Warm up idle or drive and go?

[Bulli]

usually we turn on the car, take off all the snow from all the windowns, lights,roog and what not. that onlone is 2 minutes. then get in the car and wait another 2 minutes. and then Go. Sometimes the car warms up tp to 6-10 minutes.
oh , sucks haveing a intake during winteraswell

 

[daman]

I ALWAYS let 'em warm up......would never just jump and go;


winter around 5-8 mins

summer around 5 mins

 

[bar1]

If the car was parked outside I start the car, wipe windows (snow or ice) and drive.

 

[Cutehumor]

if engines were blowing up from lack of idle, it would have been posted on this forum a LONG time ago. fuel dilution kills an oil, so why idle 5-10 minutes? unless you hate sitting in a cold car.

 

[bar1]

And if you hate sitting in a cold car, install a block heater or Webasto/Espar heater.

 

[daman]

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if engines were blowing up from lack of idle, it would have been posted on this forum a LONG time ago. fuel dilution kills an oil, so why idle 5-10 minutes? unless you hate sitting in a cold car.

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Never have F/D problems..not an issue for me...

 

[pp_rp]

Get in and go but drive nicely the first 20 mins.. Winter or not.

 

[SevenBizzos]

I really don't have an extended idle startup on the outside car unless it's below freezing (just arbitrarily chosen) and then it's a minute or two. When it's getting close to or below I go out and start it and finish things inside for 5-10 minutes. I don't like driving in a cold interior longer than I have to.

 

[Auto-Union]

One older car my woman drove was slow to warm up so I ran a space heater to the inside of the car, d/s floor. She would plug it in via extention cord about 5 minutes before she was ready to leave in the morning. Good alternative

 

[lars11]

1. Most important: get the oil pressure up and then a little while to make it flow throughout.
2. Drive gently, avoid revving or stuttering until hot. Just as good as idling or better.
Remember the oil works at all temps if the right oil is in, the problem is that it pumps slower if cold (really cold). Your comfort temp is not the same as the oil's.
When really cold, i use a block heater too. Feels good to get warm quicker in winter...

 

[Drivebelt]

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I have a second ignition key, and keyless entry, so i go out, and start the car with the spare key, put on the parking break, and lock the doors. … Sometimes, if it is really cold in the morning, I let the car warm up for 20 min. Sometimes, I have to leave at night, 11pm-4am, and I let the car warm up for 30 min. …I start the car, and turn the heat & defrost on. Then, when I make it out to the car, the inside is toasty, and the windows are clear.

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That's pretty close to my routine in the middle of winter when it's cold. 15 - 20 minute warmup

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if engines were blowing up from lack of idle, it would have been posted on this forum a LONG time ago. fuel dilution kills an oil, so why idle 5-10 minutes? unless you hate sitting in a cold car.

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When a car is sitting outside in the winter … say … -20C (-4F) overnight, if one starts it, idles for 1 minute then drives off, you will be throwing a … lot … more fuel through an engine that is not running very efficiently (because it is so cold) than if the engine is warmed up. The least amount of fuel one can put through a cold engine during warm-up is by letting it idle. I think I could make a good case that fuel dilution will be less in an engine that is idled to warm up over one that is driven off sooner in cold weather.

Also, I find that when it hits ~ -15C or lower, idling to warm up the engine does it about as fast as driving -- as least going by how long it takes warm air to blow out of the heater. There was a post in another thread that made similar observations …

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link … …I personally monitored my cars warming up and at a cold temperature of -20c I started the engine and I monitored the engine temperature electronically through my car's onboard computer. From -20c to 25c it took 3.25 minutes which is when I drive away.

This is where things get interesting. The car actually doesn't get warmer faster when driving. Driving at 50km/hr for about 10 kms, the engine from 25c only went up to 52c in that relatively long distance.

So driving your car doesn't warm it up faster, the engine when at idle in the driveway got up to 65c in 5 minutes which is less time than it would take for it to reach that temperature after 10-15kms or more of driving.

So just for anyone's information, your engine will actually get warmer faster in the driveway in 5 minutes than it will get when driving under light load.

I had to see it to believe it and it is true.

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[Merkava_4]

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When a car is sitting outside in the winter … say … -20C (-4F) overnight, if one starts it, idles for 1 minute then drives off, you will be throwing a … lot … more fuel through an engine that is not running very efficiently (because it is so cold) than if the engine is warmed up. The least amount of fuel one can put through a cold engine during warm-up is by letting it idle. I think I could make a good case that fuel dilution will be less in an engine that is idled to warm up over one that is driven off sooner in cold weather.

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^ I agree . . . good post.

 

[bar1]

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When a car is sitting outside in the winter … say … -20C (-4F) overnight, if one starts it, idles for 1 minute then drives off, you will be throwing a … lot … more fuel through an engine that is not running very efficiently (because it is so cold) than if the engine is warmed up. The least amount of fuel one can put through a cold engine during warm-up is by letting it idle. I think I could make a good case that fuel dilution will be less in an engine that is idled to warm up over one that is driven off sooner in cold weather.

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^ I agree . . . good post.

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I do not agree... I'd like to see Drivebelts proof of less fuel dillution when idling. Why doesn't most engine manufacturers recommend this if it was that good...
I've lived in areas that have winter temperature below -45C. Never did extended idle but I did wait until rpm drop (a couple of minutes max). At these temperatures a good block heater is required anyway...

 

[Auto-Union]

Anything over a minute is excessive.

 

[SargeGTO]

I let em get up to pressure ( maybe a few seconds) then just ease on down the road until up to temp.

 

[Oilgal]

I wait, until my oil pressure gauge shows me, that the oil has warmed up enough to be circulating well. I don't go by the coolant temp gauge.

Maybe I am wrong, and if I am then please explain it to me. But I also think that your rings will heat up and expand, a lot faster than your cylinder sleeves will, and so I wonder how an engine that is cold, and idling to warm up, could possibly have more blow by to cause fuel dilution. That makes no sense to me logically. My vacuum gauge also shows that my rings seal better when the engine is warmed up.

 

[Craig in Canada]

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When a car is sitting outside in the winter … say … -20C (-4F) overnight, if one starts it, idles for 1 minute then drives off, you will be throwing a … lot … more fuel through an engine that is not running very efficiently (because it is so cold) than if the engine is warmed up. The least amount of fuel one can put through a cold engine during warm-up is by letting it idle. I think I could make a good case that fuel dilution will be less in an engine that is idled to warm up over one that is driven off sooner in cold weather.

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^ I agree . . . good post.

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I disagree. Idling doesn't generate the heat that a light load does, nor does it warm anything but the engine. At idle, the engine will take 10 times as long to warm up and may never warm up fully.

I've found that in all but one of my cars it won't even reach operating temperature idling in the cold temps no matter how long you leave it particularly with the heater on sucking heat from the engine.

This issue has been discussed to death... I start up and drive gently. My manual recommends that too. You want the engine at cold and uneven operating temperatures for as short a time as possible. Even in frigid temps my engine is warmed up (the coolant anyways) in just a couple of minutes.

If it's really cold, say below 0F, I'll let the engine run for up to 30 seconds. In all situations I keep the revs low, throttle light and short shift unless I'm placed in an accident avoidance situation. I'll also sometimes purposely keep the HVAC turned down to let the engine warm up first. In a previous car with a full manual AC system I'd set the defroster vents to low fan speed and cold air - taking no heat from the engine but keeping my breath from fogging the glass. After getting a 1/4 reading on the temp gauge I'd slowly turn the temp up to warm, not hot. On my current car with automatic climate control, I'll usually force the fan speed to a lower setting but leave the temperature on auto until there's some heat in the engine, then let it go full auto.

I've done UOAs after this practice in the winter and fuel dilution and wear were great.

UOA 1

UOA 2

 

[Virtuoso]

If it's just me in the car, I'll start it up, let the idle stabilize, and then gently drive away. Probably takes about a minute, maybe two.

If I have to haul the family/kids/baby around, and I have time, I will let the engine warm for 5-10 minutes while we prepare to leave..fuel dilution be ****ed.


I think this is akin to the dino/syn debate...I've seen tons of people who idle their engines, and tons who don't...and both sides have cars that last a long time. Perhaps with modern oils it's more of a non-issue.


I do remember that a friend's late 60s Ford Galaxie had a "Cold Engine" light on the dash, and according to him you really weren't supposed to drive the car (or maybe drive it hard) until the light was off.

 

[tackleberry625]

I start mine and let it run 3-5 mins then take off slowly. But my truck is only started once every week of 2. It stays in the driveway covered up so it wont catch a cold. I do live in sunny Miami FL so that may have something to do with not letting it run long in the "winter season"

 

[Jethro]

Warm up AND cool down.... Turbos need TLC.