Is that a bad thing to do? Sometimes ill be waiting for someone that im giving a ride and its cold obviously but i dont want to waste gas so i turn the heat on without turning on the engine. Will that harm my car? How and to what degree? I will award a best answer. Thanks!
No biggie at all, although, without the car running, it will run out of heat eventually! -Ben
The engine must be running the coolant circulating in order to have heat. The heater is a heat exchanger, meaning the hot coolant passes through a small radiator. Air is forced through the rad. The heat from the coolant is absorbed on the cooling fins of the rad. The air forced though the rad, then heats up, this is what produces heat to the interior of the vehicle. ???
It will not harm your car in anyway, but the hot antifreeze will stop flowing through the heatercore and after a few minutes the heat will get cooler
Won't hurt the car because you won't get heat. The engine has to be running for the coolant gets into the heater core.
You're running the fan, so there's a drain on the battery. If the engine is warm, the battery is probably fully charged so it's OK for short waits and you'll even get heat.
