driving hard/high RPMs on cold engine/oil??

[TC]

"What exactly happens when people just start their car and take off like theres no tomorrow?"
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"Q: Is it harmful to rev my car's engine when I start it?"
"A: Yes. The startup period is the time when the engine experiences the most wear. By accelerating it before the oil reaches the top of the engine cylinders -- FIVE OR MORE SECONDS depending on the vehicle -- you can do a considerable amount of damage and speed up engine wear...It takes a few minutes for the engine temperature to warm the oil to make this lubricating process work properly."
http://www.shell.ca/code/motoring/tips/engines.html

 

[Ugly3]

quote:

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Originally posted by Palut:
I start the engine, wait 10-30 seconds before driving off, and then drive very gently until the coolant is up to temperature. I then continue to drive gently until the oil hits 180°, then I free myself to drive however I want.

When I didn't have an oil temp gauge, I would wait until 5 minutes after the coolant warmed up before letting myself gun it. Doing it that way, my oil would be around 150°-160°. Probably didn't hurt anything. Knowing what I know now, if I had no oil temp gauge, I'd wait about 8 minutes after the coolant warmed up before driving hard.

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Great "safe" program!

 

[Bryanccfshr]

THis brings me to the days whenI used to work at a construction yard doing fabrication work.

We would get off at 530 and race to our vehicles parked on the street, We would start them up and literally race to the stop light a mile down the road. That little 4 cylinder nissan frontier I had at the time probably got flogged that way 3 or 4 times a week

. I hated to lose and would floor it in second (no tach) but I sometimes hit the rev limiter. Fun memories! It ran bulk quaker state too.

I wouldn't do it now knowing what I know.. but I really knew it wasn't good then but I didn't intend on keeping it forever anyway.

Some cars are disposable and are treated that way. Is it smart, nope. But who does the smart thing all the time?

For my truck and the Outlander they are not disposable, we plan on keeping them along time. , The beamer????

who cares? I aint keeping it. Do I have a social responsibility to a used car buyer after me?? Nope. I only have to worry about keeping my end of the bargain with BMW. That means I insure it and put gas in it, drive like **** and follow the free maintenence schedule. I then turn it in before the warranty expires with a very clean concious that I kept my end of the bargain.

There's a lesson to be learned here.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Typical driving cycle of the minivan/SUV Soccer Mom. That's why you see 2 year-old vehicles with blue smoke. I have formulated a rule for idling at cold start, tell me what you guys think. How about: 1 sec ide for every degree blow freezing (f)? Above 32f, just drive off. Below 32f, like +20f you would wait 12 sec, +10f would be 22 sec and so on. Seems about right to me.

 

[vwoom]

Every morning, I have this habit of not revving my B5 1.8T past 2k..not until the needle of the temp gauge points past the first three thick degree bars from 0*F...I have this practice irregardless of ambient outside temp.

By the time I'm near the fwy onramp(2mi away from home thru side streets), the temp gauge points at 190*F/operating temp.

 

[Palut]

quote:

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Originally posted by Audi Junkie:
Typical driving cycle of the minivan/SUV Soccer Mom. That's why you see 2 year-old vehicles with blue smoke. I have formulated a rule for idling at cold start, tell me what you guys think. How about: 1 sec ide for every degree blow freezing (f)? Above 32f, just drive off. Below 32f, like +20f you would wait 12 sec, +10f would be 22 sec and so on. Seems about right to me.

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I think that you should have a minimum number of seconds between start-up and drive-off. Say, 10 second minimum, and then start adding seconds as the temperature drops. Whaddya think?

 

[TallPaul]

I remember back in the 70s a guy at school who on a cold winter evening after class would fire up his car and rev it about 2000 rpm (judging by the sound) for a minute or so and then take off. Of course it could have been a beater and so no matter, but it sure made me cringe.

My guess is he was after heat.

 

[crossbow]

On a Mazda6, if you exceed 5,000 rpm's when the coolant is under 160F, it throws a false misfire cel.

Then you bring it into the dealer they mark down "owner abuse" and give you a nice speech about not trying to redline the car 30 seconds after you started it.

BMW solved this problem in the M3 by having an adaptive redline. The redline gets higher as the car warms up.

 

[Kestas]

Every morning I start the car, drive a few blocks, then I'm off on the freeway doing 80. I don't get heat until halfway into my commute. This 15-year-old car still runs like new. The body will fall apart before the engine needs attention.

 

[99]

quote:

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Originally posted by the_oil_dealer:
What exactly happens when people just start their car and take off like theres no tomorrow?? Millions of people do it everyday, not waiting until their oil/engine is at NOT... can things get damaged? does the excessive viscosity of the oil provide any protection?

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Beating on a cold engine with cold oil is a good way to spin a bearing or more drastically, blow the engine if someone gets real stupid.