Warming it up in the morning

[Nick1994]

What's a good rule of thumb you guys do for warming up your car to get the oil flowing? In the summer I generally let it run for about 15-20 seconds and take off, but in the winter I wait about a minute or a little longer. Note I am in Phoenix so these temperatures aren't very cold, until January or so where it gets into the 30s on a cold morning.

I've gotten up to leave and it's 30-35 degrees a d really cold and seen neighbors fire their car up and drive away nearly giving it enough time for the engine to start, and they put it in gear and take off. What kind of damage does this do?

 

[901Memphis]

Hard to tell what damage it does if any. Might not be too bad if they don't load it to heavy.

I wait until the revs come down to 900 in automatics.

 

[JHZR2]

If it was northern Canada, some warm up time might be smart.

For me, any temp above 30F, I start moving as soon as I turn the car on and buckle my seatbelt.

Usually by then, the RPMs have dropped.

If its colder, and the RPMs stay elevated, I usually let them settle a bit, then drive off. Never more than 30 sec or so.

 

[SXE10]

I like to warm my car up a bit before I drive it too. It's nice to have the heater that bit quicker on a cold winters morning. Only down side I can see is it may cause fuel dilution but is a few minutes classed as excessive idling? I guess its no worse than waiting at the lights right?

 

[supercity]

I have a habit of starting the car when I jump in the car. Other than getting ready to drive off I do not warm up the car at all. I tend to drive very easy until the temp needed at least starts to come up off the stops.

 

[simple_gifts]

< 1 minute for me. I also take "the long way" to a different on ramp; by that time i don't fear a burst onto the highway.

 

[y_p_w]

Block heater. Never thought it would be needed in Phoenix, but I do understand that it gets cold during the winter. I was there in Feb and it was 50s to 60s with a lot of visitors golfing when the temps were reasonable.

What I prefer to do is 10 seconds then let it go. However, I don't want to accelerate hard, so I've actually got a bunch of connected parking lots where I work. Can't do this at home though, as I live on a dead end street going uphill. I might wait 20 seconds and go gently.

 

[Nick1994]

I don't think fuel dilution would be much of an issue, especially for me because I have a 25-30 minute commute, it gets warmed up by then and then a 45 minute commute home all freeway

 

[spasm3]

I drive off i try to keep rev's under 2500 for the first few miles. But it usually only gets down to 10-15 degrees at the coldest, rarely 5-10 degrees.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
For me, any temp above 30F, I start moving as soon as I turn the car on and buckle my seatbelt.

+1

 

[chad8]

Has been proven forever. No warmup is necessary . Probably bad for an engine . Oil flows better at higher rpm's. Not at idle. All this cold start nonsense is pure fantasy.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
What kind of damage does this do?

Damage? You're in Phoenix, for crying out loud.

The goal is to get the engine up to normal operating temp quickly without putting excessive stress on it while doing it. Sitting in the driveway and just idling is not going to accomplish this quickly.

 

[simple_gifts]

Mods, move to the humor section. j/k

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: chad8
Has been proven forever. No warmup is necessary . Probably bad for an engine . Oil flows better at higher rpm's. Not at idle. All this cold start nonsense is pure fantasy.

Getting an engine warm before any kind of moderate driving isn't about lubrication. Even at 30 deg the system is probably thoroughly oiled after a few seconds. Issues with warming up are about expansion of metal to what it will be at full operating temps.

I remember reading about BMW's VANOS variable timing system. It wouldn't activate unless the coolant temp was measured at near the thermostat temp.

 

[crazyoildude]

i warm up all my cars if its 20 degrees it gets 5 minutes

 

[gregk24]

I live in sunny Florida, during the spring and summer I let it idle for about 15-20 seconds before take off, during the fall and winter I let it idle around 30 seconds to a minute just to get the oil flowing, the best warm up is to drive your car but keep it at low RPM's. Idling is only to get the oil flowing, not to warm it up.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
i warm up all my cars if its 20 degrees it gets 5 minutes


I let it run maybe 2-3 mins in dead of winter -20 to -30 celsius..if its warmer 30 seconds and go. The car warms up faster if you drive it rather than idle it for 5 min or longer. My car manual actually states to drive it slowly to warm up rather than let it idle. Not only does driving it gently warm it up faster, you get to where ur going sooner and waste less gas and pollute less..thats how i see it..

 

[raytseng]

here's my take

Your engine idle usually goes faster when warming up. I see some previous posts where people are even saying they wait until Idle drops down.

For all the people saying warming up is bad; then why does the ECU go faster during it's own "warm up" period. If it's damaging, it should be going at the slow idle speed and warm up as slow as possible.

Your engine even thinks it's better to idle even a bit faster to warm up. So I think you extend that logic and say you are fine once car is started and any safety checks are done. Just granny your way around at say a gentle 10% throttle or less pace, which will warm up your car faster than it's high idle (see it already wants to go anyway to warm up).

 

[OtisBlkR1]

even in the summer all my autos take 5-10 seconds of high RPM'S before things settle down.. as a simple rule of thumb in the winter, when your RPM'S settle its like a built in timer.. after they settle down the auto's ready to go. summer or winter, wait for the RPM'S to stop racing... then go.

 

[earlyre]

well, since i'm normally running late... i just get in, fire it up, and get going, then within 1/2 mi or so, I'm hard on the throttle, going up to 60 or 70mph in the first mile, in an attempt not to be late to work...
sometimes in the winter, i'll let it idle long enough to brush/scrape the windows.
then off to the races.