Towing a running car

It's not very kind to your engine oil to idle for long periods, so pay attention to your intervals. You'll probably also eat a fair amount of fuel, so the savings over a lube pump in the end may not be that huge. Short term solution, probably not an issue. Long term solution, not so much IMO.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Leaving a car idle for a long time can cause damage to the valve train. Also should the car engine stall, you would be towing it without any lubrication to the transmission, and I hear they run around $2,500 these days. The low RPM idle means only a quart or two of oil is pumped every minute. so while you have the correct oil pressure, you do not have enough oil volume to the valves and cam area.

A lube pump is a much better idea.

If you will only be towing a short distance, or only need to hook up a few times, then tow dolly is the way to go, even though a PITA. If you are towing the car to send someone off to college, then the tow dolly is especially useful, as you will not need to spend $500 on the hitch and $500+ more on the lube pump, and perhaps another $300 - 800 on a braking system.

Good luck,

Fred.

What car comes with an engine oil pump that doesn't flow enough oil to keep the valvetrain lubed at idle?

Don't worry about idling you're not going to cause any damage. Our police cars idled for many hours, many more hours then you'll ever idle for and were beat to death. Yet they still go 200k miles.

Valkyriebush wrote:

dan-nickie wrote:
Consider if you have a toad braking system, the toads power brake pump will be running therefore the brakes may lock up when activated,

Excellent point! Your power brake system will be activated and depending on your toad brake you could have a disaster waiting to happen.

Yes, I was going to do it last week as I had a low toad battery.
Tested the brakes in the CG and thought it was going to rip the tow bar off.

dan-nickie wrote:
Consider if you have a toad braking system, the toads power brake pump will be running therefore the brakes may lock up when activated,

Excellent point! Your power brake system will be activated and depending on your toad brake you could have a disaster waiting to happen.

Moved to Dinghy Towing forum from Towing.

Yes, you can.
Some say they have done it.
Personally, I would not do it.
I would use a dolly. I have done it, and it isn't as bad as some say it is, IMO.

Leaving a car idle for a long time can cause damage to the valve train. Also should the car engine stall, you would be towing it without any lubrication to the transmission, and I hear they run around $2,500 these days. The low RPM idle means only a quart or two of oil is pumped every minute. so while you have the correct oil pressure, you do not have enough oil volume to the valves and cam area.

A lube pump is a much better idea.

If you will only be towing a short distance, or only need to hook up a few times, then tow dolly is the way to go, even though a PITA. If you are towing the car to send someone off to college, then the tow dolly is especially useful, as you will not need to spend $500 on the hitch and $500+ more on the lube pump, and perhaps another $300 - 800 on a braking system.

Good luck,

Fred.

Your owners manual will tell you if you can tow it 4 down or not. There is a section on dingy towing in every manual for many years now.

Over the years I have met two different guys that towed their vehicle running so they didn't have to buy a pump. Both said when was the last time you had a car stall? They left the trans in neutral and did have a break away braking system. Worked for them.

campingman55 wrote:
Ok can I tow a 2012 toyato seinna 4 down while running or do I need a lube pump and have it turned off and I don't like tow dolly

I believe it must have a pump or the engine must be running. I do not believe any of the Toyotas with automatic transmissions are towable 4 down.

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