Stop car, lock door, engine runs on for some time ???

Factual Questions
1

Hi
So the to-day I was sitting in a roadside bar place with the temperature +30C in the shade watching not much going on when a 4x4 pick up pulled up and parked right opposite. I’m no expert but this vehicle looked the real “business” Had lots of ground clearance with serious “Bull bars” not the wimpy things you normally see, extra lights in all the right places and snorkel air intake with some tour company logo on the side. None of this has anything to do with the question but the vehicle sure caught my attention.
The driver got out locked the door and walked away when I realized that the engine was still running so I thought Ok he has an extra key to keep the AC going. But after about 60 seconds or so the engine stopped. The vehicle was a Mitsubishi “Grandis” maybe outside of Asia they have a different model name. But what’s going on? The only reason I can think of for an engine to keep running is for the turbo temperature to equalize (don’t know if this model actually had a turbo) but I cannot think that it would be a feature permitted in the western world after having locked the door and walked away. Anybody have any ideas?

Slightly on the side. Every body knows of the recent Asia tsunami and the response for help and money donations that have been overwhelming. All the donated billions are wonderful and appreciated by those that actually receive some of it. I cannot begin to imagine how the devastated local communities will manage to rebuild their lives; I can only refer to a section of a vast tragedy. The holiday resorts NEED the tourist to come. The day after the tsunami (we were lucky) I walked along the beach and could not believe the damage. It seemed hopeless yet within a couple of days the beach was being cleared up, the remaining tourists joining in the clearing up and local family members came from all over to help and what seemed hopeless turned to hope. Many of the places are now fully operational but have no customers. Though Thailand is an all year destination the high season is Nov-April and the tsunami could not have come at a worse time. Many casuals that work in their home farms and fields most of the year rely on the high season tourist trade to supplement their annual family income. Without tourists the hotels and bungalows cannot afford to keep on staff with nothing to do, how can they go back to their home villages with no money? What can they tell their families? I have no commercial connection whatsoever here I am just a long stay tourist with some hard working local friends who have had lost their shop/business, stock and money with no capital to start again. What will become of them and their families? Sorry if this is “off subject” all I’m trying to say is if you want to help tsunami victims go and be a tourist in any of the affected areas, go spend your dollars or whatever, don’t be stingy buy stuff you don’t really need give big tips help these wonderful people. BE A TOURIST.
Thanks.

2

Was the vehicle a Turbo?

There are some aftermarket devices which keep the engine running at idle to keep oil circulating to the turbocharger’s bearings in order to prevent coking due to extreme heat after being driven hard.

3

Might not have been the engine you heard, it could have been an electric cooling fan, those often run for a while after the engine is turned off and can be loud enough to mistake for a running engine.

4

Possibly;)

5

My fiance’s 2000 Nissan Altima does this. We thought it was the engine, too, then realized it was just a cooling fan. Sometimes it runs for up to thirty seconds after the car is shut off. Sometimes it doesn’t run at all–such as when I took the car to the dealership and tried to reproduce what I assumed was a malfunction.

6

If it was a manual he could also have had a auto-starter. Mine keeps the engine running until the doors lock (to make sure I’m not in gear).

But most likely he either had a turbo timer or the electric fan was going. Was it warm/hot at the time?

7

:wink:

8

The engine fan on my American bought VW keeps running to cool down the Engine on hot days even after everything if locked/off, I thought it was the engine still running at first, seemed quite strange to me (don’t get hot days in UK :wink: )

9

Hah, yeah, ok, umm…

damn.

10

Thanks for all your replies. I dismissed the fan idea at the time; fans make a sort of windy noise but as cmurdough had a similar experience maybe it was just a noisy fan. Interestingly a turbo timer was mentioned, is there such a thing fitted as standard? And would it be legal to have an engine running with the doors locked in an unattended car?

11

It’s not standard, but an aftermarket gizmo.

Most modern turbo bearings have a water jacket (I believe :wink: ) so such an add-on is unecessary; I have never-the-less valet-ed a turbo car with this feature.

12

I am not a mechanic ( but I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night)

I used to have a car that did this… It was a 1976 Ford Maverick. Ah the memories. First I gave to ask this question, after the guy got out was the car running smoothly or was it chugging along a bit ?? There have been instances with cars that I own where the timing belt (or chain) is off a bit causing the engine to continue to chug along for a bit after it’s been turned off. AFAIK the car only ran for a short time and not for more than 20-30 seconds.

Hope this helps

13

No the engine did not chuggalong a bit as in - what’s it called? Pre-ignition that I would have recognized. Besides I’m almost certain the engine was diesel most here are. A good case for fan noise has been made but I’m still convinced it was the engine and turbo timers do seem to exist. Next time if I see the car again I’m going to ask the driver. :slight_smile: