They're all crazy.....our job is to search out the ones with the least amount of snakes in the head.
Yes, warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine
- Thread starter BlueOvalFitter
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JHZR2
Staff member
Like everything in engineering, there are balances, there are trades, and there are objective facts.
You’re right, the trade is getting fluids flowing a bit, making some heat, and letting things expand. The issue is that no load is pretty poor for that versus light, controlled loading. Nobody is advocating to drag race out of a parking spot after a sustained low temperature sit.
The challenge is the finding of objective outcomes and facts. Engines are extremely robust, resilient things. Like Brooks & Dunn said, “you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone”. Power electronics and batteries are nowhere as robust and resilient, regardless of what the cars in the wild show… but I digress. The challenge here is that maybe someone could do some UOA, some dyno testing, etc. but it’s next to impossible to actually get consistent, statistically significant results that can be matched to each other, in conditions like this. And given that most vehicles succumb to rust or accidents, or poor maintenance, it’s next to impossible to tell a 200k survivor vs a 500k survivor based upon how they warmed it up in fringe cold conditions. Objective fact is a real challenge to get….
Total BS
This whole thread makes me glad I moved to a warmer climate.
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I'm guessing after a long day at work, when it's time to go, he's ready to haul a** out of there!
I stayed where you are located one weekend. There is a "warmer" climate-and then there is you location. The summer is miserable.
The article seems backwards. If you have fuel condensing and washing away the oil, you'll further the problem by giving it more fuel, more cold air, and more piston strokes by not letting it idle for a while. However that period is less than a minute.
Conventional wisdom has held that starting your engine is when the most wear is put on it. Automakers have plenty of experience over the past few decades and if they felt it was better for the engine to idle faster for a few minutes, they could easily do that.
Conventional wisdom has held that starting your engine is when the most wear is put on it. Automakers have plenty of experience over the past few decades and if they felt it was better for the engine to idle faster for a few minutes, they could easily do that.
It was minus 7 today.. idled my toyota v8 90 seconds to get some oil flowing then drove slow for a few mintes until I got up to 40 mph on local roads. I had zero heat for about 7 or 8 minutes.. so in minus 7 its not 120 seconds to heat. If its 30 or 40 out you might be correct.Yep, but try telling that to the wife.
"You will have to drive in a cold car for 120 seconds before the heater starts blowing and the seats warm up, so we can get an extra 500 miles out of this car"
Let me know how that works out
'Extra wear' - I have no doubt.
Enough extra wear to make a measurable difference over the life of the car? Not so sure. Maybe if it was a chronic warmer upper that let the car run 30 min at idle every single day.
I broke all the rules today, I guess.
1. It’s just under 0F and I started my car and pulled it out of the garage, got out and lowered the manual door, and drove away. No warm up.
2. I drove a whole 4 blocks to the grocery store. It was terrible with 30mph winds and blowing snow
3. While in the store I left my car running, though locked, since I only drove 4 blocks. My thinking was more about the battery than anything. I normally walk or take my bike to this store, but not today.
4. After shopping for 10 minutes I drove home.
I suspect I’ll get 150k miles out of this car with no issues with the engine. It’s hooked up to the trickle charger now since I doubt it will get driven for another week.
1. It’s just under 0F and I started my car and pulled it out of the garage, got out and lowered the manual door, and drove away. No warm up.
2. I drove a whole 4 blocks to the grocery store. It was terrible with 30mph winds and blowing snow
3. While in the store I left my car running, though locked, since I only drove 4 blocks. My thinking was more about the battery than anything. I normally walk or take my bike to this store, but not today.
4. After shopping for 10 minutes I drove home.
I suspect I’ll get 150k miles out of this car with no issues with the engine. It’s hooked up to the trickle charger now since I doubt it will get driven for another week.
Not at the temps we had in wisconsin today. 2 minutes driving my v8 sequoia and I had zero heat. Poor heat started in about 7 minutes. Took 20 min of driving to get normal temp guage readings. It came off the bottom of the guage a bit after a few minutes.. but heat was not much.. like warming a warehouse with a blow dryer..
My neighbor was a garage door tech and he warned against using those 'heavier' panels, so I went with the foil ones. That could be why your garage is warmer than mine. Mine isn't fully insulated either, only the walls that directly share an interior wall are. The entire south wall, for instance, is just siding and exterior sheets (maybe there's insulated panels in between - no idea). I was told that you gain little by insulating in order to retain heat or cold if you're not actively heating or cooling the space.
I am curious and am going to check the garage temps today.... It hasn't went above 0º F here today. Sitting at -1º F and was as low as -10º F earlier this morning. The door was opened (twice) in the past 2-3 hours as well but not left open longer than needed !
When it’s cold one can warm up, put blankets on, etc. When it is Phoenix or Vegas hot, one can sit, cry and die.
You have heat there in the Winter. We have A/C here in the Summer. Talk to the people in Michigan who are without power and heat now. Ask them which they would prefer.
Vegas is filled with tourists every Summer. The only sweating they do is when they flush their kids college money down the drain at the crap tables.
I don’t need to talk to people in MI. I spend some time in trench on -25, so have pretty good idea about heat and cold.
I warm my car up even in summer. In winter, I won’t move the car till my water temp is at least 110F-120F. I want my pistons to expand before putting any form of load on them, let alone 22-23 lbs of boost.
You also get higher dynamic cylinder pressure, more heat in the cylinders, better combustion efficiency, improved fuel vaporization, and what higher amount of fuel wash there may be lasts for a much shorter period of time. Idling is rough on an engine, whether cold or warm.
Al, When you are idling, you are getting 0 mpg and loading the exhaust system with acidic water.
My little car uses over 0.8 gph idling tapering off to about 0.4 gpH with some heat in the engine.
Multiply this time 100M people in the U.S. you are wasting resources with extensive idling.
I used to do the same up north during the winter. Run out, start her up a good ten minutes before departure making sure the defroster was set on high. Cleared up the windshield and got the cabin warm.
My 2013 Tahoe has over 9200 hours, from Minnesota, and was owned by a police department. I’m sure it’s had a lot of cold idle hours and runs just fine. Now with a newborn baby I have to let the Tahoe warm up. Can’t put her into an ice cold vehicle.
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