Warm Up Time

[llll1l1ll]

Hey Mafia,

Do yous guys let your cars sit at idle to warm up in cold weather (I'm talking below freezing)? My fiance always lets her car do that, as do many other people, but I've always done what the manual says and just start the engine and start driving. I've heard it's bad to let your car sit and idle since it'll foul the spark plugs. In fact, she saw on the news today that some car shop owner said to let your car sit and idle in cold weather for at least five minutes before driving off.

What say you, Mafia? Do you start and go or do you start and wait?

[TigerTater]

I typically start it up maybe sit for 30 seconds and then drive off. With that being said I don't rev the engine over 2k until after 5-10 min of driving to ensure the engine is up to operating temp. I don't want to ram a cold piston into a cold head and have problems. I just give it some time! I also don't turn the heater on until around the same time.

[ELCID86]

I do, especially if the windows are frosty. I'm sure I'll get fussed at! :ducking

[danewilson77]

My whole regimen has changed regarding this :shifty

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[llll1l1ll]

I do, especially if the windows are frosty. I'm sure I'll get fussed at! :ducking

OMG YOU'RE IN SO MUCH TRUBBLE! Haha

I try to keep the revs low when I drive off. Nothing above 3K. Then once the temp needle is out of the blue, I go no higher than 3.5K. I just imagine I have the warm up bars like in the M3s... I blast the heat with the recirc button on once the needle is out of the blue, though. No shame. If you hit auto, it does the same thing just with no recirc button.

[danewilson77]

OMG YOU'RE IN SO MUCH TRUBBLE! Haha

I try to keep the revs low when I drive off. Nothing above 3K. Then once the temp needle is out of the blue, I go no higher than 3.5K. I just imagine I have the warm up bars like in the M3s... I blast the heat with the recirc button on once the needle is out of the blue, though. No shame. If you hit auto, it does the same thing just with no recirc button.

Temp needle in blue does not mean the oil is warm though. Just as a reminder.

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[Bird-Dog]

Start and go...

Because heated seats.

[deuce08s]

I'm not a fan of warming up the car. I had a TSX for almost 7 years and never warmed it up on the coldest of days. I did, however, drive it easily until the clutch wasn't hard to push in anymore and the shifter wasn't so "stiff". With my ZHP I do the same thing. The month of January here I've had several days where I leave work and the air temp is -10 to -20.....I fire the car up and wait about 20 seconds while I get settled in the car and then just go. Revs are kept low, acceleration is not fast.......you know when the car is 'ready' for more action. Heating system is always off when I turn the car off so it's easier on startup, I let the key stay in the II position for a few seconds before I fire it over, and I don't turn the heat on till the first mark after the blue zone.

Most of us use synthetic oil, too, which flows a lot easier and sticks better to the internals, which is enough peace of mind for me as well. Plus, I've never had any issues.....so I don't change my ways. :/

Now if it's super cold and you take short trips then you're asking for trouble as I just learned. If you're in a climate below zero for an extended period, get the car up to temp and drive it before you shut it off again. This helps prevent busting your CCV and hydrolocking the engine......which happened to both my buddy and I two weeks apart on days that were -22F.

[midlandtech]

My whole regimen has changed regarding this :shifty

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Yup when i drove older carbureted cars I let it warm up for several minutes before setting out. Now I do as other have suggested an warm up for less than a minute before setting out but I do keep revs below 3k

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[ELCID86]

I'm wondering how many of you have garaged/covered parking also? Mine is out in the elements always.

And what do you do when there is frost, ice, etc? --just scrape and go?

[BavarianZHP]

For cars like ours, drive off immediately but keep the rpms low. I shift between 2-3k and drive easy with low acceleration. The reason for not letting it idle, is that it warms up faster if you drive it. Engines have an ideal operating temp, the faster (but not too fast!) you get there the better for all of the seals, oil, and engine. Ideally, I think what's "best" for the engine would be to keep it in neutral and rev and hold it around 2k - but that would be completely inefficient so I never do that. Driving and keeping it under 2-3k pretty much does the same thing.

EDIT:

Oh, and I use the heated seats functions instead of the vents when it's really cold.

[Avetiso]

I just drive away.

[derbo]

I drive away right away, but never had freezing temperatures or below 30F. I drive at 2-3k shifts and let the transmission/diff/engine oil warm up before any real acceleration happens. :)


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[Johal E32]

I drive away right away, but never had freezing temperatures or below 30F. I drive at 2-3k shifts and let the transmission/diff/engine oil warm up before any real acceleration happens. :)


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same here.

I let my dad's M5 run for about 2-3 minutes before I set off. Takes around 13-15 minutes for oil to warm up..

[kayger12]

Start and go regardless of temperature. I keep the rpms down until the engine warms up.

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[Au1994]

I start either of mine and buckle up, put the coffee cup in the holder, put the phone away and by then the rpms have dropped down and I'm on my way. Ditto on taking it easy for the first few minutes or so but luckily this coincides with how long it takes me to get out of the neighborhood so I don't have any business going fast anyway.

[Stewbie]

Most of my driving is 10 minutes in the morning (downhill) and 10 minutes in the evening (uphill). I always let it warm up before driving away. If I didn't, my engine would not see normal operating temperate very often. I'm sure that would not be good for it.

Don't trust the temp gauge on your dash. It's programmed to show the needle straight up and down over quite a wide range of temperatures. See this thread (http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?11075-ZHP-warm-up-time).

[derbo]

But what about your transmission oil temp and diff temp? Those won't warm up very fast at all while you idle there.

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[BavarianZHP]

Yeah, that would make sense. Seems like we should just avoid idling all together :rockon

[derbo]

idling eats up the most gas too! The engine doesn't use fuel when you are engine braking :)

[Rovert]

If I heard right the reason why idling is not optimal for your car is because when the car isn't moving and creating enough vacuum inside the engine, oil is not getting to where it needs to be. You end up slightly starving parts of the engine of oil as well as keeping rich fuel moving through cold catalytic converters can foul them prematurely along with O2 sensors.

I've owned my car for 8 years now and I don't idle my cold engine to warm up.

If you drive manual, you can easily tell if you engine is cold because as you rev the engine to accelerate then clutch in, it takes a tiny bit more time for the revs to slow down. I think it's because pistons are smaller when cold so less friction against the cylinders. So the engine reacts more slowly in changing RPM. After two blocks it's back to normal.

[Stewbie]

But what about your transmission oil temp and diff temp? Those won't warm up very fast at all while you idle there.

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Agreed. They aren't warming up at all. Even with letting the engine warm up, I drive gentle so as to give the gear oil in the tranny and diff time to warm up too. Of course by then I'm at my destination. :)

[llll1l1ll]

If I heard right the reason why idling is not optimal for your car is because when the car isn't moving and creating enough vacuum inside the engine, oil is not getting to where it needs to be. You end up slightly starving parts of the engine of oil as well as keeping rich fuel moving through cold catalytic converters can foul them prematurely along with O2 sensors.

This is what I heard, too.

[Stevenluczynski]

I'll do 10 seconds or so, keep it under 2500 until out of the blue then 3500 I until dead center. Having an auto trans it warms up the trans faster then letting it idle.


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[gmurphy]

Started waited about 20 seconds then took the long way so it could warm up completely since it's so cold. DISA loves to rattle!


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[ryankokesh]

I just let it idle until the revs dip to their normal happy place. Then drive conservatively under 3k until the coolant's at around 200*F. I figure the oil has to be fairly warm by then.

[billyjack]

I just let it idle until the revs dip to their normal happy place. Then drive conservatively under 3k until the coolant's at around 200*F. I figure the oil has to be fairly warm by then.

My exact procedure. Like someone else said by the time I turn on the seat heater, take a sip of coffee, get settled, put radio or music on, and buckle up the idle has settled and I drive off. I always shift by 3K on my cars and let them warm up by driving easy. Should be appropriate for any car from the last 20+ years. Also I believe inside city limits here they poo-poo idling cars for pollution and theft prevention.

[JKO_ZHP]

My dad had always told me to let it warm up on the driveway back then for a few a minutes before taking off.

But then Google led me to an article by a BMW-related employee saying how its best to just drive after you start it up. But obviously try to keep the RPMs low, no flooring it right after startup.

My mechanic with over 25 years of experience agrees with the above.

I never let it warm up in P or N anymore, just drive and try to keep it under 3k RPM.

[generalvp]

On warm sunny days, I just start the car and drive off, keeping RPMs below 3K. But in extreme weather, like right now, where it's normally -20 to -30F, I let it sit for about 30-60 seconds and drive off, keeping RPMs below 3K until it fully warms up. If I start the car and takes off immediately in extreme cold temps, the car feels like a slug, slow to shift and sometimes vibrate everywhere.

[llll1l1ll]

Relevant links: http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/669811/to-warm-up-or-not-to-warm-up and http://www.cartalk.com/content/do-cars-need-warm-cold-winter-mornings

[ELCID86]

Relevant links: http://www.cartalk.com/content/do-cars-need-warm-cold-winter-mornings

I love the Car Talk guys!

[llll1l1ll]

Me too!