How long do you warm up before you drive off

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I know this topic has been posted....but now that it's getting colder, I'm curious to know how long do you warm up the car before you drive off. On days like this (low 30's and below) I just let it warm up for 30-45 seconds MAX and just drive off slowly.


I guess what prompted me to post this was that I brought my car in to the dealer for service. I got there about 10 minutes early and had to wait till the service dept was open for business. I watched as the dealer techs turned on about 10+ loaner cars and just let them sit there idleing. I guess it's safe precaution on their end because I always drive loaner like rentals .....I drive it like I stole it
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[ December 14, 2004, 10:54 PM: Message edited by: chefwong ]
 
I usually let it run for about 30 seconds...just long enough to let the oil circulate while I put in a CD, put on my glasses, etc. Anything under about 5 minutes isn't really "warming" anything, so I doubt there would be any increased benefit in waiting longer than 30 seconds if you don't wait for it to actually get warm.
 
quote:

Originally posted by chefwong:
I know this topic has been posted....but now that it's getting colder, I'm curious to know how long do you warm up the car before you drive off. On days like this (low 30's and below) I just let it warm up for 30-45 seconds MAX and just drive off slowly.


I guess what prompted me to post this was that I brought my car in to the dealer for service for service. I got there about 10 minutes early and had to wait till the service dept was open for business. I watched as the dealer techs turned on about 10+ loaner cars and just let them sit there idleing. I guess it's safe precaution on their end because I always drive loaner like rentals .....I drive it like I stole it
grin.gif


It depends, on my truck I would like to just take right off, but the darned windows fog up pretty bad, I usually have to wait a few minutes but no more than 5. The jetta doesn't seem to be as bad, which is good because it's a diesel and won't warm up unless their is a load. Good thing is that it has heated seats and will start to make heat in as little as a mile, though I stay out of the turbo as much as possible until it pretty well warmed up (around 10 minutes)

Hope this helps.
 
It depends, if there's ice or a lot of snow on the window, I start the car, then get out and scrape off the ice and snow, get in, buckle up and drive off. If there's no snow or ice, usually I just start the car as soon as I get in, buckle up, make any little adjustments I need to the mirrors ans such then take off.
 
If there is snow, I scrape off the drivers/passenger windows, and the windshield, then start the car and do the other windows.

If the windows are clear of snow, I get in, start the car, let it sit for maybe 5 or 10 seconds, then start to move.

I have a turbo gauge on my one car, and tachometers on all of them. Until it warms up, I keep shift points to 2000-2500 rpm. I wait until its at least halfway warmed to let the engine rev to 3000 RPM. I also watch the turbo gauge, and try to keep the boost as minimal as possible until its warmedup pastthe first mark.

I have seen that its best to have light load,since it allows better warmup, with potentially less wear than just idling.

JMH
 
I usually start it with my foot to the floor, then just drop it into gear. Is that wrong?


I wait in cold weather for the RPM's to drop to 1k. In summer I usually just wait a couple ~ 15 seconds.

Joe
 
quote:

Originally posted by techie2:
I usually start it with my foot to the floor, then just drop it into gear. Is that wrong?

I had a rental car for a month last year when I wrecked my jeep. I would start it up and immediately rev it to 3000 (as high as it would go in neutral) just to get the heater working quicker.
grin.gif
 
One thing which really bothers me about my wife's Honda is that the rpms stay pretty high on cold starts. It'll rev up to 2000rpm immediately after a very cold start, and it'll hang there for a few seconds, and then settle at 1500, which I still think is too high. Most other cars I've owned will only rev to 1500 at first but then settle at 1000 right away on a cold start.
 
I warm it up for as long as it takes to put on my seatbelt, at which point the oil pressure gauge is at 40 psi (normal for cold idle). Then I just take off. By the time I've rolled down the driveway, I'm sure that everything's been well oiled. After that, I just take it easy until it's warmed up.

Of course if I have to scrape windows, I let the car run with the defroster on full while I'm doing it.
 
I call my wifes method the "start and dart". I swear the car hasn't even finished starting,when its in gear and shes gone. It drives me absolutely crazy,I've asked her a thousand times to give it at least 10-15 seconds before she hammers off down the road.

I start my truck the same way winter or summer. I'll start my truck,and let it idle while I get my son strapped in his car seat. It takes about a minute,and then I go easy on the throttle until the oil pressure starts to drop as it gets warm.

[ December 15, 2004, 06:47 PM: Message edited by: Stewart Fan ]
 
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