Member III
Howdy, everyone. My wife and I enjoy car camping, and we have slept in both of our 4Runners. However, living jn Florida, there are several months out of the year it can be pretty miserable, even overnight. So, I have almost talked myself into installing a permanent roof fan (specifically, the MaxxFan). However, in researching alternatives (before I spend $250 and cut a big hole in my 4Runner's roof :P), I found someone mentioning they usually just keep the vehicle running all night if it is particularly hot, so they can simply run the AC. Now, the purist in me raises my nose at this, but the realist in me knows that such a trick would probably help encourage the wife to come out a lot more, which of course means I get to go out a lot more. (Not that she doesnt enjoy camping--she just asked if we could go camping for her birthday this year--but she also sometimes leans pretty hard on her...finer sensibilities... so it can be a tough balance :P ).
In any case, how bad would this be for the engine, really? To be realistic, I would expect even on the extreme end, night-time temps don't exceed perhaps 85 degrees, so this isnt like idling behind a pile-up in 110-degree Texas heat. Still, that is 8 hours of intermittent cooling fan use and probably more dramatic coolant system heat swings than when actually driving.
So, my gut makes me guess that every hour at idle is probably something like a third as hard on the engine as an hour of driving. This would make 8 hours of idling about the equivalent of maybe 150-200 miles of driving (where you might get 500 miles in 8 hours). I imagine this will use perhaps a couple gallons of gas, but still, we probably arent looking at more than perhaps $10 total in fuel and pro-rates engine maintenance expenses. Obviously, $10/night isn't nothing. However, the pragmatist in me is imagining how much easier it might be to sell frequent, fun, and inexpensive overnight or multi-night (read: overlanding :D) summer adventures when I can still advertise cool, sweatless sleeping, heh.
[Her 4Runner is mostly stock, but mine also has a sleeping platform and storage and a swing-out cooler rack, etc. So, otherwise is it pretty comfortable to hang in].
In any case, how bad would this be for the engine, really? To be realistic, I would expect even on the extreme end, night-time temps don't exceed perhaps 85 degrees, so this isnt like idling behind a pile-up in 110-degree Texas heat. Still, that is 8 hours of intermittent cooling fan use and probably more dramatic coolant system heat swings than when actually driving.
So, my gut makes me guess that every hour at idle is probably something like a third as hard on the engine as an hour of driving. This would make 8 hours of idling about the equivalent of maybe 150-200 miles of driving (where you might get 500 miles in 8 hours). I imagine this will use perhaps a couple gallons of gas, but still, we probably arent looking at more than perhaps $10 total in fuel and pro-rates engine maintenance expenses. Obviously, $10/night isn't nothing. However, the pragmatist in me is imagining how much easier it might be to sell frequent, fun, and inexpensive overnight or multi-night (read: overlanding :D) summer adventures when I can still advertise cool, sweatless sleeping, heh.
[Her 4Runner is mostly stock, but mine also has a sleeping platform and storage and a swing-out cooler rack, etc. So, otherwise is it pretty comfortable to hang in].
![[DO]Ron](/forums/data/avatars/m/5/5154.jpg?1711577950){kind=avatar}
