the owners manual says don't bother warming up the car on a cold start, for more than 1 minute, takes about 5min to get the heat gauge to point to cold, today my friend told me that warming up the car for too long, is actually a bad thing, what do you guys think?

 

It's bad if you let it idle for like 5 minutes, it doesn't do the engine any good. You just waste gas, and it takes longer for the car to warm up sitting than if you drove it really light and easy for a minute or two. I let the car run for about 30 seconds if the weather is warm/hot. In freezing/severe cold like winter I let the car sit there for about a minute, then drive off VERY slowly...I try to keep the revs under 3000 until the needle starts to move. I use Mobil 1 Synthetic, so there is already some protection against cold-starts in freezing weather.

 

when the car is idling there is no flow across the radiator (unless the fans kick in).

do let your car "warm up" >> go easy for the first several minutes and I even turn on the heater after a long run....don't go out beating it and then turn it off immediately.

 

5min is too long. warm it up for a few minutes and then get on the move...

 

In Summer/fall/spring about a minute

In winter i let warm up about 3-4 mins

It doesnt hurt to warm ur car i mean i would rather let it warm up so when u drive u just drive instead of driving very slow waiting 4 car to warm its no big deal either way JUST DRIVE! now if u are freezing ur *** off i would just start the damn thing and get the rollin!

 

Let the car warm up a little bit before driving it. It doesn't hurt the car, it will just waste gas. Worst part is that it will kill the ozone. If you don't have time to warm it up, drive slowly and don't push the car until it gets to normal operating temperature.

 

i always read that... but the car drives like **** if not warmed up.. and i can notice difference if I don't warm up the car every time I start... can someone explain that?

i always warm the car up to where the rpm drops.. the way i see it, car can not run normal without normal operating temperatures, so i let it warm up and it always takes of and drives smoother/better...

would like to hear more


[Modified by vtec.dc2, 12:11 AM 10/11/2002]

 

ttt

anyone knows more info? besides whats on the internet.. i searched around.. most sites mentioned its better to warm up.. but no real explanation rather than whats arleady mentioned in this thread

what could be damaged when you warm up the car from 1500-2000 rpm to normal idle and drive of vs. letting it warm up by driving it rightaway or after few seconds (driving at lowest rpm - 2-5K rpm)?

what causes more damage?


[Modified by vtec.dc2, 12:18 AM 10/11/2002]

 

max 1 minute of warming up in cold weather.. also, car manufacturers encourage you to drive sooner after starting the car to warm the cat faster for better emissions.

 

I baby the **** outta my car, warm up for 5 mins and cool down for 40 seconds every time.... but thats just me.

 

Well if the Acura manual it'self said to warm it up no long than 1 min on a cold start then I say go for it

just take it easy till it's on operating temp

I usually wait till the tach drop to the point of like 1100 RPM, but I'll check my manual for that, not that I don't trust ya, but I wanna see it

 

Go to Amazon.com and look up a book written by Bob Sikorsky.
IIRC the title of the book is Drive it Forever.
Bob will tell you why extended idling is bad for your car.

 

I have an autostarter and sometimes I let my car idle for 5 min

 

I live in So Cal so it doesn't get extremely cold here... I usually start my car in the morning then put on my seatbelt, take off the club and autolock, adjust the radio station or pop in a cd, then start to back out and then close the garage door... this takes maybe a minute... I live on a hill.. so after I back out its all downhill and no hard revving or whatever... I just don't drive hard until its warmed up and my car has been fine it was bought brand new and now has like 100K


[Modified by GSRaCeRbOI, 1:44 PM 10/11/2002]

 

Would you please give us the summary? Most of us are too poor/cheap/lazy to get this book.

 

Well according to what I've learned in school, the reason why we're suppose to let the car warm up a little bit is to let the oil flow. And I believe that the car runs like **** when it's cold because the oil isn't circulating well enough yet. And thus you end up with metal to metal scratching inside the engine.

But here's what I do every morning before I take off. I start the engine and pop in the Stereo's Face and play a cd. While it's playing, I get out of the car and do a quick headlight, turn signals, hazards, and tire check. I do it just out of habit now. And by the time you're done with my checks, I jump in the car and go..

 

i let my baby warm up till the rpm is at its regular idle.. takes about 1 - 2 minutes on cold days. While im waiting every 30 seconds or so i will slowly rev it up to about 1.5k and leave it there for 2 or 3 seconds. Then i let the rpms drop back down. Usually 2 minutes after i start my car im on the road.. by the time im waiting to turn out of my neighborhood the temp guage is startin to go up!

 

My Corolla's manual tells me to let it idle for 10 seconds, then to drive off slowly.