handydandy

i have a short commute in the morning...like 3 minutes short.
i was wondering if it is bad to start the engine cold and then shut it off in 3 min. without it properly warming up.

rayasaurus

In general, I feel like it's not the optimal use of your car, and it definitely puts a strain on your batteries, but then again you don't have that many options because your commute is what it is.

I'd definitely just make sure I checked my batteries often, and while driving with an engine that's not warmed up means its better not to do jackrabbit starts.

Or! Ride a bike. It's only three minutes driving, it can't be more than 10 minutes biking.

NighthawkCruiser

Agreed on the bike, but if you can get the car started and drive it around for a longer time a few times a week, say 20 or more minutes, it will be better overall for the whole car. If you are in the first 1000 miles of your car, this isn't good and you should vary the engine speed and duration and speed of driving more.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

+1 for biking to work.

I'd LOVE to live close enough to work to bike. I'm actually looking to move closer to work (if I can afford it) partially for this reason.

Otherwise, like others said, it is what it is. I wouldn't worry about it. Just follow the "severe" maintenance schedule and you should be fine.

VegaTSX

Use your bike, why drive only 3 minutes to work? Plus you save $ on gas too. Manpower vs. Horsepower, in this case Manpower wins.

odannyboi

hell, you could walk to work

hunterk1

I've got a 6-minute drive, but having to drop my daughter off at daycare makes it a 15 minute commute. She's moving locations soon - then I'll put her in the Burley, bike over to daycare, then ride to work. Sounds like you should do the same.

LuvMyTSX

I have a short commute as well. It's 2.5 miles in about 6-7 minutes. The car just barely reaches operating temp when I pull into the parking lot in the winter months. FWIW, I have an '04 with about 49k and it's running fine and I'm still on the original battery. I've had this commute for 3 years now. It's not the greatest thing for a car, but it won't kill it by any means. I do get oil changes every 5k though, as per the user manual for severe conditions.

ThirdLane

Short trips will kill your engine. Plain and simple. I'd walk to work if it takes 3 minutes to drive to work.

1Louder

I don't know that a modern engine is going to suffer that much, but it's not ideal for sure. You may want to consider changing the oil based on time rather than mileage - like every 4 months instead of waiting for 5K miles (that may be an outdated thought - if you use synthetic maybe it's not such a big deal - but $30 every 4 months is cheap preventative maintenance). I had a commute like that for about 6 years with an 89 Toyota Celica (had the car for 9 years total). The only issue I ever had was I had to replace some of the exhaust pipes and muffler. With a short drive, the condensation that builds up never really dried out and corrosion ate the pipes at the 6 year mark.

All that said, if it were me I'd really bike or walk to work weather permitting. I'd also consider getting a scooter (not very manly, but it's cheap, would run a month on a gallon of gas, and more disposable to take the brunt of the short trips). Save the car for bad weather.

tdottsx

i live about 1-2 min away from work but i still dont bike to work. way too lazy, plus i love my car too much, so i always wanna drive it.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I would change the oil more often when driving short trips due to condensation inside the crankcase. Mixing water and oil is not a good thing.

handydandy

how long should a drive be then? in order to be optimal? 8 min? 10min?

CiViCKiDD

Hm. My last car (stock '99 Civic EX coupe) was stolen a few months ago, ever since then I make sure I have another car behind my TSX. I don't like driving the other car (it's only 4 years old but it's not stick lol) so I'm constantly starting that car, moving it to the side so I can take my car out, and once I get home I start the other car and park it behind my car. So on a daily basis I'm starting the other car at least twice and shutting it off within 10 seconds....

...yeah, guess I should stop doing that huh?

JimHolloman

Generally, 10 minutes. If the ambient air temperature is 80 or higher, then 5 minutes would probably be sufficient. If the temperature is below 40 degrees, then I would recommend 15 minutes. In winter, I generally allow a car to warm up for about 3 minutes before driving it. As someone mentioned, an engine that does not get sufficiently hot will allow water from condensation to collect in the crankcase -- and then mix with the oil when it is circulated by the oil pump.