Cold Engine on Highway

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Sawdusted

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Guys, I live about 1/2 mile from the freeway entrance. 1/2 mile of city street driving with minimal traffic. Usually by the time I hit the freeway everyone drives at the 70MPH speed limit btw, the temp gauge would have just started moving.
If 1/2 way is normal operating temp, it would have moved about 1/8th of the way.

Would I be doing damage to the engine and/or transmission going 70mph on a lukewarm engine/transmission? I would imagine it's going to be a little worse when winter arrives (40s temperatures)

Vehicle is 2006 Corolla 1ZFE if it makes a difference. Should I warm up the engine to normal operating temp before going 70mph on the freeway?
 
I'd drive it around the block to warm things up and hop on the highway slowly not exceeding 3k rpm till everything warms up.

Remember that temp gauge only measure coolant temp in the engine, not oil engine oil temp, transmission oil temp, N/A but transfer case & differential could be another.
 
Nope. We used to live in a similar location - very close to the highway and my commute required the use of that highway.

No matter how cold it was, things just worked fine with me starting and go-ing on the highway. By the time you get to the highway, while the engine was still cold, the oil is flowing and relatively warm. I would try to avoid high RPM operation if possible, but if I needed to romp on it, that's what it got. And no I didn't feel guilty about it either.

It was interesting to note that on really cold days (10 F) the weird noises my previous car (Infiniti G35 6MT) would make for the first 1/4 mile or so as things warmed up. We're talking weird transmission noises and such. In the 100k I owned that car, never an issue. Only reason I sold it was commuting in bumper to bumper got old after 6 years.
 
The problem is me waking up to leave home at 6am. I never got out of bed earlier than 8am before i took this new job. Dang my bio clock is wrecked now
wink.gif


I have a small window to leave home before my 35 min commute becomes 50 mnis to an hour! And it won't help as the days are getting shorter and the weather getting cooler. Yes, cooler as I reminisce of my wid-west days.

Looks like I'm going to have to wake up at 5am.
frown.gif
 
I live 0.9 miles from work, and my car never reaches operating temp while going to and from work, I think I am in a worse situation that you. At least your car hits operating temp on your way to work to burn off excess fuel/moisture. I think your car will be fine, just dont go above 3K RPM before its warmed up.
 
I used to work construction, and we had a long job where we would all park right at the top of the freeway entrance ramp. I took the freeway home every day, and I just accelerated up to speed real slow. I also used to live on a 50 mph main road where you had to step on it to avoid getting hit, cold engine or not. Just be easy on the throttle, accelerate slow.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
40s? haha. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

For sure. If it were the -40s, then start worrying.
wink.gif
I don't drag race up the on ramps shortly after I start my vehicle either, summer or winter, but if 40 F were as cold as we ever got, I'd be laughing.
 
Its a Toyota,they claim they last forever no matter how you abuse it....so,I would rest easy.The Toyoda family wouldnt lie to you...would they?
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Naw get in it and go. You will wear the car out before the engine or trans.


This.


Worry about something else - not this non-issue.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
(I never romp on the gas pedal).



You ain't much fun...
 
I'm not far off the highway and in early mornings I just take it easy (drive normal.. no hard accelerations) while getting on the highway, drive along with traffic while the temp gauge works up to normal.
Been doing it for years with a handful of vehicles and never a issue. We can get down to teen temps in winter. If ice is on the windshield, then the vehicle will get a little pre-warmup as long as it takes me to scrape off some ice, but usually I'll run less than a minutes... as long as it takes to set up (gps, radar, coffee, cell), then I drop it in gear and go.
 
You could always get a remote start installed and let it warm up before you leave. Otherwise, you're running 5w30 PP so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
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My car only idles for as long as it takes for me to take down the sun shield or get it into gear if I'm pulling it out of the garage. I keep the RPM's at less than 50% of redline until the water temp gauge shows that the car is at normal operating temperature. At that point I'll remove the RPM restriction.
 
I have a Bluetooth OBDII scanner and Torque Pro on my smartphone. I try to keep it at or under ~2k RPMs and watch the coolant temp until it's at 170F or so, which is when the thermostat is fully open (though it seems to stabilize at about 176F). My Pathfinder has an oil cooler so that undoubtedly helps the coolant heat up faster, plus it's not like it gets cold in Florida. The coolant temp gauge is at the normal position at about 152F IIRC.
 
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