warming up the car

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: lipadj46
Yes butt warmers help a great deal.


I miss the butt and side-view mirror warmers...

I wouldn't make any blanket, "stay below X RPM," statements when it comes to driving a cold engine. I'm not singling any one out; just making an observation. My auto 97 Subie shifts at around 2200 most times, even when cold, with out a problem. With the STI, however, anything less than 2k RPM has no power and feels like I'm lugging it. I shift at ~2800 RPM.

I'd say RPM isn't quite as important as load. I prefer slowing getting up to 2800 RPM to shifting below 2k RPM and having to mash on the gas to accelerate. This isn't as much of an issue with DBW cars, but I still think the lower load vs RPM way of thinking applies.

 

[Silber Igel]

Reflections on warming up.... After reading this thread and voicing my opine.... reflecting on the issue as I zoomed off to town on a 32F morning on a cold engine.....

Cold engine start ... immediate jump to 1800- 2000 rpm and racing away... slowly drops to idle speed as engine warms up.

Cold engine start ... drop in gear 1800-2000 rpm drops to ~1000. Drive off and with in two blocks whip up to 60-65. Engine's turning about 2000 rpm in third/fourth gear... Except you are going somewhere.... the wear, tear and carbon build up is probably less under this scenario.

No difference I can see except saving a bit of gas and pollution by getting underway as soon as its safe to do so vs. letting the engine whine away in the drive...

Gathermewool is on track, me thinks... its all about the load and most engines aren't under heavy load.

 

[Greggy_D]

If it's in the teens, I walk out in my pajamas and boots and start the car up. Go back in, get dressed, and gather my things. About 10-15 minutes later the car is at least blowing a little heat. The stick is loose, as well as the steering.

Who cares if I "waste" a tiny bit of gas. I paid for it.

 

[HighViscosity]

I try to wait one minute before driving away gently, as my minimum. My cars a stick so I try to balance between slipping the clutch and lugging the engine starting out when cold.

A fun experiment you can do at home is as follows:

when you go out to start the car on a cold morning, raise the hood, take off the oil cap and have a flash light ready. As soon as the car starts start counting, and run around to look in the valve cover. Keep counting until you see the oil start to splash.

Its scary how long a 10w-40 conventional oil takes to flow up there. That was the common grade not that long ago.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
One minute (or less) takes care of the car. The other nine minutes takes care of me.



Oooh! Thats dangerous thinking! Don't you know some "wise" ones here have decreed that we serve cars, not the other way around?

Naw, my daily driver (a 2000 Ford Taurus) also known as "Bubbacar" and I have somewhat of a symbiotic relationship. I give Bubbacar approximately 3 tanks of gas a week, a nice driveway to park in, name brand radials to sport around in, an oil change every 3K with name brand Dino, and regular maintenance. In return, Bubbacar gives me ten minutes of quality warm-up heat in inclement winter weather and a warm round trip to work Monday - Friday. In the summer, Bubbacar gives ice cool Air without warm-up and the same trip schedule. Bubbacar gets weekends off. Bubbacar gives me dependable service and in return I keep Bubbacar off the used car lot. This relationship has gone on for over nine years and 191K miles.

 

[heypete]

I let my 2006 Camry idle for about 10-15 seconds before moving off to ensure that oil is properly lubricating all the various components.

Although the filter's (I use Toyota OEM filters) anti-drainback valve should have oil flowing to all the various parts quickly, I prefer to err on the side of caution and give it a few seconds.

Being that I live in Arizona, I'm not remotely concerned with warming up the engine from a cold start, but rather with ensuring proper lubrication.

When I'm up at the telescope (where it can drop to +20F), I'll let it idle for 30 seconds or so before moving off.

 

[Avelectro]

My commute is just two kilometers so I compensate in a few ways. First, I let my engine run until the catalytic converter air pumps stops (one minute) before I drive off. Second, I use Shell Rotella T6, 5W-40 which has a high TBN and higher than recommended viscosity to combat the fuel dilution common with RX-8s. Third, I change this oil earlier than normal, at 3000 miles.

I think these three practices should prevent my engine from being damaged by the oil not being warmed enough.

 

[JohnBrowning]

When I was a young Tech in Germany 60 seconds was the Offical standard set by the German Government. If your car would not idle and run on it's own at that point then it was not in a proper state of tune and needed maintence. If you do not have positive oil pressure with in 30-45 seconds and full pressure in 60-90 seconds in aircraft depending on the engine manufacture you shut the engine down!

 

[OLAFF]

I start my car and the Idle is at 1200RPM, then within 20sec it drops to around 1000RPM... and within 60sec its down to 700RPM... Idle normal is 500RPM so, usually by the time I settle myself down, power up the toys, GPS, ALpine, and buckle up its ready to go.

I still drive easy until I pull onto the main road and then I go as normal.

Any more then 60sec is a waste of gas.

 

[CourierDriver]

Since its been colder, at 10 degrees my warm up is mostly for the tranny, as if I drive off immediately, the trans stays in low gear longer b 4 shifting, if I let it idle for 10 min. it shifts quickly, thats my story and Im stick n 2 it.