Warm up Time
 

Hello everyone. I was just wondering what the warm up time should be before driving my car. I have a 1984 911. It's about 30 degrees here today in NJ. I tried doing a search but couldn't seem to find what I am looking for. Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.;)


Chris

Most people feel you should get in the car and drive as soon as you start up; but take it easy and keep the RPMS down until the TEMP indicator has come AT LEAST out of that thick bottom hashmark, perhaps even up towards the first (thin) hashmark on the gauge.

Letting the car idle with cold oil apparently causes more stress on the valve train, the low RPMS don't help the oil get to where it needs to go. Driving with conservative RPMS will at least help the cold oil get to the parts of the valvetrain that need it, intil you're warmed up and can go for it.

+1 on what Gogar said above.

Plus, driving it slowly at low RPM will help you warm up and lubricate your tranny. We all know our 915's need to be warm to shift properly.

Another plus, my neighbors like me more now that I don't let an air-cooled engine car idling for 10-15 minutes on my driveway in the morning.

+1

I wish it were only 30 degrees here in Chicago.

Thanks evveryone. That's what I've been doing and just wanted to make sure it was okay.

Chris

Just keep her under 3K until you come up to the first chicklet on the temp guage.

On my 85, manual states to keep under 4.5K for 5 mintues then good to go but the Mater Mechanics believe in the former.

Sitting at idle when cold will harm the engine.

Read the owner's manual! It answers your question in detail.

I high idle at 2k then 1.5k till I see oil psi start to fall.

driving down the block at 80-100 psi oil pressure isn't my idea of a warm up.

different strokes.....

First start in the morning, I like to let any car "warm-up" in neutral for 15-20 seconds before driving away. Let the oil system fully pressure up when cold.

Most automatics will high idle around 1500 RPM for 15-20 seconds anyway and if you pull it into gear before they idle down, you get a resounding 'clunk' through the driveline which can't be good on a repetitive basis. Use the 20 seconds to buckle up, adjust the mirrors, sip your latte mocha grande & take a deep breath to go out amoungst 'em.

1- start, drive through all gears, and change gear at 3k rpm.
2- start, drive for several mins in first gear at 3k RPM.
Which is better?

It's very simple. Just start it up and drive normally and keep it under 4k RPMs until the oil warms up. The manual specifically states no idle warmup time is necessary.

This helped a lot for me because I would usually start my car and let it run for about 10 mins before I started to drive it.

I have a question too about my oil pressure gauge. When I first start it, I get no reading from it it just stays in the red zone and wont move up till the motor starts getting warm. Is this normal?

My 87's oil pressure is @ 5 in this cold weather right at start up. 20/50 oil; In the summer its @ 4 on start up. What I do is start and wait for the rpms to come down on its own, depending on the temp of motor it ranges from 0 seconds when hot to 1 minute. Drive @ no more than 3k rpm, as the oil heats up and thins out the pressure goes down, the more I will raise my rpm range till oil temp stabilizes and then the fun begins.
I would look into the low or no reading you have, that would have me concerned. If your talking about the oil tank gauge, then that would be normal as the motor heats up the oil expands and will make your guage go up, the infamous over fill of oil syndrome happens because when our cars get to the temp that the front oil cooler comes into play (240 deg.) more oil is available to cool the motor and as that oil heats up the guage now can read full, Hard braking and maneuvers can cause the oil to get sucked into the intake manifolds, causing smoke and all sorts of other issues.

All the best,

I'm also of the opinion that no warm-up is required. I start mine, wait about 20 secs to get the R's to stabalize (if it's truly cold), then drive easily (under 3K) until past the first hash mark on the temp.

This is also the green thing to do, a car warming up while idling is about the most inefficient internal combustion engine on the planet.

+1 on a mornings like today, 30 deg., unless i am late for work, everyday:D
too hi oil pressure is my concern, i dont change my oil for the winter, but i keep my car in the garage. very cold mornings like today i even sit there and run through the gears to loesn them up.
i drove 15 miles to work and my oil temp only hit 130.