Should You Warm Up Your Car Before Driving?

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Here's the video. He suggests that theres no need to warm up a fuel injected car, but I just don't feel comfortable with this. I live right near the highway and I definitely do not like pushing a cold engine from 25-55 when merging. Even at low RPMs driving local, if I don't take about 2-3 minutes to let it warm up, the temperature gauge takes forever to reach proper temp. Maybe its all in my head?
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Do y'all in Canada, Alaska, MN, WI etc. warm up your fuel injected cars? Any reasoning behind it?
 
Leftover myth from carb'd cars. It's been a hard one to kill too.

I never warm up my car if the glass is clear and I can safely see all around me. Start the car. As soon as it's off high idle after 20-30 seconds proceed away at 1000-2000 rpm. I make it a point to maintain 2000 rpm during the first 5 min or so to speed up the warmup. If the highway were only 1/4-1/2 mile away I'd run up to 2500 rpm max while on the on-ramp. Once on the highway I'd be in overdrive at 1800-2200 rpm to continue the warmup. Slowly driving the car by putting a load on the engine is the best way to warm it up. And nothing "bad" happens. Just don't nail it at 3,000-6,000 rpm until warmed up. There have been a half dozen threads on this topic over the past 2 months....worth reading.

Long Island is similar to coastal Connecticut temps. My cars reach normal coolant temp range in the first 1-2 miles (3-5 minutes of driving). Normal oil temp may take 5-10 miles. Slow and overly conservative warmups (long idling periods) is just another from of short tripping. Account for that during your winter oil change calculations....if equipped with a decent OLM that will account for slow warmups. If I lived in Alaska or upper Canada I might do it differently. -10 deg F would be about the worst I'd ever see...and rarely under 0 deg F. But even in summer at 85 deg F ambient is a "cold start" and the same rules apply.
 
The reason isn't related just to carburator ineffectiveness, compared to efi. The reason to warmup is to avoid wet blowby at load . But it doesn't mean you need to wait the water temperature to raise up, because in 40-60 seconds at fast idle, the pistons and rings got enough thermal expansion to avoid wet blowby at load. The wet blowby is composed of sooty fuel, mostly and that causes cranckcase oil contamination and dilution.

Yep.
 
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I don't warm up. I just drive normal (under 2500 rpm) for at least 2-3 miles before I mash on the gas. I think u only need to warm up the vehicle if u are going to mash on the gas pedal right after starting it.
 
30 seconds to 1 minute is plenty for a modern fuel injected 4 stroke gas engine when the temps are below freezing. Any longer and you are at risk for clogging the catalytic converter, washing the oil off of cylinder walls, etc. Plus your transmission doesn't warm up just sitting there at idle. Drive GENTLY and you'll be fine. I've never had a problem in 10+ years of doing this, although I am fortunate enough to have a garage now which is nice. It was -2F this AM and my coolant temp started off at 21F.
 
It gets brutally cold here in the northeast. I just wait about a half minute then drive under 30mph and 3000rpm until I hit the highway, usually a 5 minute drive.
 
Depends on temp above 40F 15s then go.
above 15f about 1min idle (back out of garage too)
below 15f 2min or so.

Drive with low throttle keeping rpm under 3000.
 
I recall reading about the torture tests that the Ecoboost motors went through; but that's not to say all OEM's test their engines to that level. But running WOT while exchanging 100C coolant with -40C coolant (and vice versa) makes the typical cold start sound pretty tame by comparison.

30F and up, I don't let it warm up. I don't WOT either, but honestly, at 30F and up I probably wouldn't shy away from it either. 20F and down, I usually just drive, unless it's first thing in the morn and I'm home--in which case any excuse is a good one to go back inside for a couple of minutes.
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Necessary? No. Only at like -10F and down do I think it's necessary, and really only until idle stabilizes.

Now, every other system in the car won't like the temps. An automatic will slowly warm up, as will a manual, but transfer cases, diffs, etc--not so much. So really, letting a car warm up is really for your benefit not the cars--you still have to drive gently after a few minutes of warmup anyhow.
 
Originally Posted By: NoNameJoe
It gets brutally cold here in the northeast. I just wait about a half minute then drive under 30mph and 3000rpm until I hit the highway, usually a 5 minute drive.


Not really. The wind just makes it feel colder, but it doesn't effect engines anymore than the ambient temp (temp before windchill).
 
OK, I have some opinions about this. But the truth is, it prolly does not matter.

Think stand-by generator at Hospital or Airport - 5 seconds from 0 to WOT and full load.

Think Fire Truck or EMT Ambulance, same as above. And they last well over 150,000 miles ...

Or, think USCG and rescue, cold marine engines - 0 to WOT and full load and rough seas and high winds and ... They do not die early.

But, I hate to do this to my turbo's. I want to make sure they have some heat before they spin up to 100,000 RPM. It's just me, but I will let them have their minute or two at idle before I start getting on it. I live on a busy road and I have to hit the throttle to merge out of the driveway, so I need to have some responsiveness when I do...
 
Remote starter user here. I warm my cars up, but not for the car's sake but for mine and my family's. With more than one person in the car, the windows fog up very quickly and it takes a long time to defog them while driving. If it's very cold, the fog quickly turns into frost and is even harder to get rid of.

However, when I leave work afternoon and because of the sun my windows will not fog up as quickly, I will get moving after about 30 seconds of idle.

As far as idling to prolong engine life, it's a total myth, with the exception of those who flog the car right off the bat, but for those, I highly doubt idling helps much.
 
I don't warm up my fuel injected vehicles. A complete waste of time & resources in my opinion. I've always said that the best way to warm up a vehicle is to DRIVE it. I keep it under 3,000 RPM & light acceleration until the engine is up to temp.

The only warming up I do is waiting for it to come down from high idle.
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Originally Posted By: NoNameJoe
It gets brutally cold here in the northeast. I just wait about a half minute then drive under 30mph and 3000rpm until I hit the highway, usually a 5 minute drive.


Not really. The wind just makes it feel colder, but it doesn't effect engines anymore than the ambient temp (temp before windchill).


It was 3F when I got up this morning. No breeze, but I still think of it as "cold". When we get negative temps I do think of it as "brutal", and don't spend much time outside.
 
I remote start mine for about a minute, usually enough to put my shoes on, grab my wallet, and get downstairs.

Fiancee does about the same, except she leaves so early in the AM that she will let it idle while she clears windows, ect.

Summer time I don't bother.
 
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Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
OK, I have some opinions about this. But the truth is, it prolly does not matter.

Think stand-by generator at Hospital or Airport - 5 seconds from 0 to WOT and full load.

Think Fire Truck or EMT Ambulance, same as above. And they last well over 150,000 miles ...

Or, think USCG and rescue, cold marine engines - 0 to WOT and full load and rough seas and high winds and ... They do not die early.

But, I hate to do this to my turbo's. I want to make sure they have some heat before they spin up to 100,000 RPM. It's just me, but I will let them have their minute or two at idle before I start getting on it. I live on a busy road and I have to hit the throttle to merge out of the driveway, so I need to have some responsiveness when I do...


Those engines will have constant on battery float chargers and block heaters to support the operation. Also may have a battery bank to limit the first acceptance of load.
 
If it's really cold, the oil flows slower. I like to warm it up a bit before I bring those RPMs up. If you can drive under 3k rpms, then it may be fine driving right off. I personally prefer to warm it up for a little bit, plus I like warm air.
 
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