Remote car start via phone?

[Bob La Londe]

I'm talking winter in Pittsburgh. It gets into the 20's in the winter

20's ?????

Heck I've seen temps in the teens down here in the Sonoran Desert on winter
hunting trips.

 

[GregS]

In Vancouver, if you idle your engine for longer than 3 minutes while
parked anywhere, you're subject to an $80.00 fine. This has something
to do with lowering emission levels. This, of course, never even
crossed your mind. Having a "warm and toasty" car is far more important
after that long plane trip...

Are you also not permitted to drive around in circles, accelerate too fast,
drive too big a car, or have a 4WD, or just joy ride.
In many places you just sit in traffic for far longer times. Its
all about the politicians wanting to look good. Perhaps they should
install automatic turn offs in all vehicles after 3 minutes.

greg

 

[Matt Ion]

In Vancouver, if you idle your engine for longer than 3 minutes while
parked anywhere, you're subject to an $80.00 fine. This has something
to do with lowering emission levels. This, of course, never even
crossed your mind. Having a "warm and toasty" car is far more important
after that long plane trip...

Another thing to consider: almost all modern car manufacturers recommend NOT
warming up your car for more than 30 seconds before driving.

 

[Dave]

In Vancouver, if you idle your engine for longer than 3 minutes while
parked anywhere, you're subject to an $80.00 fine. This has something
to do with lowering emission levels. This, of course, never even
crossed your mind. Having a "warm and toasty" car is far more important
after that long plane trip...

Until you have walked in someone else's shoes, don't condemn. I used an
off-airport lot here in Pittsburgh when I traveled alot 25 years ago. I
got off the shuttle paid the bill and my car was parked under a canopy
with all the snow cleared off, the car running with the heater,
headlights on, door open and trunk open. This was during a heavy
snowfall and still had to drive home in a blinding storm at 11:30 pm. I
could of kissed all the employees, but this was standard operating
procedure for this outfit. It was worth every cent of my employers money
and priced LESS the the airport lot.

 

[GregS]

Another thing to consider: almost all modern car manufacturers recommend NOT
warming up your car for more than 30 seconds before driving.

I read a few posts about warming up. Nothing seems to be really informative, or dangerous.
These seem to be accepted generalizations.

Idling for a while is good, to get the oil going.

Car companies and media are likely to recommend anything that
improves immisions or fuel economy.

Idling may not be the optimum conditions for a running engine.

Warming up produces higher emmisions, and a fast warmup
may lower overall emmisions.

Following people who just started their engines is a pain, watching all that converter
smoke, and their slow driving. Doesn't that make you mad.

greg

 

[mikey]

In Vancouver, if you idle your engine for longer than 3 minutes while
parked anywhere, you're subject to an $80.00 fine. This has something
to do with lowering emission levels. This, of course, never even
crossed your mind. Having a "warm and toasty" car is far more important
after that long plane trip...

Another thing to consider: almost all modern car manufacturers recommend NOT
warming up your car for more than 30 seconds before driving.

Very true, especially in cold climates. A warm engine working a cold
transmission
is not a good thing.... best everything warms up at the same pace.

 

[GregS]

Another thing to consider: almost all modern car manufacturers recommend NOT
warming up your car for more than 30 seconds before driving.

Very true, especially in cold climates. A warm engine working a cold
transmission
is not a good thing.... best everything warms up at the same pace.

Believe me, the transmission is starting to heat also. Thats one of the things
I mentioned before. When I get in start and go, its like it does not
want to go on a grade. Well it has 115K miles on it.

greg

 

[Jim]

Just out of curiosity, while the car is idling, is the steering wheel and
gear shift unlocked?

No.

With mine, you have to put the key in the ignition and turn it on. If
you turn on any big draw electrical item (like headlights) before you
do that, even stepping on the brakes, it will cause the car to shut
off.

 

[John S.]

I'm looking for a way to start my car at the airport when my plane
lands. If I wait until I get to the parking lot, it does not give the
car enough time to warm up. Basically I am looking for a remote
starter where I can call a phone number and have the car start.

There was a thread a few years ago that talked about it, but the
products do not seem to be available any longer. I did find one
product from Viper that looks like it can do it, but it also has GPS
and a lot of other features I don't need and is over $500.

Given that you can get a pager for free and only pay $60/year, it can't
be that hard to put it in your glove box and run a wire to the starter
that triggers it just like the remote that is good for 800 feet.

Anyone?

--bbt

With gasoline price at records levels and the earth temperature rising
because of burning carbon fuels WHY would you want to let your car idle
for 15 minutes. Your car is at it's least efficient when idling at low
temperatures. Just get in the car and drive and the heater will be
working in short order. Good grief!!!

 

[Norm Mugford]

In fourty some years of driving, I've never started my car
to let it warm up and until 19 years ago I lived in Connecticut.
I start it and go.....saves gas and I don't hurt the environment.

Norm Mugford

With gasoline price at records levels and the earth temperature rising
because of burning carbon fuels WHY would you want to let your car idle
for 15 minutes. Your car is at it's least efficient when idling at low
temperatures. Just get in the car and drive and the heater will be
working in short order. Good grief!!!

I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html

 

[GregS]

In fourty some years of driving, I've never started my car
to let it warm up and until 19 years ago I lived in Connecticut.
I start it and go.....saves gas and I don't hurt the environment.

Gas consumption is highest before warm up. When you take off right away, it
really guzzles.

If you really want to save gas, do not use the air conditioning, get rid of the big cars, slow down
going up hills, and stay home.

greg

 

[Doug L]

I don't have a choice on that one

Doug

 

[John S.]

So many reasons to not idle the car at warmup. The greatest wear
occurs when the engine just idles when cold. The engine is running
richer for longer, increasing wear, increasing pollution and shortening
the life of the cayalytic converter. The catalytic converter takes
longer to heat up and the car puts out more emissions.

There must be some reason the owners manual in most cars cautions
against extended idling while warming up.

A simple solution to sitting on a cold seat is to put a thin blanket on
the seat back. Or tough it out for a couple of moments as body heat
quickly warms the seat.

 

[GregS]

So many reasons to not idle the car at warmup. The greatest wear
occurs when the engine just idles when cold. The engine is running
richer for longer, increasing wear, increasing pollution and shortening
the life of the cayalytic converter. The catalytic converter takes
longer to heat up and the car puts out more emissions.

Might run longer, but much less wear than stepping on the gas, and much
less air flowing through the converter. I thinks its universaly agreed that
the oil should warm up before serious torque is applied.

I think you would have to run a serious test in order to make sense of
all these factors. Just thinking what they are is no good.

One of the nicest features of a remote start, its kinda nice to have a little bit
of security when walking toward your vehicle late at night in a seculed parking garage
and you see some shady characters approaching. The sound of a car starting is a
good deterant.

greg

 

[GregS]

You can ignore all the reasons you might give. I just want to warm the car, or cool the car.
Thats all I want, and thats what I got.

greg

 

[GregS]

There is a phenomenon here where you get ice over. A layer of ice completely engolfs your
vehicle. You can't get in, turn the locks, or wind the windows. Boy that remote start sure
is nice.

greg

 

[alarman]

I don't have a choice on that one

Doug

You just need a bigger squirrel.
js

 

[John S.]

Might run longer, but much less wear than stepping on the gas, and much
less air flowing through the converter. I thinks its universaly agreed that
the oil should warm up before serious torque is applied.

Not sure what serious torque is. But the owners manual for every car
I've owned indicates that you should begin driving as soon as possible,
but drive gently until the car warms up.

I think you would have to run a serious test in order to make sense of
all these factors. Just thinking what they are is no good.

One of the nicest features of a remote start, its kinda nice to have a little bit
of security when walking toward your vehicle late at night in a seculed parking garage
and you see some shady characters approaching. The sound of a car starting is a
good deterant.

Well, yes there are lots of good deterrents...blackjack, large dog,
gun, starting car, etc.

 

[John S.]

You can ignore all the reasons you might give.

Don't know why I would want to ignore all the reasons I gave. ???

I just want to warm the car, or cool the car.
Thats all I want, and thats what I got.

But at a cost.

 

[Matt Ion]

I read a few posts about warming up. Nothing seems to be really informative, or dangerous.
These seem to be accepted generalizations.

Idling for a while is good, to get the oil going.

That's the "conventional wisdom" but keep in mind, most cars today are using
much lighter multigrade oils (5W-30) than back in the day when everyone just
used straight 30-weights. They don't need to "warm up" to flow properly.

Car companies and media are likely to recommend anything that
improves immisions or fuel economy.

Funny, I'd have thought the car companies would be all about wasting fuel.

Idling may not be the optimum conditions for a running engine.

Warming up produces higher emmisions, and a fast warmup
may lower overall emmisions.

Not so much true anymore... once again, with newer cars, computer-controlled
fuel systems mitigate that. Back in the carb days, yes, you had to warm up -
engines didn't burn fuel well when colder, so the choke on your car closed and
locked the idle on high to get a lot more gas through until the engine warmed up
enough for proper combustion, with no real way to control it to actually match
conditions - the choke worked the same whether it was +30 or -30. With
computer-controlled fuel injection, all engine conditions are monitored
constantly, including sampling the exhaust to determine how well the fuel was
burning, and fuel mixture is constantly adjusted accordingly, allowing it to be
optimized even under poor combustion conditions.

The need to allow the engine to "warm up" for proper operation simply doesn't
exist on newer cars.