suka4thong

i was just wondering, do u guys warm up your car?? if you do, for how long??

dallison

30 seconds and then i pull out slow, since i live in town i take it real easy until i get to the highway.

Ant7701

the most critical mistake that 90% of all car owners do is NOT warm up their car...that is when ALL engine damage occurs!!!Length of time depends on how cold it is outside...summer like 30 seconds. Winter like 3-5 minutes.

NiteQwill

I beg to differ. All modern cars do not require you to warm up your car, that doesn't mean floor it out of the garage. It is necessary to move your car ASAP when starting it b/c you need to get the oil to the parts that run-dry when your car sits idle overnight, etc.

Btw, it's in the manual.

Ant7701

wtf are u talking about move the car to get the oil to different parts???dude thats what the oil pimp is for. Besides...how in the hell does moving ur car make the oil go in different "parts" that it wouldn't go at idle???

NiteQwill

proper for moderate winter temps (like near freezing) is about 30-45 seconds of idle, then gently drive off, keeping the LOAD and RPM's down (ie dont lug it, dont rev the piss out of it). don't drive hard unless you want your oil seals to blow out from high oil pressure during the cold period.

for summer temps, you drive off immediately.

It is VERY bad to idle your car for 5 minutes. Unless absolutely necessary for safety (ie can't get windows de-iced,wont idle).

The least amount of time your car spends under 180F CTS (195F is ideal running temps) the less engine wear occurrs.

The motor does not have a load at idle, thus spends alot more time cold.

The extra gas (overfueling enrichment) ends up fouling the oil, unburnt gases carbon foul, gas in oil,booya etc


It's very simple, its been in just bout every car owners manual i've read.

Idling cold starts = 90% of the cold emissions in the world i'd guess.

like i said above, read the car manual.

einsatz

If it's over ~50 degrees I may let it sit for about 30 seconds.
Anything lower than that I usually let it go until the idle goes down to just about 1k RPMs (by then the temp gague is just above the "C")
If it's freezing and there's snow/ice, I'll stay in the car until everything is deiced. By then the temp gauge is well above "C".

suka4thong

i don't warm my car up at all cos previous car that i had, i warmed my car up til it drops under 1000rpm since i bought my car and then after few years that warming up time gets longer and longer for rpm drop.

Ant7701

the car manual states a whole lotta bull shit that ain't true man or that is irrelevant to most situations. Idleing ur car for 2,4,6 minutes or just about any time under ten minutes is NOT in any case bad for ur car, engine, trans, anything. The load is what cause's the damage when it's freezing out side. Thats the reason ur supposed to warm up the engine. Plus not too mention when cold ur vehicle is running in open loop which alone is not good to be driving in. Then u have the fact that ur trans shifts ten times harder when the fluid isn't warmed up. Trust me bro...let ur car warm up...I don't care what the owners manual says.

Ant7701

Has nothing to do w/ the fact that u warmed up ur vehicle for years....thats ur fast idle valve going bad or sticking for longer periods of time.

suka4thong

any other opinions??

NSX-Tuner

I let mine warmup for at least one minute and then drive slowly until the engine temp is up to normal.

darrinb

u cant start a manual then walk away from it right??


when i first start my car in the morning after it has been off for a long period of time, i go in the garage start it up then put my contacts in and do my hair so by the time i leave the house the car is warmed up, but in the summer the engine dont get that cold so i wait 30-45sec, but in the winter alot longer

NiteQwill

I guess the whole half part of my last statement was ignored. Oh well. But to each his own.

The manual should be rewritten by different engineers then. I never let my car idle at start. As for your tranny explanation, of course it shifts harder, it's COLD, but you don't damage the tranmission when you drive off immediately, you damage it when you let it sit there, NOT SPINNING. As for the engine, I don't want all that crap built up in my engine idling (a good reason highway miles are always better than city), I've taken apart dozen's of engines in my life and the signs of wear after 100K+ are noticeable in those drivers who sit and warm their car up and those who don't. Another reason why it is stated in every Military vehicle manual not to warm up the vehicle the operator is in due to premature wear on engine/trans components. But then again, I guess it's only a 'manual' too.

The only time I did have to warm my car up was when I was stationed in Washington when I had no other choice during the winter. An argument doesn't solve the question at hand. Obviously, everyone believes their own beliefs and values. But I rather follow years of engineering to make that decision. I'll leave it at that. My words are done.

suka4thong

but i also heard that if you don't warm up ur car vtec doesn't kick in till temp is normal. is it true??

NiteQwill

I wouldn't want to go into vtec with the engine cold anyway. ^above^ You'll prematurely wear your engine seals and possibly blow them due to high oil pressure.

Off to see a movie. Everyone has good input.

hellas

i agree with NiteQwill. your car warms up much faster when you drive it, as opposed to idling. just keep the rpms down

only exeptions are for extreme low temps, and after storage, even then - 1min idle max

dallison

just like niteqwill said and what i mentioned, no more than30 seconds and be gentle until it warms up

daanan

I read somewhere that U really don't need to"warm up" ur car.But I do it anyways in winter so the inside is warm,seats are warm and glass is clean.

scalbert

When possible, not more than about 30 seconds and light loads until the engine is warmed.

As NiteQwill mentioned, many manuals now state a similar course. My wife's old E46 328i was very specific about NOT letting it cold idle for longer than 30 seconds.

quikcls

automotive regulations require a vehicle to come out of open loop by two minutes..so i use that as my min warm up time

Chaptorial

I never warm my car up. :o

yi_yi

i guess my cars focked up then cause i always let it warm up 2-3 minutes. haha oh well.

labmeister

I always thought it's a good idea specially after an overnight idle.

Beelzebub

It is a myth. My last car (Honda Accord EX) sat outside for 9 years and is still running with over 150,000 miles without ever warming it up.

But 95% of all mileage on the car were highway.

Jayhawk1

About a minute to a minute and a half---i start it, put in neutral and let it drift out of the garage (6 spd), buckle up, turn on radio, and then slowly pull away. I keep the rpms low for the first mile or so. Mobil 1 helps assure that minimal warm up is needed, IMHO.

BlueCLS6

As quickly as I can get my hand from the ignition key to the shifter is how long it 'warms up'. Sitting there idling is a complete waste IMO, new FI cars do not need to warm up. Keep in mind I am in Southern CA though so it's never freezing here. I drive slowly for the first few minutes (while it's warming up). Besides I usually end up at a stoplight and sit there idling anyway.

LiQiCE

BlueCLS6 is right, the warming up your engine myth is from old carborated engines. Fuel Injected engines do not need to 'warm up' before you drive them. I keep my car garaged so overnight the temperature doesn't drop below 40 degrees or so even when its freezing outside. For the most part the temperatures don't drop below 50.

I let me car 'warm up' for about 10-30 seconds each morning or roughly the same time it takes the NAVI screen to go from the warning screen to the Time screen. When I drive the car I keep the RPMs low (under 3000 rpms, under 2500 if possible) until the car reaches normal operating temperature.

I'm not knowledgable enough about the inner workings of an engine to explain it like NiteQwill did, but I've heard from many friends who are knowledgeable about modern engines and all agree that warming up for more than 30 seconds isn't necessary.

darrinb

hmmm.. i always thought it was good to warm up the engine so the oil gets loosened up..

Red-CL

Nicky Pass

I always let mine run a couple of minutes in the morning before I go to work.

Repo1234

Since when do cars have oil pimps

YuppieCL

i guess i'm fucked then.
i have remote start on my car so i start it when i'm about 10 mins away from leaving... regardless of the season.

in the winter, the heat comes on.
in the summer, the AC comes on.
so by the time i get in my car, the temp is perfect....

AGPExTreMe

me too....

Chopsie

I do the same

Chopsie

Also, reason I like for my car to warm up is because when the engine is cold, my CAI sounds way too "hissy".

kensteele

It certainly is a myth.

I never warm up my car. Ever.

80,000+ miles on it.

I guess there's nothing wrong with if you do by habit but you are still old school and only doing it for your own interior comfort. Don't think you're doing it cause the car needs it....it doesn't.

The manual is absolutely 100% correct.

sham

The car is actually designed to warm up. Notice how it runs on higher RPM's when the car is cold. Then, as you drive and the car warms up, the RPM's return to normal. However, I like to warm my car up for a couple minutes so its warm. I would imagine that longer than 10 minutes and you'll start to get carbon build up.

pimpscls

i idle it for 2-6 minutes every mornig should i stop

mattg

i have never driven my car w/o letting it warm up for at least 1 minute.

when it's really cold i let it idle until i feel heat coming from the floor vent.