I have a 1995 buick century 3.1 v6 and i always warm it up in the winter time for 5-10min is this bad? I know they said there is no reason to warm your car up for the newer cars but my car isnt a newer car its 18yrs old and i think its fine to at least give it 5min warm up when temps are in the 20s and below what do u guys think?
Warming up your car in winter time
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MrQuackers
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I put on my Elmer Fudd hat and Mechanix gloves and take off about 10-15 seconds after I start it.
You are going to get yes and no answers. Either way it isn't going to hurt anything but your gas guage. In the summer I only let mine warm up long enough to let it idle down on start up. In the winter, I usually let it go 5ish minutes. I like a warm car, and it lets my seat warmers get warmed up too, lol
I don't think 5-10 minutes of warm up time is bad, but I doubt it's helping much either.
My truck has never gotten more than a minute before it gets thrown into D, but it's still doing fine at 10 years/134K miles. I go easy on it (keep it below 3K RPM) until the coolant temp hits 160*F or so, but no other special care. It rarely sees temps below 20*F though.
My truck has never gotten more than a minute before it gets thrown into D, but it's still doing fine at 10 years/134K miles. I go easy on it (keep it below 3K RPM) until the coolant temp hits 160*F or so, but no other special care. It rarely sees temps below 20*F though.
For anything recent, it's best to let the engine idle until the computer can read the oxygen sensor and go "closed-loop". That will avoid the slightly over-rich mixture when cold.
A heated sensor, as found on most cars since 1996, will take between 20 and 30 seconds to reach minimum operating temperature.
A heated sensor, as found on most cars since 1996, will take between 20 and 30 seconds to reach minimum operating temperature.
Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
yea true what sucks about my car it does not have a rpm gauge so i dunno whats the idle at.
Just listen to the engine's RPMs begin to DECREASE from it's initial revving...15 seconds or so, up to 30 sec. for a cold/winter start, then you're good to go/glide away...I just don't accelerate very hard for 5 minutes...
If the engine revs at that initial speed for more than a half-minute, kick/tap the acceleraater and that will lower the revs...
yea true what sucks about my car it does not have a rpm gauge so i dunno whats the idle at.
Just listen to the engine's RPMs begin to DECREASE from it's initial revving...15 seconds or so, up to 30 sec. for a cold/winter start, then you're good to go/glide away...I just don't accelerate very hard for 5 minutes...
If the engine revs at that initial speed for more than a half-minute, kick/tap the acceleraater and that will lower the revs...
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
yea true what sucks about my car it does not have a rpm gauge so i dunno whats the idle at.
Just listen to the engine's RPMs begin to DECREASE from it's initial revving...15 seconds or so, up to 30 sec. for a cold/winter start, then you're good to go/glide away...I just don't accelerate very hard for 5 minutes...
If the engine revs at that initial speed for more than a half-minute, kick/tap the acceleraater and that will lower the revs...
+1
sound and RPM meter can tell you alot about how engine is doing at any given time.
my car rev starts at 2k and decreases to 1k after about a min and half. i ussualy start driving when it around 1.3k
Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
yea true what sucks about my car it does not have a rpm gauge so i dunno whats the idle at.
Just listen to the engine's RPMs begin to DECREASE from it's initial revving...15 seconds or so, up to 30 sec. for a cold/winter start, then you're good to go/glide away...I just don't accelerate very hard for 5 minutes...
If the engine revs at that initial speed for more than a half-minute, kick/tap the acceleraater and that will lower the revs...
+1
sound and RPM meter can tell you alot about how engine is doing at any given time.
my car rev starts at 2k and decreases to 1k after about a min and half. i ussualy start driving when it around 1.3k
Warm it up for your comfort, not for the car's benefit.
Remember the transmission oil will still be cold when you take off so go easy on it. It loops through the radiator but that won't warm it up for many minutes as your thermostat keeps coolant from getting there.
Remember the transmission oil will still be cold when you take off so go easy on it. It loops through the radiator but that won't warm it up for many minutes as your thermostat keeps coolant from getting there.
Warm it up as needed to defrost the windshield and get comfortable...a few minutes of idling won't bother the car a bit.
Since the transmission fluid wont start to warm up for a very long time I start the car and get my glasses on, seat belt buckled and adjusted and leave.
Carefully backing out of my spot, driving out of the compound and waiting at the bottom for cars to pass, and slowly going down residential streets with stop signs to a light...
If you keep the car under 2k rpm it is better for you to be moving unless you have an on ramp very close to you.
I'd rather warm up waiting for a red light that you'd need to do anyway.
The water jackets in an aluminum head allow the surrounding coolant to heat up VERY fast as it is held back by the thermostat anyway. So your combustion tolerances are in check very fast.
I use synthetic ATF (DW-1) so the shifts are very reasonable right away (the 1-2 isn't sluggish), but on a very cold day 2-3 is a bit rough, as the computer is calibrated to deal with thicker fluid at that temp I'm guessing, not the thin synthetic I have in there now (originally the car had the older Z1 fluid).
In the engine I use 0W20, so the engine turns over very fast on very cold days even with a very low CCA 151r battery (almost a motorcycle battery in size).
Carefully backing out of my spot, driving out of the compound and waiting at the bottom for cars to pass, and slowly going down residential streets with stop signs to a light...
If you keep the car under 2k rpm it is better for you to be moving unless you have an on ramp very close to you.
I'd rather warm up waiting for a red light that you'd need to do anyway.
The water jackets in an aluminum head allow the surrounding coolant to heat up VERY fast as it is held back by the thermostat anyway. So your combustion tolerances are in check very fast.
I use synthetic ATF (DW-1) so the shifts are very reasonable right away (the 1-2 isn't sluggish), but on a very cold day 2-3 is a bit rough, as the computer is calibrated to deal with thicker fluid at that temp I'm guessing, not the thin synthetic I have in there now (originally the car had the older Z1 fluid).
In the engine I use 0W20, so the engine turns over very fast on very cold days even with a very low CCA 151r battery (almost a motorcycle battery in size).
I used to keep it started for a while, now I never go more than a minute. The car has to be moving a long to really get any heat circulating.
I start it up, and when the tach drops to 1000 rpm or under, I go. I drive easy until the engine is warmed up.
I start it up, wait for the RPM's to drop a bit and drive easy for Most of my 3.3 mile trip back and forth to work. When coming out of the attached garage, I back out right away to avoid excess exhaust fumes in the house. When doing this I am not applying any throttle anyway, so no difference. Cars warm up faster when driven gently right away.
+1 All those above saying that as soon as the RPMs come down to where they can shift the transmission safely (i.e. under 1,000), they take off slowly.
Everything I've read is that there's no need to let a fuel injected car idle for 5-10 minutes to warm up. Engines aren't designed to idle, they're designed to be running at 1500 to 3000 rpm under load for long periods of time.
Everything I've read is that there's no need to let a fuel injected car idle for 5-10 minutes to warm up. Engines aren't designed to idle, they're designed to be running at 1500 to 3000 rpm under load for long periods of time.
This gets brought up every winter,yes its fine to warm it up,i do 5-8mins then leave,gota love remote start and a warm car. : )
For me, it depends on the temp. I try to start it up and drive, but if it's too cold and the inside of the windows fog up from the breath of the occupants, that's not safe either. Common sense and safety has to take precedent over saving a cents worth of gas. If the car has to warm up for a few minutes to avoid the windows from fogging up, that better than to be a peep-hole driver.
I believe that letting it idle to warm up causes bore wear and contaminates the oil. I say start it, put on your seat belt and drive.
The longer you let the engine idle with the ECU putting in cold-start enrichment, the harder it is on your oil. The sooner you put the engine to work propelling the car, the quicker it will warm up and get out of cold-start mode. I say keep the idle period down to the range of 30 seconds to 2 minutes, tops. This is just to assure that oil pressure is established before you drive off. Use 0w30 or 5w30 oil to minimize pressure lag upon startup.
I'm spoiled: my car sits in a warm garage that is always at least 40F, so I just start and go in the morning. The real cold start is when I get in the car to go to lunch at noon, or go home after work.
I'm spoiled: my car sits in a warm garage that is always at least 40F, so I just start and go in the morning. The real cold start is when I get in the car to go to lunch at noon, or go home after work.
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