Is it bad for the engine if you don't turn your car on for a long time?

[yarisitis]

I've been going a long time without having to drive anywhere and have been letting my Yaris sit without turning it on for weeks at a time. Last couple of times I've turned it on after long periods of sitting, the engine makes a screechy noise for a second or two (engine oil light also stays lit for a second or two and goes away) and then sounds normal. I'm assuming this is because it's sat for a long time and all of the oil has collected at the bottom of the engine and takes a few seconds to recirculate it around the engine. This can't be good right? Or is it a normal thing and I should just turn it on more often so it doesn't keep happening?

I feel like a bad Yaris owner

[Betrivent]

Screechy noise is your belt, just need to adjust the slack on it (move the alternator forward) and it'll go away.

Define "long time". If it's more than a few weeks at a time I'd invest in a trickle charger. Your battery is really the only thing that doesn't like not running for a while.

[bronsin]

Definately do NOT let your Yaris sit for weeks! Drive it once a week for half an hour or so. This will charge the battery, get the oil circulating and polish the rust off the brake disks and drums.

Also KEEP THE GAS TANK FULL OF GAS! This will prevent condensation of water in it.

I will try to think of some more things you can do...

[andulong]

gas treatment will help keep your fuel stable if it sits too long

[gollygirl1]

How can you resist not taking her out?????? She needs to feel LOVE !!!! (hehe) - but yes, it is a good idea to turn the engine over - don't leave it too long.

[yougojay]

Make it a point to drive it at least once a week. Cars need to be run/driven. we weren't driving our 2000 Benz enough and it finally would not start. (it only has 74,000 miles on it...)
I broke out the trickle charger and charged it for 2 days and topped off the water level with bottled drinking water. It started and ran fine, I TOLD MYSELF I would DEFINITELY make sure it was driven at LEAST once a week. So far I have been diligent about doing just that, at least a jaunt up the 55mph state highway to buy a lotto ticket or loaf of bread, and a 8-9 mile round-trip run...

Purchasing our 2013 Yaris in April really got me back into 'Car Maintenance Mode' -
It is hard to be able to do anything with the Yaris as it just turned 3,000 miles yesterday. I've checked the oil on it 97 times I've got that routine down pretty good! I've blown the tiny amount of debris out of the cabin air filter with our air compressor & it gets driven 25 miles a day for 5 days a week from 30-60 mph. Turtle Wax Express Shine works great for me, it will 'bead-up' in the rain for the rest of my life

[BEEF]

Some friends of mine used to do "Truckin' Fridays" as they all had older trucks to use for odd jobs around the house.

The idea was to drive their trucks to work on friday just so they get driven. None of them were necessarily good looking trucks either (one was actually a 1965 ford... something without seatbelts)

I try to do the same with my yaris as I drive my cavalier most of the time (257k miles so far and ~80miles per day). I tend to drive my yaris on the weekend or when one of the other two needs something.

[47_MasoN_47]

Mine sat in the garage for just over 2 months without being driven while I was retrofitting the headlights. It fired right up and did fine. I just refilled the gas yesterday and found a bunch of spiderwebs behind the gas door.

[yougojay]

Originally Posted by 47_MasoN_47

I just refilled the gas yesterday and found a bunch of spiderwebs behind the gas door.

LOL!

That Spider coulda made that web the last day you drove it before doing the retrofit They weave them in no time at all around here...I know, as I walk into a new one daily

[YarisSedan]

It is certainly not good to drive the car that infrequently. This the main reason a lot of people shy away from buying a used car that has abnormally low low miles. That means it has sat a lot. When the vehicle sits for weeks at a time the oil drips down the cylinder walls and makes it way down to the bottom of the pan. Which causes a dry start which explains why your oil light is on for a few seconds. you have low oil pressure momentarily For a few seconds you are causing engine wear doing it consistently for a long time can eventually cause your engine to wear out faster than normal. Also when the car sits like that it causes moisture build up in the oil. If you dont take it out on the freeway and give it a chance to burn off it keeps building up. Which is why manufactures give not just a mileage interval but time so even though say for 5 months you dont even drive 2 thousand miles you still need a oil change. Also your car has a slight parasitic drain if its not driven over extended intervals your battery will get heavily discharged which is going to cause it to fail sooner. Try to take out out atleast once a week if possible.

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

...This the main reason a lot of people shy away from buying a used car that has abnormally low low miles. That means it has sat a lot...

Not always. My Yaris has abnormally low miles and I drive it every day.

[jcboy]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Not always. My Yaris has abnormally low miles and I drive it every day.

I guess he forgot the word "generally".

but yeah, if you drive it everyday and you have unusually low miles it means you are doing really short trips. short trips are not as good for the engine as average length trips. the cyclic temperature shifts from cold>hot>cold isnt good for any material actually. it's called thermal fatigue. in engines it's thermo-mechanical (there's stress combined with temperature change)

[gollygirl1]

Originally Posted by jcboy

I guess he forgot the word "generally".

but yeah, if you drive it everyday and you have unusually low miles it means you are doing really short trips. short trips are not as good for the engine as average length trips. the cyclic temperature shifts from cold>hot>cold isnt good for any material actually. it's called thermal fatigue. in engines it's thermo-mechanical (there's stress combined with temperature change)

Yeah, I had the same thought too, but you put it better!

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by jcboy

the cyclic temperature shifts from cold>hot>cold isnt good for any material actually. it's called thermal fatigue. in engines it's thermo-mechanical (there's stress combined with temperature change)

Probably why cars that drive 4 or 5 hundred miles a day last so many miles. They only warm up once that whole time whereas cars like mine warm up ~100 times...

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by jcboy

I guess he forgot the word "generally".

but yeah, if you drive it everyday and you have unusually low miles it means you are doing really short trips. short trips are not as good for the engine as average length trips. the cyclic temperature shifts from cold>hot>cold isnt good for any material actually. it's called thermal fatigue. in engines it's thermo-mechanical (there's stress combined with temperature change)

I'm certainly no expert on the matter. But a car driven 100 miles per day for two trips would experience the same number of cold/hot/cold cycles as one driven 10 miles over two trips. I don't think the length of those cycles would matter.

I think YarisSedan's explanation is more accurate in that a car that doesn't get driven everyday will suffer more wear.

[jambo101]

In my sportscar days i'd park the car/s for 5 months during the winter with nothing more than filling the tank to prevent condensation and removing the battery for the winter, never had a problem starting the car/s in the spring.
IMO a couple of weeks isnt a long time, a year is a long time.

[Gatskopper]

Thought I'd share my bizarre encounter.
I live in South Africa, at the coast; pretty tropical weather. My 2006 Yaris 2nz-fe stood for 2 months while I was away. The car has 40 000km on it. I had a friend turn it over ever so often, but I think it happened like twice.

So I came back, turned the key and the car started. I switched it off, and 2 days later, no starting. crank turns over pretty well, but no fuel coming out the back.

I fiddled with the battery, coil packs, injectors, fuel pump, air box wot-not.. To no avail..

Many opinion later I ended up with a guy who runs an OBD test and gets nothing. After fiddling the basics, he removes the plugs, and pours 10cc engine oil via the plug hole into each of the cylinders. Replace all removed parts, I turn the engine over without success. Second turn my car starts with a smile, leaving both of us surrounded in a ball of white smoke.

Smoke dissipated in a few minutes, and I'm problem free.

Any suggestions to what happened?

The car is in perfect condition, with full service history at the agents.