Warm up car in cold weather?

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
One thing I have noticed-if you drive a Chrysler built vehicle, and it has the original PS fluid, you'll need to idle for at least a minute or 2 in subzero temps until you can turn the wheel! I usually wait for any unusual noises to stop & baby it until it reaches operating temperature.


Funny you say that. Because my charger is exactly like that.

Look. If it's -10c outside I don't feel any real need to warm up my vehicles. It's just not that cold.
In -30c it's a whole different animal so yeah my appliance will be warm so I can steer it properly and it's not revving to the sky trying to get warm on its own.
In the cold we are experiencing now the ecu tells the transmission to hold the gear longer in order to raise the rpm and warm the car faster,which in reality is harder on my car than letting it idle up to temp with no load.
I dunno what kind of cars some members here are driving but in -30c my car achieves 190f oil temps and 203f water temps,so those guys who's cars don't get warm at idle must have engine problems or something.
None of my vehicles have a problem attaining operating temp until the temps dip to at least -40

 

[BISCUT]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
We get these questions every time it gets cold, there are lots of different opinions. I'm in Valley Stream probably not far from you, it was 4°F here this morning. I let the tach tell me when to take off. I start up, and when the tach hits ~1,000 rpm I go. It took a little over a minute this morning. That has worked well for me. I don't like slamming into drive or burning up a clutch. Opinions vary.


I do the same. No science behing MY logic on this one; but it makes me FEEL like the tac settling means it's ok to take off. I do keep RPM's low until she's a little bit warmed up.

 

[Zaedock]

How many cold weather threads do we need in the PCMO section.


The threads in this site have become too contaminated. No wonder the search function sucks.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Clevy

A vehicle is an appliance built to serve my needs. In winter my needs are to be warm.


Fully agree. Vehicles exist to serve man, not the other way around. Too bad more folks don't realize this.


I'll 3rd this... Below 50* mine will run long enough to start making a little heat and at freezing it'll run till it's close to fully warmed... Today it's going to be 20* for a high so I'm staying home, that should please the BITOG police...

 

[Kestas]

This morning my windows were frosted over on the inside. I scraped off most of it so I could see safely. It was so cold I drove my whole 10 mile commute with heat full on without the windows ever defrosting. And no, I can't crack the windows open. Everything is crusted over with ice until the next thaw. The car sits outside.

 

[EricF]

I've always let the car warm up till the idle drop to about 1000, personally it's just to let the oil flow, and let things do what they're gonna do on their own vs. me pushing it do it faster.

in this weather, I let the car warm up and idle away, turn on the heater and go back inside for 3-4 minutes. I don't feel I'm hurting anything. the warmup can't do anything wrong.
I have electric rack & pinion, I don't have the steering problems in the cold!
if the windshield is frosted, I just turn the defroster on and go back inside. a few minutes back and the frost turns to slush and I can just use the wipers to wipe away most of it. the rear defogger works great for melting the ice build up on the back window too.
If I'm in a hurry, I spray the deicer stuff on and go.
But I do let the engine do its own thing. Modern or not, doesn't matter to me. It's only 1 time in the morning I do this, it's pretty much fine for the rest of the day

My reasoning for doing a warm up stems from my '89 Firebird.
I drove myself to school, it was 2 miles away. I'd start the motor and go. I got, seriously, 86 miles on 13 gallons.
AFter my freaking out (thankfully gas was 90cents a gal then), I let it warm up for minimum 2 minutes, I got my regular 225 miles back. From that day, my car always got a warmup for at least the 2 minutes, which was enough for the fast idle to lower down to at least 1000-1100.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
This morning my windows were frosted over on the inside. I scraped off most of it so I could see safely. It was so cold I drove my whole 10 mile commute with heat full on without the windows ever defrosting. And no, I can't crack the windows open. Everything is crusted over with ice until the next thaw. The car sits outside.


I usually run the defroster on cold. Does seem to help a bit.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
A vehicle is an appliance built to serve my needs. In winter my needs are to be warm.

Precisely. Otherwise, I'd be walking or on the bus, right? If I want to freeze, I don't need to be in my car to accomplish that.

 

[Doog]

This morning it was -12F with a 20mph wind blowing so I am guessing the wind chill was about -20F. I started my car, pulled out of the garage and let it idle. Came out 10 minutes later and the temp guage was still on cold.

Went back in the house for another 10 minutes.

 

[Oil Changer]

I let my truck run for about an hour while I cleared the drive. Shut it off and went back in the house.

 

[Mach1Owner]

I wake up, take my shower, get dressed. make my breakfast and eat it. Then I use the remote start to turn my car on while I brush my teeth and get my coat/bag. I get in get settled, find a morning show i like or connect my phone, then I'm off. I still drive under 2500RPM until the transmission and things have had time to warm up

 

[Cristobal]

I always wait a minute or so so the oil can get up in the galleries. If it is very cold I will wait a little longer. The coldest I have run into in recent years while on a motel trip was 6 degrees F. up near Death Valley.

 

[Hyde244]

Started the engine, waited 10 seconds, and began driving below 2,500 rpm this morning in -9 degrees Fahrenheit. My engine did just fine.

 

[Tzu]

Just kidding, but I only warm my car on days like today (-2F degrees/ -30F degrees windchill) for a half second to help off set global warming by doing my part to reduce wastefulness

Pennzoil Conventional is good stuff. Engine was stone cold... quiet. Plus my 0.35mpg increase was especially rewarding. Truthfully, my car had a 10 minute warmup while I took the dog out to pee and when I got in to go, it was comfortable enough to enjoy my coffee and not care less about the half-quart or less of gas I just used, let alone the 60 mile round trip I was just about to make. Was it worth a dollar to me for a warm car? Oh yeah!! But it's your car, do what is best for you.

 

[kschachn]

I always start my car with the gas pedal flat against the floor, so that when it does start it will immediately rev to maximum and warm up fastest. Keeping my foot on the gas I drop it into reverse, this helps the transmission fluid warm up quicker. Out of the garage and into the street, I drop it into drive and keep moving. I found that if you push the brake pedal very hard it will stop even at WOT, this helps the brakes to warm up quickest.

By the time I get to work even at yesterday's -18, I can assure you it is well warmed up.

 

[redhat]

A little redline for a good time.

 

[CHARLIEBRONSON21]

I don't warm the car for the engine. I warm it so when I get in, I'm not freezing.

 

[D189379]

Only if its really cold and I need warm air to keep the the inside of the wind shield clear. Cold blowing air doesn't quite cut it when its -20C.

 

[Lex94]

Do modern cars somehow defy physics?

Always let the car warm up at fast idle without load for a couple minutes. Allow the car to churn the taffy into oil without loading the engine. The taffy churning itself is too much load on the bearings.

 

[Clevy]

Honestly. -10c to -15c I don't need much of a warm up however -30 is cold. Cold enough that I'm not sitting in it and that's all there is to it.
If I lived down south and all I experienced was -10c cold I might put a jacket on because that isn't cold.
When it's cold enough to freeze the tires out of round and they need a few mikes to roll right well then I'm letting it get warm.
I'm not interested in wearing my insulated overalls and dress for -35 in my car just so I can sweat and drench myself just so I can freeze once I get to work.
I don't understand what the excitement is all about. If it's cold let it run. It's not like anyone is asking obamacare to comp the gas for warm up.
If the bitog police are so concerned about warm up times in these brutal cold temps that they aren't living in I suggest trying out this type of cold then comment.