How long should I "warm-up" my car?
 

Hi everyone,

I had a quick question.

Let's say I leave my car outside in the cold Northeast winter weather.....how long should I "warm-up" my car before driving it?

I am a little confused on this subject. A couple of people I've talked to say to fully warm up the car, some say to warm it up a little, and some say not to warm it up at all.

Hope you guys can give me some answers.

Thanks for your time.

OK, I'll bite. What kind of car?

In modern stuff - like my minivan or altima - Start and go. Maybe let it warm up enough to actually blow hot air with the heater, but then I can leave my car out running in my yard and not worry about someone liberating it. In my P-car (4 cyl aircooled) I warm it up enough to no be stuttering and stalling, and to respond nicely to the gas pedal. Then I "aggressively" warm it up on the roads :) ... too bad I don't have heat and I do have LOTS of airflow. On the other hand, it only gets down to high teens at the worst, and only occasionally at that here in N. Florida

I agree, with modern cars, let them idle for 10-30 seconds, then start off driving slowly with moderate throttle inputs. The engine will warm up the fastest by just driving off. Racing a cold motor is not good...

Jay
90 964

racing any motor that isnt warmed up to temperature leads to accelerated wear in the cylinder.

I have quite a few motors that were driven from a cold start or minimal warmup. The sides of the cylinders were the piston was pushed against by the rod or pulled down had been polished out and you couldnt see the hone marks anymore.

My car sees full operating temp (temp gauge in the middle) and my oil temp gauge has to read at least 30-50 degrees celsius before I start driving. My gearbox is really notchy when cold and when its idling in neutral, parts are still spinning in the gearbox, so getting it warmed up with a couple of slow shifts helps as well.



OMG ITS A NON-POLITICAL THREAD!! SOMEONE GET THE MEDIA!!!!



sorry but I couldnt resist...

:D :D

I've been told by more than one mechanic - don't idle an air-cooled engine to warm it up, just drive it nicely until the temp gauge moves and then have at it.

Thanks for all the advice guys. :)

bluebullet, I do the exact same thing you do.....and I'll continue to do so.

I've heard this too, except that my CIS 930 runs so badly when cold that it really isn't an option. As soon as I get that EFI upgrade.....

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The most reasonable advice I have heard on this is once the engine is warmed up enough to run smoothly, start driving.
And then obviously take it really easy until the engine is up to normal temp.

True, but mearly getting the car moving is not "racing" the engine.

I find that if I drive it real hard right away it heats up quicker. ;)

When it's in the 20's (or any temp here), I let my daily driver warm for less than a minute and just take her easy till the water temp needle is in the middle.

Leader got me thinking about the P-car:

My oil temp gauge barely gets over 180F (backdated gauge/sender years ago) even in the Atlanta summer after I installed a fiberglass blockoff plate in summer '03; allowing all the fan air to pass over the cylinders. The lack of a rear condensor probably helps the flow a little. Quite a decrease in operating temps from before. I warm up for a minute and baby it into 2nd gear and let the 2nd gear synchro wake up then drive like grandpa till the needle approaches 180F. Then it's noisy time!