'04 tl.
Just wondering if it's necessory to warm up the engine before driving off. I do notice some difference when I don't(vibration, engine sound).

 

Although you could probably easily find the answer to this question (and a good question it is) by using the Search function, it does pay to warm up the engine for a minute or two before driving off.

I won't go into detail as to why (partly because I'm not an expert), so by all means, try searching for it and you will indeed come across some expert answers.

Good luck.

 

Is it necessary? Not really. When the engine is cold, the ECU adjusts accordingly, and even delays transmission shifts to make the engine warm up quicker.

Is it smart? Absolutely. You have to let the oil warm up and circulate throughout the engine for proper lubrication. Proper warm-up also helps reduce emissions. Even on hot summer days, I let the engine "warm up" for a few minutes.

 

The less you warm up an engine, the better. I'm speaking warming it up where you let it fire up and idle down, sitting in your driveway for a bit. This is bad... don't do it. What you want to do is start the engine and letting it come down off of a fast idle to around 1000 RPM or in the area of it's normal idle. This will generally take around 30 seconds or so, depending upon how cold it is. Then start driving, but drive carefully for the first few miles, avoiding lots of throttle and speed. This gives the other fluids, such as transmission oil and transaxle oil (or rear end oil) a chance to get to work.

Here are the reasons for this type of warm up. Anything which transitions from cold to warm/hot, will go through a period where condensation can and usually will develop. Condensation can occur within the intake manifold and the cylinders. And it most definitely will show up in your exhaust (ever notice cars in front of you with water dripping out of their tailpipes?). The quicker you get the engine and its bolt on parts up to full operating temperatures, the better.

Here's another tip. Never let your gas tank get below 1/2 full during the colder months unless you keep your car in a garage. The reason, again, is condensation.. this time in your fuel tank. A good rule of thumb is if you see condensation on the windows of you car outside, you can bet there will be a little bit of condensation in your fuel tank. Keep it topped off as much as you can in the colder months.

 

Not really unless it's in extreme cold (below 0oF, it's good to let any gas/diesel engine a minute or two).

You can start driving after startup, but one thing to do is take it easy on the throttle and revs' until the engine is warmed up. The TL does warm up quickly but give it ~5 minutes of driving before using large amount of throttle and reving to redline.

 

SouthernBoy is spot on with his commentary. Normally, I let my car warm up for 15 to 30 seconds depending on ambient temperatures. Then drive off through my neighborhood which has a 10 mph speed limit. By the time I reach city streets the temp needle has started to move, and will normalize by the time I get to the freeway. Remember that oil temps will lag behind coolant temps, so WOT should be avoided until all fluid temps are normal.

 

Just wait for the Nav system to boot - you'll be warmed up by then...

 

Warming a car up is a throw back from the carburator days. Today most new cars lite off their catalytic converter(s) within a minute. The PCM switches loop based on time, not engine coolant temperature. So start the engine, let the idle drop and drive normally.

Letting a car warm up before driving it is not really necessary unless you cannot see through the windshield due to ice or frost.

I WOULD NOT recommend WOT acceleration until the engine has reached full operational temperature.

A-Train

 

All I am sure of is that if you throttle it literally the first second or so you start it you could be doing major damage(at least in time) as some parts have virtually no oil on them.

 

he is on the money.. people think that just because you warm up the engine, you are fine... but everyone over looks the tranny fluid.. how is that warm if you are not moving...

 

One thing I'm unhappy about with our cars is that it doesn't come with a transmission temperature gauge. But most cars don't, although trucks do.

Engine warm-up and transmission warm-up should be treated separately. Correct me if I didn't understand you correctly, but it sounds like you're recommending driving off as soon as possible, in order to warm up the transmission. If that's what you meant, then I disagree. You should let the engine warm up (not necessarily its operating temperature), then start driving slowly and carefully, letting the transmission warm up. In other words, I personally break it into two steps; first the engine, then the transmission. What I do is let the engine warm up until it reaches its normal idle RPM which is about 850 on my car. Then I start driving, albeit slowly and easily, until the transmission has time to warm up (this one is based on a guess, since there's no transmission temp gauge).

You're absolutely right about the presence of condensation, although I wouldn't 100% agree about the fuel tank issue. The windshield-fuel tank analogy isn't quite correct, since the windshield is in open atmosphere, and because it's a plane and because of the temperature difference between each side of the glass, it's bound to collect condensation. On the other hand, the fuel tank is a closed atmosphere setting. Also, there have been lenghty debates on this issue on the forum in the past, and someone posted just exactly how much water would collect/condensate inside a fuel tank using some complicated math equations. Don't ask me how to do it, because I don't know. Haha. But the bottom line was that it's negligible.

 

We're on the same page with warmup and drive-off really. What I do, depends upon outside temperature, is to start the engine and left the RPMs come down off of fast idle. This is generally around 30 seconds or so. Then I drive up through my neighborhood and through the town in which I live to the highway. I take it easy and slowly through the neighborhood and since our town is only .58 square miles, I'm only around 9/10th's of a mile from the interstate. My engine is up to temperature by then and the tranny has had decent time to warmup.

You're right that the transmission warms up more slowly than the engine simply because there is combustion going on inside the engine. I have the manual transmission so internal trans temperatures are not as critical as with an automatic.

As for condensation in the fuel tank and on the windshield, I only meant to offer a guide or rule of thumb. Fuel tanks certainly do develop condensation but not to the degree that one might see on a windshield. Just a rule of thumb, that's all.

Both of my TL's are garage kept.. only my Ford Ranger pickup stays outside in the driveway. Garages tend to be a bit warmer than the outside even when not heated and there is no condensation on the windows when kept inside like this. Also aids in warmup.

There is a school of thought out there that you should warm up a car for a number of minutes until it reaches what appears to be operating temperature. Even 40 years ago with carbureted engines, this was not good. In fact with those engines, it was worse to do this than with today's electronically controlled fuel injected engines. This is due to the fact that today's engines are managed by ECU's which are very sensitive to fuel and ignition conditions. Carbureted engines could not do this so when letting an engine idle for 5 or 10 minutes, the cylinders were warmed up slowly and a fair amount of raw fuel would make its way into the oil pan. True most all would burn off, but acids and deposits remained. That plus a higher level of carbon buildup in the combustion chamber resulted because of poor burn conditions.

Anyway, a careful but rapid warmup is best. Careful is the operative word here.

 

Wow that was really helpful (I mean it), so I guess bottom line is to start up the car, wait for the rpm needle to drop, then drive off slowly.

 

yup... i always start the car, sit for 30 secs then go... but for the first 5 mins or so im either coasting, or very light on the gas pedal...

 

Hm. I always let my car idle 20-40 seconds before I go, but once I do start to drive I tend to drive it like I stole it as soon as possible. Maybe I better let it warm up more before giving it a full throttle.

 

 

When I park car outside in cold, it doesn't seem to need any warm up. I just drive away after 15-20 seconds. Car warms up really fast even in cold weather. My previous cars took while (5 to 10 min) to warm up. TL seems to take 2-3 minutes.

 

it is not necessory, but if u do it, it's good for u engine...

 

Wow! after southern boy and pure adrenaline's informative posts...does your post look naked :P

 

 

mio is truly the master of the one-liner.

 

I've never seen him post more than a few words at a time. It's his signature style...

 

I have AT -
So my habit has been:
* no (or little) idle-warmup - off I go
* coast (meaning no gas) or just little taps on gas, around the block a few times until the temp needle comes up to "normal".

So i guess by this time the tranny is warm enough too right ?

Is this method right ?
(i get looks from neighbors lol)

 

Do you guys know that TL has a diagnostic mode, which will display the exact coolant temperature in degrees?

 

would you care to show us where that is?

 

i usually wait till the rpm drops below the one and then just idle(no gas) for 30 secs. i think i heard my dad once say that warming up was for old cars.

 

Mine is not garage kept...I don't let it warm up much... just a few seconds...what I have noticed is it will shift a little harder till it is completely warmed up.

 

http://rapidshare.de/files/9175078/21-11.pdf.html

 

>> usually wait till the rpm drops below the one and then just idle

Isn't that exactly what you are doing ? : Warming up

 

Warming up is for sissies.

Turn the Key
Foot to the floor
Jam it into 1st
Sidestep the clutch
Peer through the tire-hop and the smoke
Steer around the little old lady in the crosswalk
Flip off the cop and scream into the distance.

 

haha huckleberry i guess your right

 

Okay, just 1 question... Why is it bad? Is it bad as in the improper way of doing it, or bad that will result in damage?

 

What do you 6-speeders do, do you upshift quickly during the first few minutes after a cold engine start? Or do you hang out in the lower gears (1, 2) until the engine is cool?

 

Bad for a number of reasons.

Your engine will warm up more quickly, and the oil will circulate faster, under load and at higher rpm's. Think of the fact that when the engine idles, there is less oil pressure and the oil is thicker at this time, so it may not get pushed up to where it is really needed.

Idling wastes gas. If you are in a really cold climate and everything is frozen, it may be necessary to let it idle longer so the defroster can do its job and also to get a little heat in the car before you drive off, but in less severe climes it is not a good practice.

The best method, IMO and practiced by many, is to let it warm up long enough to get your seat adjusted and your seat belt on, and then drive off in a normal manner without giving too much gas or accelerating hard until your oil has had a chance to warm up.

Remember, oil takes a lot longer to reach operating temperature than water. Also, the thermostat in the radiator helps keep the water from circulating until it reaches operating temperature, but the engine doesn't have this luxury.

I had an Alfa in Germany with an oil temperature gage, and in the 15 mile trip to work in the winter the oil temp needle hardly got off the peg.

 

Call me stubborn, but I've always let all of my cars warm up "properly" (a subjective term here, of course), meaning I let it idle for about 5 minutes or so. None of my cars ever had an engine problem, and none of them burned any oil whatsoever. And I drive all of my cars very hard, too.

I also change my synthetic oil at 3,000-4,000 miles. Some things I just do old school, the proven way (at least to me).

 

experts say once oil pressure is up you can drive away...but do not used full throttle until warm. The reason to to this is that if you warm up the engine fully the tranny is still cold... so it is best to allow both to warm up together. 10-15 seconds and then drive away slowly.

 

For once this thread is right about the warmups To extend Mickey3c's comments, the idea is that if you let the engine warm up for 5-10 minutes, the other parts of the drivetrain are still cold (presuming winter) and then you drive off with a nice fluid warmed up happy engine, and cold cranky other parts. The idea is get everything running and warming up (expanding, fitting, lubing) at the same rates. I've been told the same thing, get oil pressure, then you can go.

 

I doubt it makes much difference how you warm a modern engine up, unless you plan on getting 400,000 miles out of the engine.
Letting it idle to warm up IS bad though, they take a long time to warm up with no load, all the while the excessive fuel is washing off what little oil is on the cylinder walls, increasing wear, plus you are burning gas and not getting anyplace.
Average MPG will go down.

But for people who get rid of a car at 100,000 miles, you can do whatever you want, let it idle for an hour, or start it up and floor it right away, the motor will likely last 100,000 miles no matter what you do to it.

Brett

 

Define "right". You mean, YOUR way?

 

my house has a lil hill to it so I put in neutrel and let roll down in reverse till I hit the actuallt street...Than I put it in first and and dont let go past 2000rpm on every shift untill the engine is warmed up than I'll let let go to 3000 rpm on every shift change.

I have a manual tranny