Quote:
Originally Posted by gjgerhard
I just learned something the hard way and I'm making an effort to tell people about it.
However, I discovered that switching off the engine while in traffic can damage it, which is what happened to me. Twice.
Here's why: there are two ways to stop an engine that's not a diesel: you can switch off the ignition; you can shut off the fuel. If I ever go back to doing this, it will use the second method. What I was doing, and what caused the damage, is I would be driving along at elevated rpms, I would depress the clutch and switch off the ignition, and wait for the engine to stop turning.
While the engine is spinning down to stop, it continues to ingest a fuel/air mixture in the cylinder that is not getting burnt. Gasoline is horrible as a lubricant, and is actually quite effective for washing lubricants away. So what I was doing was washing away the thin layer of oil in my engine's cylinders, and eventually the rings started to complain.
Greg in Seattle
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Sorry to hear about your motors, good reason to let them rev down a tad before key off.
Good thing my subaru 360 has a electric fuel cutoff when I shut off the key (a necessity on a gravity fed system) Also my 2 cycle continues to ingest oil as it has torque induction OOH.