Engine Running While Towing

[Gaetan Lavoie]

If your vehicle is not designed for towing four wheels down and Remco Towing does not have a kit to make it towable, one could consider running the engine while towing behind the motorhome.

What kind of fuel consumption could you expect for the vehicle being towed assuming that it was getting 25 milles/gal driving solo?

How could you prevent the speedometer from registering all these miles being towed behind the MH?

Awaiting your feedback.

[Jack R]

Place it on a tow dolly or trailer??

jack

[Gaetan Lavoie]

I don't want to deal with the frustations of storing a dolly or even less a trailer at an RV Resort.

[Jerry J]

Is your Honda 2 wheel drive? 4 Wheel drive can be towed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaetan Lavoie If your vehicle is not designed for towing four wheels down and Remco Towing does not have a kit to make it towable, one could consider running the engine while towing behind the motorhome. What kind of fuel consumption could you expect for the vehicle being towed assuming that it was getting 25 milles/gal driving solo? How could you prevent the speedometer from registering all these miles being towed behind the MH? Awaiting your feedback.

[JoeT]

There are probably a lot of reasons not to leave your engine running. Three that immediately come to mind are:
1. It will shorten the life of your engine
2. You will waste gas
3. You will add more polution to the environment

Also, I don't see how running the engine will keep the transmission lubed while being towed. Modern automatic's don't have a rear pump. It has to be driven to lube the transmission.

[Gaetan Lavoie]

My Honda CRV is an AWD and I must say that beside changing the oil, we did not have any problems. However, we wanted something more confortable. So we are taking delivery in 2 to 3 weeks of a 2011 Toyota Highlander AWD. We talked to Remco Towing who confirmed the suitability of their Lube Pump LP7 for this transmission. However, reading through the forum, we got concerned about the reliabilty of the Remco Pump. So we are looking at other options such as idling the engine with the transmission in neutral while pulling the Toyota with the MH. We were under the impression that the transmission pump would be engaged when the transmission is in neutral and the engine is idling. I don't have a shop manual to conirm this hypothesis. I agree that it would not be good to the environment. If the cost in gas to operate the engine is something like 1/2 gal/hr, then it is not bad. Wear on the engine would be minimal as it would be idling.

[Cat320]

No way would I idle and engine for a long cross country drive...I think an expert will tell you that idling an engine for that long is worse than actually driving the vehicle. Plus, if the key is in and on, which it has to be to run, it will record the mileage.

Cancel the Toyota and see if you can get your CRV back.

[Dadeaux]

I've known of people doing this, one was towing a Ford sedan with an aftermarket oil pump that failed and he towed it from south AL to IL with the engine idling. However if for any reason the engine should die the transmission will be a casualty in only a few miles.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I've seen numbers in the range of 0.2-0.5 gph for modest sized V6 engines, idling warm with no load. Don't now how accurate the measurements were, but all were with some type of fuel monitor hardware/software, e.g. ScanGauge or the like.

Engine experts recommend against it, saying that oiling of the cylinder walls and other techy stuff is poor when idling. Greenies also recommend against it for fuel and pollution reasons.

Personally, I'd install the lube pump. Sure, it could fail. So could the transmissions own lube mechanism, or a thousand other things. There are thousands of vehicles being towed with Remco libe pumps and only a few have had problems.

[Mekanic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat320 No way would I idle and engine for a long cross country drive...I think an expert will tell you that idling an engine for that long is worse than actually driving the vehicle. Plus, if the key is in and on, which it has to be to run, it will record the mileage. Cancel the Toyota and see if you can get your CRV back.

X2 on that.
Ford did a study on its Police crusiers years ago. it said that idleing a vehicle is the same as driving 32MPH as far as the engine is concerend.
And that meant 1.2 gallons per hour in the crusiers case.

[kalynzoo]

Towing with the engine in idle would mean the power steering was engaged along with any anti-spin systems on the wheels. I don't know how this would affect towing. If you use an axillary brake will the power brakes apply, could they lock you up? Will the hitch take the extra force of powerbraking?
Since you will be tail-gating the MH, will the exhaust from the MH affect the operation of the toad engine, perhaps causing a stall?
I think I would either talk to Remco, use a dolly, or trade in the car.
JMHO

[partsman01]

My worry would be that when someone idles or only city drives at low speeds the ridge you get that builds up overtime at the top of the cylinder will cause a ring to break when the vehicle is finally driven at higher speeds, as now the piston will go that little bit more up due to the higher forces when driving at speeds, so not a good idea to idle a vehicle excessivley.

[justimagination]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaetan Lavoie I don't want to deal with the frustations of storing a dolly or even less a trailer at an RV Resort.

.........Don't understand your reasoning there, when I unhook the dolly, I roll it tongue 1st under the rear of the motorhome. When it's time to go, roll it backwards and put it back on the receiver ball. That's a whole lot less $$$$$ than buying a new vehicle, JMHO. Good luck and travel safe.
David G.

[Gaetan Lavoie]

Quote:

.........Don't understand your reasoning there, when I unhook the dolly, I roll it tongue 1st under the rear of the motorhome. When it's time to go, roll it backwards and put it back on the receiver ball. That's a whole lot less $$$$$ than buying a new vehicle, JMHO. Good luck and travel safe. David G

.

You can't leave a dolly on your site where I spent the winter months, you need to move to a storage area. The second reason is an AWD can't be towed on a dolly.