Why run toad engine at every fuel stop?

the main purpose it to lube things. Just like you should run the engine before you take off in the morning, you should run the engine as per the vehicles towing documentation. It's not worth the risk of not following the instructions.

TheLuvShack wrote:
Why run the toad engine at every fuel stop?
Is this recommended to keep the battery charged or lube the transmission or both. My toad battery charges through the umbilical cord. Will I damage the transmission by not running the toad engine for the recommended five minutes?

Do what you want, or do what someone tells you here to do, but the smartest choice is to do exactly what the owner's manual says to do.

Because it will make your toad last longer with fewer repairs. It provides some lube to vital areas.

"the smartest choice is to do exactly what the owner's manual says to do"

Absolutely, right. Why jeopardize your vehicle's warranty?

My manual says I don't need to do that so I don't. If it said to, I would.

You must have an Chevy Equinox as your Toad. If so, yes, run the engine as recommended.

I get 600 miles on a tank of gas and travel usually 200 miles per day. What is the logic in running the toad at a gas station every third day

The reason for this is to keeps the trans lubed.

sgip2000 wrote:
The reason for this is to keeps the trans lubed.

Ding ding we have a winner!!

X2
It is to lube the trans on some models.

What I did find out on my toad after 4 years of towing it and starting it every 200 miles as stated. The last trip I was so close to my destination/the 200 miles, I blew off starting and running it.

When I got there the battery was dead. Soooo on mine it not only lubed the trans but unknown to me it was also charging the battery too. :R

Automatic transmissions used to have a "rear pump" that would be turned by the driveshaft when the engine was not running. That made it possible to push start these vehicles. Cheaper to eliminate rear pump and used a "front pump" coupled only to the engine. No push start and NO LUBE to the transmission when being towed.

Many manual transmissions have gears which the driveshaft can spin to sling lubricant into bearings etc. when towed in neutral. Some don't, so...

The engineers build a calculated risk into the owner's manuals for some transmissions and ask us to put lubricant into critical places and then replace it every so often with a procedure they spell out for us. In that manual...