Jalopnik on warming up cars

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When an article title is "Exactly why you should...." I expect to find solid factual reasons to justify "Exactly why I should...". Even knowing the general theme of Jalopnik and the author one would hope for less editorial and more fact. Getting linked on the MSN.com crawler give him exposure to the masses who don't share his affection for old weird cars and general car knowledge who are now thinking about the molasses in the engine of their new Camry. Idle for 30 seconds, sure why not? But to recommend letting a new car idle for 5 minutes? Bull exhaust.

Hyperbole; exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally, indeed.

Wait, maybe the guy saw Shannow's recent video of the cold oil, yeah that's it....
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Saw the link on MSN page and took a look. Seemed reasonable until this:

"Even on a brand new car, you’d still likely want to wait 30 seconds or so for that cold, molasses-thick oil to work itself up from the oil pan, but, generally, it’s true you can start up and drive off, and that the car will warm up quicker when driving."

Considering most brand new cars spec 0W or 5W oil just how cold does he think it is?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/ownershi...Q6Hf?li=BBnbfcL


well it was -21F for a couple days in a row here in the middle of Iowa...usually when it gets this cold I will wait a good 30 seconds or so for things to get moving. I am guessing the 5w-30 PP I use in that engine probably is getting close to molasses consistency at that temp.
 
Something I read on here, and I follow it: My cars are machines that work for ME! I'll burn some more gas or "hurt" the car by running it fofrr a few minutes so I can have some heat when I get in the car to head to work.
 
I am woefully old-school when it comes to cold weather starting. I act as though my cars have a manual choke and let the car idle for several minutes as though waiting for the choke to open.

Necessary? Probably not. Harmful? I don’t believe so except for the wasted few drops of gas and extra exhaust
 
Originally Posted By: DriveHard
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Saw the link on MSN page and took a look. Seemed reasonable until this:

"Even on a brand new car, you’d still likely want to wait 30 seconds or so for that cold, molasses-thick oil to work itself up from the oil pan, but, generally, it’s true you can start up and drive off, and that the car will warm up quicker when driving."

Considering most brand new cars spec 0W or 5W oil just how cold does he think it is?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/ownershi...Q6Hf?li=BBnbfcL


well it was -21F for a couple days in a row here in the middle of Iowa...usually when it gets this cold I will wait a good 30 seconds or so for things to get moving. I am guessing the 5w-30 PP I use in that engine probably is getting close to molasses consistency at that temp.

Leave a jug outside and shake it, it sure won't be sloshing around. I'm always amazed that oil pumps as well as it does in the cold, and doesn't cavitate but I guess they aren't high volume pumps at idle and the oil doesn't flow out of the bearings as fast either.
I can't say I ever sit in a car and wait before I drive it, if the windows need clearing I'll start the car and do that, but if they are clear I just go. It takes 30 seconds to get out of my driveway at 1800 rpm so I figure that's good enough.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Heat is your engines friend. How you act on that information is your own choice.


I will be draining my coolant and removing that silly radiator.
 
The article (aka 'click bait') read like a high school writing assignment.

In the cold I fire an engine up and give it a 10 seconds or so to stabilize. I too live on a hill so I let the car roll merrily along.

What hasn't been mentioned is the flat spots on our tires. When cold enough you can easily feel 'em as you drive off.

I go real slow as the flat spots work themselves out.
 
If it's really cold, my vehicles make enough weird noises that I wait until they stop to get moving-power steering on the MGM, piston slap on the 6.2, unknown clatter on the xB, and the ever-present numerous Jeep 4.0 noises. The glory of owning older vehicles!
 
warm day: idle while i put on seatbelt, turn on bluetooth/pandora, etc, i.e. a minute or two. cold day (now near Of here in n.e.): idle until temperature guage moves off zero, scrape windows, etc, i.e. 5-10 minutes.
 
I have to laugh at you warm climate guys. If you ever started a engine in the really cold and herd what it sounds like, I bet most of you guys would get scared and turn it off instead of driving away.
 
I see the point for properly cold engines like we don't get in the UK. Maybe allowing the engine to spin over for a short while helps get oil pumped round the transmission too?.

Claud.
 
I wonder if these Jalopnik people will go out to their cars in -20F temps, start them up, idle for 30 seconds and just go? I certainly won’t do that to my car. In normal weather sure that’s fine. I’m not into idling the engine for 30 minutes either but at least get some consistent oil movement through the engine before taking off. Transmissions hate cold weather too.
 
Originally Posted By: Planb
I have to laugh at you warm climate guys. If you ever started a engine in the really cold and herd what it sounds like, I bet most of you guys would get scared and turn it off instead of driving away.


I have never been in weather below zero and have no endeavors, unless i'm in space. lol




Respectfully,

Pajero!
 
I love these "cold start ---> drive" guys that are from below the 30th parallel. Listen to a car stating up at -15F once and get back to me. It's ain't exactly comfortable driving around in a walk-in freezer for five minutes either.

Jalopnik told me driving a car heats it up quicker. Thanks for that. Next they'll tell me driving a car uses gas quicker too.
 
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
The bad thing about driving off in a stone cold car? Sometimes the windshield can fog up very quickly and then freeze in very short order bringing visibility down to zero in just a few seconds.


Yup. Just about every day I see some nimrod going down the road with every single window frosted on the inside.
 
Unless you live where its cold, give the keyboard a break and learn from those that do.

I live where it can get cold. Last week it was in the -10F to -36F (-23C to -38C). This week it is 34F-41F. Even the very best oil gets to be table molasses consistency at these temps...even thicker cooking molasses type. Engines groan, suspension is stiff, chassis squeaks rarely heard of occur. Unless the car was sitting in a heated garage prior to start, Getting into a car and going at those temps is a ridiculous thought. Frozen fogged up windows (that is inside the cabin) need heat to allow vision and allow movement of parts in the cabin. Sure you can bundle up but how is your reaction time with mitts, snow boots and a parka on? It isn't going to to jack if you can't see out the windows and you can get a ticket for obscured view if you don't.

Once you can see out the windows you can ease into the drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRaQWe8XZLE Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KEwIePdinQ Molasses
 
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