Bike idling Overnight Disadvantages: Keeping the bike on overnight…mechanic’s advice took the lives of four, you should not do this by mistake
New Delhi. Often people take the mechanic’s words as a set in stone, but this trust can sometimes become the cause of death. A similar tragic incident took place in Punganur in Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh, where poisonous fumes emanating from a motorcycle that was left running overnight took the lives of four members of a family. The dead include a 70-year-old man and his three innocent grandchildren. Murali, the owner of this bike, had it repaired and the mechanic advised that he would have to run it overnight to ‘set’ the pistons.
Murali agreed to the mechanic’s advice and parked the bike inside the house for the night and left it started. Murali’s father Ramchandraiah (70), son Karthik (15) and 8-year-old twin daughters Charita and Chandana slept after closing all the doors and windows of the house. Murali and his wife went to sleep on the terrace. As the night passed, the smoke emanating from the bike kept filling the closed room. The four sleeping people did not even realize that they were breathing poison instead of oxygen. When Murali came down in the morning, his father and all three children were found dead.
Carbon monoxide is a ‘silent killer’
Preliminary investigation by the police has revealed the cause of death to be suffocation due to carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas whose spread is unknown. When a petrol engine runs in a closed space, it releases this gas in large quantities. This gas mixes with the blood and stops the flow of oxygen, due to which the person dies in deep sleep without any struggle.
Don’t make such a mistake even by mistake
This incident is a lesson for every person who leaves his car running in closed garages or rooms. Experts say that starting any vehicle in a closed place for more than 5 minutes can be fatal. Therefore, you should never leave your bike or car running in a closed place.
Disadvantages of keeping the bike running overnight
It is not right in any way to keep the bike running (Idle) overnight. Many mechanics often recommend doing this to ‘set’ the engine, which is not right. The correct way to ‘set up’ a new bike or new piston is to ride it at a slow speed, not to park it in one place and run it for hours.
The engine may overheat: The engine of most bikes is ‘air-cooled’, to keep it cool it is necessary to have the vehicle running and airflow. When the bike remains running at one place on the stand overnight, the engine does not get access to cold air. This can cause engine temperatures to rise to dangerous levels, which can cause damage to delicate parts like cylinder heads, pistons and valves.
Adulteration in engine oil: When the bike is running at a standstill, more petrol is required. In such a situation, not all the petrol gets burnt and that raw petrol can seep through the piston rings and into the engine oil. When this happens, the engine oil becomes thin and its lubrication is lost.
Carbon accumulation: Combustion of petrol does not occur completely in a parked vehicle. Due to unburnt petrol, a large amount of carbon starts accumulating inside the engine. This carbon forms a thick layer on the ends of spark plugs, valves and pistons. This has a direct impact on the performance of the bike.
(With IANS inputs)
