tarun900

Ok, so my car is parked outside and when I have to go to school in the mornings, and (here in texas, the weather is pretty random) this week, it's been iced over all week. Me, being me...I wake up pretty late and have to rush to school. So after I turn on my car, I give it like 30 seconds and then start driving. Are you "supposed" to wait till the temperature gauge passes the "C"? Cause I think that would take a while at idle. But then the car is kinda rough when you drive it when its cold (if you know what i mean). I've also heard mileage is lower when you drive it cold. What do you guys think?

99SEmatic

iTrader: (4)

I usually let mine sit for a few minutes in the morning before driving off, just an old habit. I would say it's good to at least wait a little bit if it's cold outside.
I don't know for sure if it would affect your mileage if you don't wait for it to warm up a bit but am sure others will chime in with their thoughts.

andrei3333

-mpg is not lower if its cold
-mpg is lower if you warm up too long
-warm is should be 30 sec in warm weather/2 min max in cold weather
-The temperature gauge tells you the temperature of the coolant, not the engine oil

in the cold, generally speaking, 2 min max warm up, then drive slowly notoging past 3K rpm until the temperature of the coolant rises

99BlackMaxMS

iTrader: (85)

I try to let my car warm up in the morning but when I can't I drive it really, really hard (6500 on every shift) to try to warm it up faster!!!!



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talisman311

Cold engines do burn more gas, and even more if you're an auto. Engine's need to be warmed up before they start combusting the gasoline mixture well, in addition, torque converters in autos won't lock-up 'til they're warmed up too.

mevjen

If you want your engine to last longer and be in better condition, warm it up. It allows the oil to reach all areas of the engine for proper lubrication. Otherwise there aren't many other reasons besides comfort to consider.

slow97maxima

iTrader: (5)

me too! except im automatic so i usually just keep it bouncing of the rev limiter in 1st!

tvis

iTrader: (1)

Just let it idle for 30 secs or so, and be on your way. Be light on the throttle until the car warms up.

Snypa

iTrader: (35)

agreez...i normally wait atleast 1 minute, then take my jolly time until i reach free-way.

f550maranello2

iTrader: (2)

if its cold out.. and u let it warm up till the temp gauge is at normal temp.. its bad, why? cuz water condensates under the valve cover and then drops on top of the valve train and mixes i with the oil..

how do i know this.. cuz i removed a valve cover (not on the max) after the car being on for 15 minutes.. it water dripped from it..

i also have a oil catch can on the max and its been catching noting but water lately..



best thing to do is to let the car warm up when u drive.... oil will splash all over the inside of the valve cover and help water not form..

2da mizzax

iTrader: (4)

best way to warm up a car is to get in a drive (gently until warm). letting is sit there is worse that driving it to warm it up. why?.......well for one you get minimal oil circulation especially since the oil is thick and idle has low pressure. and 2, while your car idles until warm you get............0 mpg.

gatsugansu

iTrader: (3)

I usually turn my heat on and when I can feel warm air on my hand, I start driving. It gets pretty cold up here in Minnesota. SO it takes about 5 min.

mevjen

Seeing how water does not mix with oil, especially HOT oil, I do not see this as an issue. If you were to pour a small amount of water in your oil, the heat would evaporate it anyways. Unless you have a gallon in your car no problem

hot_wax_tree

This statement is wrong you do get worse mileage when your car is running cold because when a engine is cold it runs "rich" which means is is using more fuel than normal to keep it running. another form of this is called a choke some of you may have heard of such a thing. it is typically found on well say just about every engine that is under 1800cc's and carbureted you know that white cloud of smoke that comes out of your tail pipe when you first start your car weather it is warm or cold out. well that is excess fuel because your car is running rich. so yes when you first start your car till when it heats up to it's 200 or so degree temp you are getting worse mileage then normal. have you never wondered Y pro drag racers get pissed when they have to wait for the other guy with their car running? it's cause their engine is getting warmer by the second and their fuel is getting less and less rich.

How long you take to let your engine warm up is also a question of location as some one else in this thread said here in Minnesota it always take about 5 min to warm your engine to just between the cold marker and normal running temp point. I try to wait this long every time but find it hard due to a busy schedule.

99MAXSE-L

iTrader: (4)

ok so then remote starters are NOT good for cars???

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

bottom line, your car runs lean in cold and rich in hot, so keep it above half a tank cause they run leaner to try and save a little gas and it does'nt distribute as much but still performs well. and, they say the first 7 miles when its cold b4 shifting hard so all the fluids have gotten to all gears and has warmed up.

whlimi

iTrader: (11)

I'm sitting here at work and I just laughed out loud. Thanks

Back to OT, I live in Toronto, so sometimes it gets pretty cold. I usually let it warm up for about 30 seconds and drive it very gently not going past 2500rmp until she warms up.

MrDicks95SE

iTrader: (23)

It is NOT necessary to let your car warm up longer than a couple minutes or so. any longer and youll just be polluting the atmosphere more. plus you'll be that much later to wherever you have to be.
Let your car warm up for a couple minutes then be on your way but keeping it easy on the gas pedal until temp reaches nominal temperature.

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

And I just wanted to add, that even when the temp gauge hits the middle, it does NOT mean your pistons etc have reached operating temp and fully expanded, always wait 15 minutes before beating the everliving **** out of your car.

MorpheusZero

iTrader: (10)

1) fuel by itself is not rich or lean, the air-fuel mixture is what you want to be stoic.

2) drag racers are afraid of heat soak, the more you sit there idling with your **** in your hand and no airflow over the engine, the more saturated with heat your intake manifold etc is going to get, which in turn increases IATs, which means less oxygen which means less power.

15 minutes is a bit excessive. Someone correct me or chime in here, but the coolant is really just heated up by the engine block, so the internals will actually reach close to operating temperature before the coolant. The engine will heat up a bit more after you activate the thermometer/radiator and the coolant temp stabilizes, but what you are really waiting for after the coolant is for the oil to reach operating temperature. If you want to baby your engine, then wait a few minutes after the coolant reaches operating temperature until you start beating on it, but seriously, as long as you give it 30 seconds or so you could probably hit the rev limiter backing out of your driveway and not do any serious damage to the engine (I would not recommend it though ).

flynlr

iTrader: (2)

last several weeks we keep having temps in the single digits. i hop in the car start it and go. !drive calmly until the temp gauge starts to rise then back to normal driving.

heynow

iTrader: (1)

I think you meant: rich-cold, and leaner-warm

f550maranello2

iTrader: (2)

water doesnt mix with oil? since when..

dont talk if u dont know what ur talking about.. start the car in the morning and remove the valve cover see how much water gets in there.. then post back..

Aeiou

Ummmm.... I thought You were kidding at first, but I'm not so sure.... Water never mixes with oil. It will always separate very quickly. Plus, at the temperatures that the oil is running at, the water should boil away pretty quickly.

DomoMaxima98

iTrader: (6)

i dunno.. its a old habit.. i usually give it about a min or two and then go.. and take it easy for a while.

97maximaman

Idunno bout water in oil, or rich versus lean, but i just let it warm up enough that my **** ain't cold and shriveled up like a pickle. I've got a short drive to work, i wanna be comfortable not freezing. If i didnt mind freezing i'd take the motorcycle.

pbn85

iTrader: (8)

I dont agree with this. MPG IS lower with colder engines. Im really old school because of what I observed my dad do when I was little. He would always warm up the car till rpms hit 1k and then he would drive off. I do that even with my 03. Many say newer cars dont need to be warmed up but its something Im always going to do . Dont you just hate the noise of an engine that has just been started up compared to one that has been warmed up for 2-3 min?

Ofcourse if I'm in a rush then I would warm up for a min and then slowly drive off keeping rpms under 3k until normal operating temps. Its all subjective really

ltpacct

I only warm up when the temp. is in the single digit or below 0. Why? - to get some heat when I get in the car. Otherwise, I don't think it's necessary to warm up the car; just drive it nice and easy for a couple of miles.

SunMax

iTrader: (2)

30-60 sec, then easy on the gas pedal until it warms up.

Oh... using the Esso Extra 0W30 oil helps.

mevjen

First of all, no water does not mix with oil, try it in a cup. And second of all, it evaporates quickly in a hot engine, so any oil SUSPENDED in the oil will burn off quickly and go out through the BREATHER sytem. I guess I don't really know what I am talking about though...

f550maranello2

iTrader: (2)

look ill make it easy for u to understand..

when u put water in a cup and put oil on top it will NOT MIX... no s h i t

if u have an engine running with moving parts, it WILL MIX the water with the oil... Dont believe me.. ill post some pics i have of this Phenomenon when i get home from work...

MrDicks95SE

iTrader: (23)

15 minutes IS excessive. Agreed.

97SMG

iTrader: (23)

Rule of thumb for warming up vehicle......Im surprised no one has yet stated

Warm up vehicle depending on the temperature divided by the amount of cylinders your car has.. Ex. If your having lets say a 78 degree type of day and you are driving a Maxima, you divide 78 by 6 and you get 13. You should warm up your car for 13 mins. It simple math people.......To the OP, use this formula wisely.........



Honestly warming up a car comes down to what the individual thinks, believes and or cares for..... Everyone will give you a different outlook so it pretty much falls down to the individual.........

ltpacct

I like your formula (funny guy), but you're right. It's up to the individual whether or not to warm up the car before driving it. I don't think it going to hurt the car if you don't warm it up.

vqmaxman

I warm my car up for 5 min than I drive off and I have heard and seen that you will have to,atleast let the car warm up for 2 min minimum to warm up for those that are in a rush. It also deepends on what the temperature is out side and If it's 30 degrees It will diffently take the car longer to get warmed up to 5 mins. The point Is here If the car Is warmed up all of the fluids will move faster and quicker and you noticed when you start your car and your tech Is in high 1500-1000 RPMS that because the car Is cold and the air and fuel ratio Is burning in a higher rate than the normal operating rate. Remember thin hot oil is always better than the cold thick and sludge like conditons. I would not REV the crap out of my car when I just turn the key over or else I might be waiting for a new engine.

2da mizzax

iTrader: (4)

man am i upset i subscribed to this tread.

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

mevjen

Ok, I get what youre getting at, but please don't talk to me like I am a f&%cking idiot.
I mostly don't get what difference it makes whether there is a liitle water condensing on top of the valve cover, as the breather system take care of this. I mean that the air is not stagnant it is constantly circulating.
Thanks.

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

^
The ECU runs in close loop mode until it reaches normal operating temperature, which means the fuel and timing maps are already pre-programmed to run rich. Once the vehicle reaches normal operating temperature, it'll switch into open loop mode and take the readings from the O2 sensors & throttle position sensor to maximize fuel efficiency. Until then (in close loop), the car gets less-than-normal fuel economy since it's running rich.

This is why people tell you it's bad to let a cold engine idle excessively since it takes longer for the vehicle to reach normal operating temperature at idle than it does while you're driving it.

Personally, in the winter, I let it idle for 3-5+ minutes to defrost the windows and to prevent ice from building up on the windshield. In warmer weather, 30 seconds of idling then I drive it easy for 2 miles.

RacerX1320

iTrader: (3)

I am from ny, an I don't see why anyone would want to rev a car when its cold. Can't you tell how sluggish its reacting when its cold? Why would you want to stress the motor further by reving it hard? Inless there is snow on the ground 1-2mins an go. And shift around 3k or less till it gets to a nice temp. Bada boom