Cold Start Oil ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I usually start & go after a few seconds to let the juices flow.
If it's cold, I usually go when I can see the road, but not always.
19.gif
 
Quote:
Yes, but correct me if I am wrong, it's the admonishment not to warm the car up mainly an emissions concern as manufacturers/Big Brother etc want the cat to light off as quickly as possible?


The point is that you're getting zero miles per gallon idling. The engine warms faster under load. Put the wasteful time to good use.
 
Originally Posted By: scoobie
i warm it up for 15 seconds at most, and it's cold here. i just drive it real gently for the first bit. make sure you have the thinnest oil possible, even get a semi synth. stony creek is a lot warmer than sault ste marie where i live.


This is an excellent point. Where I live ( western Washington ) it rarely gets real cold, and I garage my rigs as well. Since I'm not starting a frozen engine, I've never felt the need to let my truck sit and warm up before I go....I always felt it was a waste of gas.

Maybe it is prudent to let a very cold engine warm up before driving...
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Quote:
Yes, but correct me if I am wrong, it's the admonishment not to warm the car up mainly an emissions concern as manufacturers/Big Brother etc want the cat to light off as quickly as possible?


The point is that you're getting zero miles per gallon idling. The engine warms faster under load. Put the wasteful time to good use.


Yes but that's an emissions/fuel economy argument. Obviously if you lit a bonfire underneath your sump it would warm faster still. What I am saying is from a wear standpoint, I thought I'd seen discussed somewhere that faster wasn't necessarily better.

Like I said, I don't warm up my car any if at all. Okay, maybe every now and then to give the seat heaters a head start.
grin2.gif
But I know it's not necessary.
 
Yeah, if my driveway was on a busy state highway and you pretty much had to jump on it to get into the road and not get hit, you bet I would warm it up several minutes, at least until the temp gauge was in the normal range. But it will warm up faster with a moderate load.
 
Doesn't idling warm up certain parts and not others? Driving conservatively warms everything uniformly and a lot quicker. How does a transmission warm when not moving?
 
Originally Posted By: NismoMax80
Doesn't idling warm up certain parts and not others? Driving conservatively warms everything uniformly and a lot quicker. How does a transmission warm when not moving?


You can always put your foot on the brake and then put it in gear (Auto) and hold it there for a few minutes in very cold weather...on my Dodge Cummins I put the TCase in Neutral, shift into second gear and then idle at about 1200rpm for a few minutes when its around -20C and colder. Vehicle specific I guess.
 
Last edited:
There's cold, and then there's COLD! -10 to 0 celcius, I start, let it idle for about 30 seconds, then drive gently until it's warmed up.

-20 -> -30 celcius, I let it idle for a few minutes. There's no way I'm driving when the car is frozen solid, besides you can barely shift it, and the kids would freeze if you put them in the car at that temp... we have an autostarter in our house, it's called Dad, who runs out 5-10 minutes early to start it up
cheers3.gif
 
Definitely, when it is so cold that the engine cranks over very slowly and barely catches and starts, a minute or so stationary warmup seems wise.

Of course one has to ask onself why anybody would live in such a cold place, or in a hurricane prone place, or in an earthquake prone place, or in a place plagued with poisonous snakes, or in ..... hmmmmm, if I mention tornadoes I'll have to move, but there will be no place left to go.
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I wait until the tach is just south of or around 1000 rpm. I'm not a big fan or slamming an AT into gear or burning up a clutch releasing it while the engine is revving high. Usually where I live this means about a 2-3 minute idle with my older vehicles and about a minute or so with the new Jeep. If its extremely cold I'll wait a little longer. Its not the engine I'm worried about its the drive train.

Frank D


That is exactly what I do. The wife's Camry takes about 30 seconds to get down to 1,000 RPM, the Trailblazer takes about 15 seconds.
I also think it is not good to put the car in gear (especially an automatic transmission) if the RPMs are high. No real proof, just my opinion.

Of course living on the west coast we are spoiled. When I lived in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area I had to let the engine warm up enough to defrost the windshield - sometimes several minutes.
 
Last edited:
Hey.. Just wanted to say hello. I live in Binbrook. I have used Amsoil for years and let I only let my car warm up until it hits 100oF water temperature. I bought a Scan Guage that plugs into your computer ODB II computer port and you can monitor it. About 60 seconds or so.
 
Originally Posted By: Ndx
So... I Have 3 Cars 4cyl 6cyl x 2
And Always when i Start in Morning I let car idle for 30-60 Second ? should i let them idle more ... ?
Too long. As soon as it will run smoothly, drive it easy to get it warmed. There is no need to idle beyond the point where the engine will run smoothly. Idling wastes gas, pollutes, and does no good unless there is some reason you cannot start off driving easy.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Idling wastes gas, pollutes, and does no good unless there is some reason you cannot start off driving easy.


If it's that cold, the reason would be frost. It's tough pulling an Ace Ventura 'til the heater blows warm air.
 
You need to get an extension cord and put a heater inside your car, on a timer, as well as the block heater. I find that works wonders in my 95 Dodge Colt, which is otherwise MISERABLE if it's cold. Windshield is just one solid piece of ice, and it doesn't matter if you clear it, it instantly re ices. Probably in Japan it doesn't get so cold, so the Mitsubishi engineer overlooked it. The engine usually works extremely well no matter how cold, but the car interior and windshield is a totally different beast.
 
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Definitely, when it is so cold that the engine cranks over very slowly and barely catches and starts, a minute or so stationary warmup seems wise.

Of course one has to ask onself why anybody would live in such a cold place, or in a hurricane prone place, or in an earthquake prone place, or in a place plagued with poisonous snakes, or in ..... hmmmmm, if I mention tornadoes I'll have to move, but there will be no place left to go.
frown.gif


You get more linear systems with big wind than anything up there don't you? If I recall correctly, I think Michigan averages 11-13 tornadoes per year. One of these days when I get an avatar up it might make sense why I'm posting this reply
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: scoobie
You need to get an extension cord and put a heater inside your car, on a timer, as well as the block heater. I find that works wonders in my 95 Dodge Colt, which is otherwise MISERABLE if it's cold. Windshield is just one solid piece of ice, and it doesn't matter if you clear it, it instantly re ices. Probably in Japan it doesn't get so cold, so the Mitsubishi engineer overlooked it. The engine usually works extremely well no matter how cold, but the car interior and windshield is a totally different beast.


excellent idea, and put that block heater on a timer too to save $$ on electricity. Have them both kick in around 5am and you should be golden on those artic winter mornings... time to start watching the Canadian Tire specials again for timer and interior heater
08.gif
 
If it's warm out I'll wait a minute then tap the gas to drop the idle then go. But if it's cold I've always let the idle drop on it's own put it in gear wait another minute and then drive easy till warmed up. Guess I bought this car with dreams of keeping it forever
LOL.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom