Sponsored
FreePenguin
Well-Known Member
I warm mine up for like 30 seconds before I drive, I just let it idle down and drive away. It says somewhere, to not let car idle excessively, but a couple minutes im sure is fine.
Vicr
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2018
- Threads
- 47
- Messages
- 530
- Reaction score
- 350
- Location
- Fortuna Foothills, AZ
- First Name
- Vic
- Vehicle(s)
- 2015 Mustang Ecoboost Premium
No, in fact it is recommended to let the engine warm up some before driving. Especially before going WOT.
murawdawg
Member
Doesnt hurt it to let it run for a few minutes after starting. Although with modern oils the need to warm it up isnt really there like it was back in the day, even if its below freezing, provided you dont go WOT. But i usually let it idle till the head temp gets 120 or more, 175 before hammering it.
Sponsored
Balr14
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2019
- Threads
- 32
- Messages
- 2,689
- Reaction score
- 2,522
- Location
- SE Wisconsin
- First Name
- John
- Vehicle(s)
- BMW Z4 M40i
There is an initial injection of fuel... I forgot what for... something with emissions. The car will settle down after about 30 seconds and you are good to go. Warming up the engine beyond that serves no purpose. But, you want to keep rpms down until the engine and oil temperatures get above 175. This is the procedure I have followed for many years with excellent results... especially with horizontally opposed engines.
opengl
Well-Known Member
You should know that when the head temp is 175 the oil is still going to be much colder. it takes about twice as long as the coolant for the oil to come up to temperature and you really shouldn't drive hard until it does.
Best practice would be to idle for maybe a minute max (oil will NEVER come to temp idling, it would take like an hour), then drive gently until the oil is up to temp. If you don't have an oil temp gauge (the "calculated" built in one with PP is close enough) then that usually means 15+ minutes of driving.
Sponsored
Dave TBG
Patiently waiting...
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2018
- Threads
- 24
- Messages
- 597
- Reaction score
- 387
- Location
- New Jersey
- Vehicle(s)
- '19 EB 201A, '86 Porsche 944
Anything past a minute is a complete waste of time. An engine will never come up to full temperature while idling and there would be no benefit if it did. An engine is best brought up to operating temp by driving it. OTOH, if you could get up to operating temperature by idling, what good would it do? Sure, you could get on the gas sooner, but then you've got other problems. Do you think your transmission is warming up with the parking brake on? How 'bout your diff? Wheel bearings?
Your whole car needs to warm up and idling won't do it. Regardless of how you feel about the environmental impact, you're wasting your money on fuel and you're wasting your time. Then again, they're you're to waste if you so desire.
Your whole car needs to warm up and idling won't do it. Regardless of how you feel about the environmental impact, you're wasting your money on fuel and you're wasting your time. Then again, they're you're to waste if you so desire.
S550_GTCS
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2019
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 211
- Reaction score
- 211
- Location
- Morris County, NJ
- First Name
- Shawn
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Mach 1
I let the car warm up for at least 10 mins when its cold out. If I don't the trans is very clunky and does not like to go into gear. I'll wait until the oil temp is hits "normal" before driving.
opengl
Well-Known Member
You're honestly doing more harm than good. The most engine wear happens while the oil is cold, and the oil is going to stay cold a lot longer when idling. it's also running richer, introducing excessive fuel and more wear from that as well. You're much better off driving gently until the oil is up to temp.
wade001
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2020
- Threads
- 12
- Messages
- 366
- Reaction score
- 231
- Location
- Central Florida
- First Name
- Wade
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 GT Prem. 10r80, PP1, 401A, Active Exhaust
as others mentioned, i wait just until it starts to idle lower. i believe once it idles down, that means the catalytic converters have warmed up, an emissions thing... takes about a minute or so, depending on the outside temperature, thats when i put it in drive and go.
since i have remote start (my first car with it, and i love it), it allows me to start the car, then tell the wife bye, pet the dog, grab my water bottle and head out to the car, once i get there, sit down, put my water bottle in the cup holder, and press the start button, the car is usually warmed up for me and ready to go.
edit: once i leave, its 1.5 miles of 25mph out to main road, which then is 45-50mph.. seems to work out well for warming up the vehicles easily
since i have remote start (my first car with it, and i love it), it allows me to start the car, then tell the wife bye, pet the dog, grab my water bottle and head out to the car, once i get there, sit down, put my water bottle in the cup holder, and press the start button, the car is usually warmed up for me and ready to go.
edit: once i leave, its 1.5 miles of 25mph out to main road, which then is 45-50mph.. seems to work out well for warming up the vehicles easily
frank s
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2018
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 924
- Reaction score
- 734
- Location
- san diego CA
- Website
- www.fsheff.com
- First Name
- frank
- Vehicle(s)
- Stang '19 Magnetic, EcoBoost™, Vert, MagneRide® PP
- Vehicle Showcase
- 2
It's a three -to-five minute slow, gentle drive from our place to the (numerous available) on-ramps. That warms everything up to the point we can make a quick-but-not-brutal merge with freeway traffic. It's been thus for more than fifty years, and we've never, ever, had an engine problem traceable to fast or slow warm-ups.
Our routine is: Start the engine, put on the sunglasses, close the garage door, begin that gentle drive.
I really don't like to drive fewer than fifteen minutes after a cold start. Once the oil is up to temperature, there's a better chance crankcase oil-thinning contaminants from rich-fuel starts will be boiled out. I try to take an hour-long boil-out drive every now and then, as well. All this yields the bonus that I get to enjoy the Mustang even when there is no practical mission in mind.
(Doing my part to control the world-population of hyphens)
####
We should tackle reality in a slightly jokey way,
otherwise we miss its point.
-Lawrence Durrell, novelist, poet, and playwright (1912-1990)
Our routine is: Start the engine, put on the sunglasses, close the garage door, begin that gentle drive.
I really don't like to drive fewer than fifteen minutes after a cold start. Once the oil is up to temperature, there's a better chance crankcase oil-thinning contaminants from rich-fuel starts will be boiled out. I try to take an hour-long boil-out drive every now and then, as well. All this yields the bonus that I get to enjoy the Mustang even when there is no practical mission in mind.
(Doing my part to control the world-population of hyphens)
####
We should tackle reality in a slightly jokey way,
otherwise we miss its point.
-Lawrence Durrell, novelist, poet, and playwright (1912-1990)
Sponsored
