Is there any practical benefit to letting a passenger car oil warm up before driving?

[Davejam]

Yes, practically it does matter.
But depends on how cold we're talking and what RPMs you intend to drive at.
I'm in N.FL and have a 5min leisurely drive out of my neighborhood, so it never makes sense to do so, even on the coldest day which might be ~25F.

Generally if the oil is well within its flow regime, generally 0+F you should just drive very moderately for the first 5-10minutes, keeping RPM<2500.
You probably need to scrape ice off anyway, so have the car idle while you do that.
If you cant guarantee that and your drive has you accelerating fairly early then let it warm up a bit.

 

[Donald]

As soon as the oil pressure has built up you are good to go. But I would not drive like you stole it until the engine warms up a bit.

 

[Danimal1q2w3]

HUGE practical benefit...for me. I'll let that sucker sit for 30 minutes or more. Heat cranked. Seat and steering wheel heaters on high... When I decide it's time to go, everything is nice and toasty, I'm comfortable, and can see out the windows safely.

A vehicle is a tool built to serve; a slave if you will. It's going to depreciate and break despite your best efforts.

Saaame. I let my car Idle 10-20 min every day in the winter before I get in… sometimes twice if I have a chance to remote start before I go home. It’s meant to serve me. I use a grade higher too so even if dilution was a concern I’m not worried

 

[incognito_2u]

This guy believes in the 6,000 RPM cold start. (8:40 in the video).

It actually hurt to watch that car turn over!
And how about their use of Jack-stands😵. Would YOU crawl under that?
“In Russia, you don’t Jack-up Car, you Jack-down Earth”! 😂

 

[wpod]

It is dangerous to drive with iced up windows and the defrost not functioning and what about the rapid uneven expansion of certain engine parts.

 

[CheezWhiz]

no one is wearing out engines in 2021 by driving off too soon after they start up. just go, man!

 

[atikovi]

In colder climes, start the car, put on the seat belt, wait for the computer to fully load and go, but don't gun it yet.

What computer and what is it loading?

 

[BrianApp]

Just think of how many millions of vehicles have been started up 100s of times in temperatures at 20F or below. How many have blown-up or hit the junk yard too early because the engine was smoked from cold starts. The most important thing is to use an oil with the correct "W" (Winter) viscosity rating for the worst cold start conditions you will see, and to always let the oil warm up pretty good before revving the engine too high. Keep the engine below 2500 RPM until the oil is warmed up pretty good from easy driving (around 15 min). Or if it has an oil temperature gauge then go by that.

I realize there are millions of cars doing hundreds of cold starts and drive off but most people don't expect their cars to last past 10 years or 200,00 without major problems so I don't go by what the majority of people do. Everyone seems to expect cars to just die at 200,000 and are fine with that. I don't know whether it is the engine or how I treat it but I have only had expected wear and corrosion maintenance on this 5F SE camry engine in 340,000 and want to keep it going. So millions of people can do cold drive offs and kill their car at 200,000 but I want mine to last past 500,000.
Are high revs the only thing to keep in mind on a cold engine? The post says to not go above 2500RPM on a cold engine but I never go above 2500 all the way to highway speed of 60MPH. Does load on the engine or vechile speed ever enter into the things to keep low on a cold engine?

 

[Warlord]

Unless you live right beside an on ramp and have to gun it right away 30 seconds will do. Usually by the time the windows are clear and you’re all situated and finished muttering under your breath about the weather your vehicle will be ready for action.

 

[930.engineering]

.
The 'practical benefit' of letting it idle for say 15 minutes
simply is that you'll enter a heated car and that's about it.

If you feel that's necessary get a block heater with remote.
.

 

[PimTac]

.
The 'practical benefit' of letting it idle for say 15 minutes
simply is that you'll enter a heated car and that's about it.

If you feel that's necessary get a block heater with remote.
.

Or, wear a thicker coat.

 

[The Critic]

I realize there are millions of cars doing hundreds of cold starts and drive off but most people don't expect their cars to last past 10 years or 200,00 without major problems so I don't go by what the majority of people do. Everyone seems to expect cars to just die at 200,000 and are fine with that. I don't know whether it is the engine or how I treat it but I have only had expected wear and corrosion maintenance on this 5F SE camry engine in 340,000 and want to keep it going. So millions of people can do cold drive offs and kill their car at 200,000 but I want mine to last past 500,000.
Are high revs the only thing to keep in mind on a cold engine? The post says to not go above 2500RPM on a cold engine but I never go above 2500 all the way to highway speed of 60MPH. Does load on the engine or vechile speed ever enter into the things to keep low on a cold engine?

Engines do not die from engine wear at 200K, at least not Toyota engines. The vehicles get retired for various other reasons - leaks, expensive non-powertrain wear items, cosmetic issues, etc.

I belong to the start and drive it immediately crowd. Fuel is too expensive to waste.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I live in sunny Silicon Valley, in one of the hottest towns in the Valley. I cringe when people crank and go...
With today's 0w oils, who knows. I give it a minute, regardless. My old Tundra gets 2 minutes...
And I take it easy for the 1st few minutes; I live in a residential area anyways...

 

[TumblrDucks]

As a hybrid owner I usually wait until the first time ECM command engine to stop, typically around 3 min. Enough to make seat warm and give myself sometime to check if I got everything before leave.

 

[PimTac]

The biggest problems with modern rings are the drivers/owners that don’t keep up with regular oil changes.


Once the oil pressure is up you are good to go. Thirty seconds. Maybe one or two minutes if the temperatures are down there. Drive off easy for the first bit until the engine is warmed up. In really cold weather, if you have to scrape then that takes care of the warmup. There is no need to idle excessively. Gasoline is too expensive for that and in many communities leaving your car idling alone is a invitation to lose it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

wait for the computer to fully load and go, but don't gun it yet.

What are you driving, a Windows XP car?

I remote start the Hondas to get the seat and steering wheel heaters going. It runs for 5 minutes and if you don't get in the car you can start it one more time for 5 minutes. I'm not worried about idling with 0w20 oil. Gets into the single digits here at the coldest.

 

[UG_Passat]

As other people mentioned, back when I lived in the rust belt, wait for idle to drop, then drive off. Heated seats help tremendously...and now I have a heated steering wheel.

In Canada, block heaters are more common. Also newer TDI owners got Zerostart heaters, to heat up the coolant and circulate it while plugged in. Back when I had a TDI, to get it to start and turn over, I had to cycle the glow plugs a few times... and that motor (ALH) would never heat up, even if you idled it until you ran out of fuel... you had to drive it to heat up the engine to operating temperature... if you were coasting down a mountain, you'll see the temp gauge drop as the engine cools down.

 

[supton]

It is dangerous to drive with iced up windows and the defrost not functioning and what about the rapid uneven expansion of certain engine parts.

Thats why I own multiple ice scrapers. Start car, clean windows, get in and go. Sometimes I have to crack a window open to prevent icing on the inside, but only for a couple of miles.

*

What did people do, while at work, before remote starters? Did they just sit in their car until it warmed up? Don’t know about others but I am certainly not wasting time in parking lot at work!

 

[ae101]

As much as i want to drive it immediately, my concern is to defrost the windshield, mirror and windows. It is outright dangerous to go when you are unable to see clearly.

 

[dubber09]

I look at it as letting engine run for 15sec or more is to let oil flowing and somewhat warm up the engine. Not warming up oil per say.
Then don't rev it up much for first couple of minutes of driving.