Piston Slap: Putting Yourself First Via Remote Start?

by Sajeev Mehta

Updated: May 16th, 2014 Published: August 22nd, 2012

piston slap putting yourself first via remote start

Jonathan writes:

Sajeev,

I live in Chicago (actually a northern suburb) and own two cars: 05 Scion xB and an 03 Accord (4 cyl Auto). Due to logistics, day care, scheduling, and the like, both cars are used every day for the 1.5 mile drive to different train stations. And as you can imagine, we have some mighty frigid days here in the Windy City, and getting into a frozen car is not a whole lot of fun.

So I was thinking about installing an after-market remote starter in one or both of the cars. My questions are: Is this EVER a good idea? And if so, which types/brands should I look for and what professional installation gotcha’s should I beware of? And will the installation possibly reduce the future reliability of my car’s electrical/starter systems with the installation of such a device.

Thank you,

Jonatha

Sajeev answers:

Assuming a quality aftermarket installation, my question to you is: when is this ever NOT a good idea?

I only have one reason against this upgrade. There’s a (valid) school of thought that you should not let a cold motor idle around with cold oil: taking forever to warm up with no engine load, adding a ton of friction to the system for no good reason. But OTOH, who gives a crap?

The extra engine wear could be minimized with a switch to fully synthetic oil. And sometimes it gets so frickin’ cold outside that the motor needs to idle a bit just to safely drive the car on nearly frozen fluid. And most people don’t keep cars long enough for this type of engine wear to matter. And replacement motors from the junkyard are cheap…

I think you see my point. Find a reputable automotive aftermarket trim installer in your area (Yelp.com, ask local car dealerships, etc) and buy a kit they recommend to make this as easy as possible. With those two hurdles cleared, you shouldn’t have any problems for years to come. Especially on the somewhat simplistic electrical systems of late model Hondas and Toyotas, as opposed to something BMW-like. Fingers crossed on that!

Question is, does anyone north of my hot H-town homeland disagree with this assessment?

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.

#Aftermarket #RemoteStart

Sajeev Mehta

More by Sajeev Mehta

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 61 comments

Nrd515 on Aug 24, 2012

I've had a remote starter on my last 4 vehicles, and wouldn't be without one. I set the heat controls and vents to blow on the steering wheel, making it tolerable (Gloves seem to do little, no matter how expensive they are)for my hands, which are messed up from way too many fights as a bouncer, and from working on cars for 25 years year round. Where I work, the parking lot is totally exposed to wind in the winter, and it's really nice to have a warm car to get into. Also, I have two very old dogs, and when I pick up dinner someplace, I get out of the car, hit the starter, and keep them cool for the 3 minutes or so until I come back. Most of the time, they don't even wake up when I get out.

Like Reply
SherbornSean on Aug 31, 2012

Poor Jonathan, He just wanted advice on whether to get a remote start so he could keep his kids warm during frigid Chicago winters, and he gets called fat, lazy, and hard on his engines. How many of the "best and brightest" who recommend putting their kids in a stroller for an hour a day in severe weather actually have young children themselves?

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Alan My view is there are good vehicles from most manufacturers that are worth looking at second hand.I can tell you I don't recommend anything from the Chrysler/Jeep/Fiat/etc gene pool. Toyotas are overly expensive second hand for what they offer, but they seem to be reliable enough.I have a friend who swears by secondhand Subarus and so far he seems to not have had too many issue.As Lou stated many utes, pickups and real SUVs (4x4) seem quite good.
28-Cars-Later So is there some kind of undiagnosed disease where every rando thinks their POS is actually valuable?83K miles Ok.new valve cover gasket.Eh, it happens with age. spark plugsOkay, we probably had to be kewl and put in aftermarket iridium plugs, because EVO.new catalytic converterUh, yeah that's bad at 80Kish. Auto tranny failing. From the ad: the SST fails in one of the following ways:Clutch slip has turned into; multiple codes being thrown, shifting a gear or 2 in manual mode (2-3 or 2-4), and limp mode.Codes include: P2733 P2809 P183D P1871Ok that's really bad. So between this and the cat it suggests to me someone jacked up the car real good hooning it, because EVO, and since its not a Toyota it doesn't respond well to hard abuse over time.$20,000, what? Pesos? Zimbabwe Dollars?Try $2,000 USD pal. You're fracked dude, park it in da hood and leave the keys in it.BONUS: Comment in the ad: GLWS but I highly doubt you get any action on this car what so ever at that price with the SST on its way out. That trans can be $10k + to repair.
28-Cars-Later Actually Honda seems to have a brilliant mid to long term strategy which I can sum up in one word: tariffs.-BEV sales wane in the US, however they will sell in Europe (and sales will probably increase in Canada depending on how their government proceeds). -The EU Politburo and Canada concluded a trade treaty in 2017, and as of 2024 99% of all tariffs have been eliminated.-Trump in 2018 threatened a 25% tariff on European imported cars in the US and such rhetoric would likely come again should there be an actual election. -By building in Canada, product can still be sold in the US tariff free though USMCA/NAFTA II but it should allow Honda tariff free access to European markets.-However if the product were built in Marysville it could end up subject to tit-for-tat tariff depending on which junta is running the US in 2025. -Profitability on BEV has already been a variable to put it mildly, but to take on a 25% tariff to all of your product effectively shuts you out of that market.
Lou_BC Actuality a very reasonable question.
Lou_BC Peak rocket esthetic in those taillights (last photo)