I like the idea of starting the engine from my phone using Acuralink. But here's my issue: It runs for 10 minutes then shuts off as designed. Living in the New England climate, that's not enough time to warm up the 4 cylinder engine. After 10 minutes the temp gauge still doesn't show any white. My previous 6 cylinder RDX was warm in less than 5 minutes. My questions is: Is there any way to adjust the running time before shut off from 10 minutes to say 15 minutes? I couldn't find any documentation. Thanks.

 

 

Yep. I see the extend appear after starting. So I guess if I'm 5 minutes into the first 10 minutes and hit extend I'll get a total of 15 minutes if I understand correctly. Thanks.

 

 

The engine doesn't warm up nearly as quickly idling as it would if you were driving, i.e. placing some load on the engine. I live a ways further north (tar sands) and I get rolling as soon as I've swept the snow off the windows.

 

A minute or two for the seats to get warm should be satisfactory for most people. Then, driving slowly for a few blocks will warm the car much faster than just sitting at idle. At idle, only the engine coolant warms and not that well. The tranny, p/s, brake fluids, etc. will all still be stone cold and will only start to work well once you're underway. Ever notice how most transmissions usually shifts a bit harder the first time through the gears?

Warming up the car at idle is not good for the car. This doesn't matter if you lease and you plan to give the car back after 2 or 3 years, so you may or may not care.

It's hell on the exhaust system and exhaust valves. Burns them right up. Hot gases build up and overheat the exhaust system. Just something you don't want to do if you intend to keep the car very long. Running at higher RPM creates more pressure to expel the gases, plus movement cools the system from the outside from the external air flow. If you're in the habit of warming the car up every morning or idling for long periods, don't expect to go very long without replacing the exhaust system or maybe even doing a valve job / head rebuild.

Of course, the upside is getting into a toasty warm car. Especially if it's going to be someone else's problem someday.

 

Oh, and you're also getting 0 mpg.

 

A smaller engine will usually heat up faster than a larger engine. It's strange that your RDX takes longer to heat up than your old MDX with it's bigger engine. I find just the opposite. There are two 2.0T cars in my family and they both heat up quite a bit faster than my 3.6L Jeep engine.

 

I have never heard that this will burn up valves.

I do know excessive idling, especially when cold, will allow more condensation to build in the exhaust which could corrode the exhaust parts. Also, the spark plugs could become dirty with residue from running cooler.

 

Just don't drive the car crazy when the engine is still cold, engine will get warmer faster when the car is moving my opinion..

 

 

1. Pressing "Extend" replaces the remaining time with a new 10-minute period. For example, if you're 3 minutes into your first remote start then press "Extend", instead of having 7 minutes left you'll have 10 minutes left. So, your total run time under that situation is 13 minutes. The system is designed to prevent the engine from running longer than 10 minutes at a time without interaction.

2. You can have a maximum of two, separate remote starts or one extension with a total run time not to exceed 20 minutes before a normal start is required.

See above.