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Consider what was going on
with your car for those seven hours.
The engine was operating. It
was igniting gasoline and air, parts were rotating, heat was
being transferred, and various engine systems were at their
equilibrium states.
If your car now starts and
runs as it did before you left it running, it is likely OK.
It is likely that no severe damage was done to engine
components such as bearings. Certainly there was several
hours-worth of "normal wear and tear" added to the engine --
taken off its life. But that should not matter much.
Today's engines are tested
under much more difficult conditions than sitting idling.
Your car and its engine passed
the test of being able to do many of the normal things
involved in long driving. Your engine's cooling system
maintained the engine within its normal operating range. If
not, it would have over-heated and perhaps been damaged and
shut down. Or, if running too cool, it might have caused
some sludge to build up in the oil.
Let the engine cool down and
check the oil and coolant levels.
If they are OK, it is likely
that your car is OK. |