When my cars cold I always turn it on and let it sit for atleast 5mins for it to warm up. Some of my friends have been saying that its fine to drive it right away, just not hard. It helps the car warm up faster. Is it ok to start driving the car right after I turn it on? Do you drive your car right away or wait till its warmed up?

 

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Letting your car idle for too long is actually bad. Just let it warm up for a min then take it out. Try not to bring it up past 3-4k until your engine reaches running temperature.

 

at least let it warm up for a minute. you dont have to warm it up too long. just dont drive hard for a few minutes if you do decide to drive it without warming it up.

 

Don't be a dikc. You don't have to read it.

 

i usually just start it up, and drive off. just don't drive that hard until its warmed up

 

I usually just let the car idle long enough for the engine parts to get coated with oil, which is usually like 10-30 seconds. After that I just drive the car softly until it reaches normal operating temperatures. It's bad to idle the car for too long because it creates more engine buildup, wastes gas and it takes longer to reach operating temperatures. But it's also bad to start a cold engine and drive it hard without waiting for it to reach operating temps. As long as the engine parts are covered with oil it's safe to drive the car.

 

Thanks all much appreciated

 

I only warm it up during the winter months, and only for a few minutes just to get the heat going, then i travel at local town speeds for 5 or 10 min till i hit the highway here.

I'm glad to see someone posting questions of concern and maintenance rather than Oops, ive over reved past readline, what to do...

You take care of the car, and it will take care of you.

 

I live in CA (So Cal) so it doesn't really get cold here... coldest I've seen is like 40 deg or so... anyway I usually take off autolock, start my car.. then proceed to take off club (house, club, autolock keys are detacheachble from car key and alarm remote)... then put on my seatbelt, put in a track/cd that I want to listen to...check mirror and seating positions then proceed to back out... close garage then drive keeping it under 3K RPM until at operating temp... I've had my car for 7 yrs since new and haven't had any problems...

 

I think this depends on temp. This morning when I woke up it was -20 (celcius, I live in Canada) so like between 0 and 10 for you yankees. I let it idle for about 2 mins, no longer. I kept the rpm under 3K until the temp gauge moved, then drove normally. If you are living somewhere and it doesn't really go much below freezing, then don't even bother letting it warm up. Only if it is truely cold out, not like Cali cold, like Maine cold.

 

I usually wait for idle RPM to drop to 1500, or wait about 30 seconds, whichever is longer.

 

i dont think warming it up is bad, just a waste of time and gas. i go easy on it until the temp gague starts to rise.

 

it also depends on what kind and weight of oil ur using, if ur using a 20w50 dino oil then i would let it run atleast 2 minutes or more, but if ur using a 0w synthetic then you can probably start driving 10-15 secs after you start, like everyone else has said just keep the revs low until you hit op temp, if ur boosted dont even come close to hitting boost until ur at full op temp

 

 

I let mine warm up just long enough to scrape the frost/ice off my windows.


[Modified by smdandb2, 9:05 PM 12/9/2002]