hi, we have a ten year old corolla. it is fitted with an immobiliser with a very fiddly key that doesnt turn just lifts up or down.
its easier on short stops to leave the ignition switched on, so we dont have to fiddle with this key.
i remember being told many years ago that to leave the ignition turned on (without the engine running) was to risk burning out the coil. this was some forty years ago but does this advice still apply? thanks for any advice john west
This only applied to distributors with points - and only if the engine came to rest with them closed so current was flowing through the coil. Anything that uses a sensor will be safe from this due to a sensor only giving an output from movement.
However, on some vehicles the EFI fuel pump will still run with the ignition on but the engine stationary, and this *might* cause flooding problems on an older car.
There's also the security aspect if you leave the key in the ignition...
Dave many thanks for your response.
does an ten year old (june 1994) corolla 16 valve, 1.3 have a distributor with points? does it have an efl fuel pump? many thanks for further info on whether this type of corolla is a safe car to leave ignition on for short periods say five minutes. yours john west
================ You could take advantage of the situation and fit an extra switch in the wire to the faulty switch. If you hide this switch somewhere out of sight it will act as a supplementary anti-theft device. Make sure the switch is big enough to handle the current.
Cic.
faultly, faulty?........fiddly. Supplementary to immobiliser? Supplementary to theft in the cerebral cortex?
Should not be a problem. j
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