I idle my work car 15 to 20 minutes before I leave for work and again when I leave. Then drive two miles, had this car since '92 and she now has 46000 miles. This is only in the six cold months and it would safe to say I have more time idling than driving this car.
Warm up idling
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I'm with Patman. I start it up and pull away.
Pretty interesting stuff. Sorry for bringing this up again, there have been recent discussions of this same topic at least two times since Dec. 2006.
Pepper32,
I would think that in Fairbanks that your car or truck would be in a garage and probably use a block heater. On warm days (-10 F) do you still need a 20 min warmup? I am guessing you are refering to the cold mornings (-35 F).
Pepper32,
I would think that in Fairbanks that your car or truck would be in a garage and probably use a block heater. On warm days (-10 F) do you still need a 20 min warmup? I am guessing you are refering to the cold mornings (-35 F).
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Because I work outside I startup so as to have a warm auto. At 0F and above it's start and go. My car sits outside 24/7 has a block plug and battery warmer. This cars has been through 14 winters without any trouble. If you drive by our local theater you will see a parking lot with vehicles idling while the owners are watching the movie.
Patman
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That's one of the reasons why GM V8s can have such a long life, because if you've got one with an automatic transmission you could easily keep up with traffic while still keeping it below 1500. In fact in the winter time when I can't go full throttle very often, I could go an entire week without going much above 2000 rpm.
In my wife's automatic Honda Civic, if I drive it with a very light foot I can keep it below 2000rpm during the warmup cycle, although if there is any traffic behind me I need to get it up to about 3000 in order to go with the flow properly.
patman, same for my 98 fords i
very seldom make it to 1500rpm even when i drive 55 mph goes about 1400 rpm...nice american cars!!!
i start up for one minute and take it easy till its warmed on my honda while its cold it adjusts the shifts to warm it up effectively and keep wear down. on my other cars i wait 2 mins minium
I let it idle for at least a minute to get oil flowing, but then drive it carefully. She sounds very different when cold so I wait the five minutes of easy driving then all is well and heat is on. with the truck I can keep her under about 1600rpm and moving along is no issue. Once I get rid of the clutch fan and go electric, she will warm much faster than now.
Yeah, it's really engine-dependent. In small engines, you could be doing more damage by accelerating at such very low rpm because you'll just be lugging it.
As for me, I let it idle for 15-30 seconds, drive slowly through the driveways, and then just keep the rpms below 3000 and don't floor it for the first 10 minutes or so.
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1 sec / Deg F below freezing. +20f = 12 sec at idle. +10f = 22 sec at idle.
I warm up the engine until I can tell the oil is flowing, as the rpms come down abit from the initial start. Usually about 1-2 min in cold weather, driving slowly until the engine temp goes up.
With temps here sometimes as low as -15 during the winter months, I'll let my vehicle warm up for 10-15 minutes.
Done this for years,never hurt a thing!
Done this for years,never hurt a thing!
Patman
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It was only 6F here this morning when I started up my car, and it was parked outside overnight. I only let it run long enough for the oil pressure to stablize at 47psi (which was about 5 seconds) and then off I went. I don't understand why people feel the need to idle their cars during these types of conditions, I wasn't even super cold inside the car, the heater started working pretty well within 2 or 3 minutes.
During the typical NY winters off of Lakes Ontario and Erie, a vehicle needs more than just a few minutes of warm up time. My wife and I have been warming up our vehicles for many, many, years beyond 10-15 minutes. For what may seem rediculous to other, is normal to us. It takes that long sometimes to clear off the snow and ice before one can see clearly enough to see safely. Then after you've cleaned off all of the snow and ice, you will almost need a change of clothes or at least a good brushing off for yourself. In the mean time the vehicle is still idling. I generally keep our vehicles between 15-17 years, 250,000-300,000+ miles and do this every year in the winter and have had no engine related issues because of excessive idling. Waste of fuel? Sure!...Bad for the environment? Probably!...Engine problems? None!...Driving to work on a 0* morning in a toasty warm car! Priceless!
I'm always amazed at how fast those little Honda engines warm up. My wife's Civic heater is putting out warm air in less than a mile. My steel block V8 takes a little longer.
When there isn't any snow or ice (summer maybe?) do you still feel the need to warm up your car for 15 minutes if it is only 10 F outside? Along with the waste of money and harm to the environment, there is also the issue of whether it is better for your car. I realize there are lots of people who do this not only because a warm car is nicer to get into, but because their father told them you have to warm the car by idling for 10-15 min in the cold weather or you will wreck your engine, this is not the case. I am not claiming that a warm up will wreck your engine either, just that it is unnecesary. I think most of our Canadian members (who see some pretty cold weather in most cases) do a shorter warmup than we do in the US, in part this reflects gasoline prices of over $3.40 per gal (approx. $1 Can/liter). If prices were still over $3/gal in the US like they were last summer, warm up times might shorten.
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