes of a tuneup and maintenance, idle for the sake of waiting for someone in a restaurant drive-thru can cause undue harm to engine parts and waste gas. In most cases modern engines do not need more than 10-30 seconds to warm up and run efficiently and, in fact, driving the car is a better warmup than a simple idle.
