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sunhux

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Turning on aircon while car is stationary is hazardous (CO & harmful gases?)

About 40 years ago, I've read of people who slept in their cars with their aircon
turned on & they died due to toxic air/gas (I suppose it's CO carbon monoxide
& partially combusted fuel?) poisoning.

Is it still true with today's cars & their aircons?


I noticed, the aircons today have the option of circulating air internally within
the car or drawing air from outside the car : is the former option  non-
hazardous or it still has some amount/form of hazard?
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Enabbar Ocap
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If the car is stationary then the exhaust gasses can get drawn in through the air con inlet and poison the occupants. You should never run an engine in a closed garage.
I would think it would be unlikely for a lethal amount of gas to be drawn into the car if it's outdoors. The exhaust pumps out the rear and the air con or ordinary ventilation is drawn from the front. The exhaust gas would be very dispersed by the time it reached the front of the car.
Probably not a good idea to sleep in a vehicle with the engine running whatever the temperature.
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BillDL
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So do I, especially when "sniffed" until the world becomes a bright pointillist painting and high pitched buzzing fills the ears ;-)
Marzipan?  Yes, come to think of it Benzene does smell very sweet and marzipan-like, but so do cyanide and older plastic explosives.
You simply should never sleep in a running, stationary automobile. Do not do this. Air conditioning is not the culprit but (as already noted) fumes are the culprit.

Now, sleeping in a moving car:  Happens all the time - passengers doze off.
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I understand the point about Catalytic converters but cars still produce Carbon Monoxide. The Air Conditioning in my Volvos continues to run when I stop with the engine running.
Sure of that?  No cars turn off the blower fan, but many, particularly those with smaller engines disengage the compressor.  If you are just stopped at lights, you would not notice.

Some cars have an "Economy mode" switch on the aircon, in economy the aircon compressor is disabled at idle.
Positive beyond a doubt. I turn my car off waiting for someone when it is hot out. If too hot, I start it and the air conditioning starts, runs and cools off the interior.
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sunhux

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From BillDL:
>Only the blowers work with the engine off
I've tried letting the AC on while engine is off: the aircon starts to blow
out warm air after a minute or so, so this won't work.

I'm sure in my car's AC, it has this option where it specifies:
circulate air internally (ie without drawing air from outside) &
the other option where it draws air from outside (I know this
works because if I chose the option to draw air from outside,
I can clearly smell the fumes of other cars on the road.  With
the other option of "internal air circulation only", I can barely
smell what's outside: so does this work in that it doesn't
draw in toxic fumes/CO from outside & still provide the
cooling effect (with the engine turned on)
Air Conditioning will only run if the engine is running. Engine stopped = compressor stopped = no air conditioning.

The smells from outside with outside venting on are normal.
>The smells from outside with outside venting on are normal

Exactly! You would still smell those fumes if you were walking or riding a bicycle..
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Thank you sunhux