Worst case mileage scenario

[ConnClark]

I got stuck in a traffic jam yesterday going up hill. I got to watch as my trip mileage dropped from 19mpg(cold engine) down to 14.5mpg. Unfortunately there was an accident that had shut down an intersection to just one car at a time and I had to go through it to get to where I was going.

Anybody had a worse situation?

[ksa8907]

Traffic always causes the problems for me. More often it is traffic combined with lights that kill my mileage.

[jamesqf]

Why do you leave your engine running when you're not moving?

[doviatt]

The worst tank ever in my car was the time I let my wife drive it. We went on a camping trip to Southern Utah. I took her car with the gear and kids. She drove down after work. I think she said she reached speeds I thought were unobtainable in a 1L engine.
Coincidentally I think the best tank on her car was that same weekend when I drove hers.

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Why do you leave your engine running when you're not moving?

Because it wasn't long pauses, just short pauses and short travels forward. Also sopping and starting the engine 20 times doesn't do wonders for the starter.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Also sopping and starting the engine 20 times doesn't do wonders for the starter.

Humm... For a conservative estimate, a typical car might get started twice a day. So 700 starts per year, 7000 in a 10-year lifetime, means those 20 starts would add 0.3% to starter wear.

From a quick search, seems a rebuilt starter might cost around $40, so the hypothetical additional wear is about 11 cents, or 0.04 gallons of gas at $2.50/gal.

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Humm... For a conservative estimate, a typical car might get started twice a day. So 700 starts per year, 7000 in a 10-year lifetime, means those 20 starts would add 0.3% to starter wear.

From a quick search, seems a rebuilt starter might cost around $40, so the hypothetical additional wear is about 11 cents, or 0.04 gallons of gas at $2.50/gal.

Repeated quick use of the starter will heat it. Thus accelerating wear.

Additionally there is work required by the alternator to recharge the battery each start and wear on the battery that also should be considered.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Anybody had a worse situation?

Many winters ago Mrs P and I took newly acquired Svietlana for her first long distance trip to the mountains. For the first 2/3 of the way the weather was great (dry and relatively warm) and the going was smooth. Then it not only got dark, but the fog got so thick that we slowed to a crawl. Of course, without seeing what is ahead there was no way to plan pulses or coasting When the snow started, it really started. As if putting chains on the tires didn't kill the FE enough, then a frozen hand brake finished it off

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Many winters ago Mrs P and I took newly acquired Svietlana for her first long distance trip to the mountains. For the first 2/3 of the way the weather was great (dry and relatively warm) and the going was smooth. Then it not only got dark, but the fog got so thick that we slowed to a crawl. Of course, without seeing what is ahead there was no way to plan pulses or coasting When the snow started, it really started. As if putting chains on the tires didn't kill the FE enough, then a frozen hand brake finished it off

We have a winner so to speak

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

From a quick search, seems a rebuilt starter might cost around $40

Where do you buy your starters?