How much engine wear occurs after warm up?

[FoxProTwisty]

Drats! My truck hasn't hit operating temp for about a week. Maybe I should microwave it on high for a minute before operation.

 

[KGMtech]

Drats! My truck hasn't hit operating temp for about a week. Maybe I should microwave it on high for a minute before operation.

5 minutes would be a better idea, but poke it with a knife first otherwise some bad mess might happen.

 

[oil pan 4]

From my understanding practically all engine wear occurs at cold start and until operating temperature is reached. Does any real wear occur after everything has reached operating temperature or does the oil film pretty much eliminate all metal to metal contact? For example, would there be any real engine wear from a 1000 mile drive on the highway where the engine was never allowed to cool down?

Assuming fresh oil and good maintenance of course.

Forgot to mention I was reading another pointy head paper that showed ring wear skyrocketed above 6,000rpm.
Which is inline with what we've heard about Winston/Nextel cup cars where "a 500 mile race puts 100,000 miles worth of wear on these engines". So keep the revs under 6k and your engine will love you long time.