How long do you warm up your engine before you drive? I've heard 30 seconds is good enough to get the oil flowing. Thoughts?

 

34.50 seconds to be precise...

 

<p>Hey rocky!&nbsp;</p><p>modern engines do not need to be warmed up. you can simply get in the vehicle and drive, keeping the RPMS low until the car reaches normal operating temperatures.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>when you &nbsp;warm or idle a modern engine, it's using fuel and its likely you'll get lower than advertised MPG.&nbsp;</p>

 

Never

 

Once it comes off fast idle you're good to go. Just drive it moderately until it gets up to operating temperature.

 

The only time I warm up my engine is during the Winter if my car has been sitting outside in the freezing temps, otherwise on a normal 80 degree day, I start it up, turn my AC on then drive off.

 

One minute, or until the RPMs drop. In winter, an extra 30 seconds for each 10 degree F drop in temperature below 50 degrees.

Most of your engine wear occurs in the first few minutes of driving.

I also back into my garage, so when I head out the next morning, I don't engage reverse while the engine is dead cold.

This is more tradition than science, but it has always worked for me...

 

^^

Yeah, there is a bit of environmental consideration (at least there is in my mind). In the warmer climates/months, I usually just fire it up and go. Being pretty gentle with the throttle until the temp gauge starts moving.

In the colder climates/months (and if I remember correctly, Rockets is in , so this may be more applicable, eh?) I'll let it sit for a minute or so. Typically long enough to get in, put my coffee in the cupholder, turn on the defroster, get the seat heaters on, plug in my phone and start some music. Then start off as normal, noted above.

Now, YMMV with the RDX or other uber-lux vehicle (unlike my plebe-TSX) that will do all that startup/heater/phone sync/coffemaker stuff before you get in. But I for me at least, I just give it that few extra seconds to get going even though modern engines probably don't need it.

EDIT: and stay out of Vtech yo until the engine is at full operating temperature or else you risk danger to the manifold.

 

+1

 

Yeah, just don't rev the crap out of the engine and you'll be golden.

Driving manual, I don't like shifting above 3000rpm until the coolant temp gauge starts going up. Once it gets to about 80+% of its normal range, hitting redline is all good. Your oil temperature is higher than your coolant temperature, anyway.

It's not necessarily good to just let your engine idle to warm up. You start building up carbon deposits on top of the pistons. Once in awhile is likely ok, but doing it regularly, likely not so good.

 

I only let my engine warm up for driver comfort when needed in the winter (seat heaters, defrost windows) or summer (cool the cabin that is +120 degrees inside). Rest of the time just start, put on seat belt, remove sun shade on windshield, hit Navi nag screen, double-check radio and go. I do use Mobil 1 syn oil in all three vehicles since most wear happens during start-up.

 

<p></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Oh shit, I start it up then rev the shit out of it every morning.</p>

 

I do like to warm up my cars in the winter about 2-5 minutes if they are kept outside. I noticed that if I don't let them warm up for a few minutes it's really hard on the transmissions thanks for our cold PA winters.

 

Lol, your M1 synthetic does nothing to prevent engine wear at start up. All motor oils are much too thick upon start up. Even a 0 weight synthetic is still too thick upon start up, causing wear. That's not to say your engine won't last 300,000 miles, but don't kid yourself into thinking that M1 synthetic prevents wear on starting your car.

 

For me up here in Balmy NH, I typically let the car warm up enough to start clearing the windows off, then I drive. Letting a car idle vs running it on the road at lower RPM's does a similar thing - get the oil to operating temps. But running the car on the road warms it up more quickly, and also helps to warm and circulate the other fluids (tranny) more quickly. As long as you're just doing normal accelleration and not booting it straight into traffic or racing the RPM's up regularly, the engine wear will be the same regardless of how long you sit and idle vs when you start driving.

I have my car and the wife's in the garage during the winter, but the 2 kids' cars that I have outside I tend to start frequently in the winter. It's much more successful if I start them and drive them a couple of miles than it is for me to just let them idle in the yard. Aside from getting the fluids moving in the drivetrain, it also charges the battery better, which means I stand a better chance of starting the car on that -20F morning later that week.

andy

 

We had to move the kid's TSX outside when we got the MDX. I installed a Viper alarm with a 2-way remote start (1/4 mile range, 20 min timer). It comes in handy for him in the morning when he can start the car and be warmed up when he heads to school (turns the heater on max and seat heaters on the night before). Even comes in handy in the summer to cool the TSX down when sitting in the hot sun before jumping in.

 

All my cars I let sit maybe 10-15 seconds max.