Warming up engine is useless and waste gas

[BrianF]

I warm my vehicle up as often as I can. I want heat to clear the windshield both inside and out. Nothing like jumping into a cold vehicle with the family and the humidity of everyone exhaling frosting up the inside of the windshield.

I dont care about the science and all the [censored] surrounding this. I want, not need a warm vehicle when it is bloody cold out and I want a warm vehicle for when the kids are in it.

 

[KrisZ]

Aircraft operating practices should not be compared to personal automobile practices, but rather to commercial applications.
Those are two totally different things.

How many of you remove oil from the engine, pre-heat it and then pump it back into the engine for starting? Yet it is done in commercial settings, both in heavy equipment and aerospace, depending on the circumstances. If the circumstances, i.e. money, call for a dead cold start and an immediate use, then it is done that way.

In no way should these practices be looked up to as some sort of holy grail of equipment operation in personal settings.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

When I had to DD the F350 one winter, it wasn't so much having to warm up the engine as the transmission. That ZF-5 is extremely cold blooded. It will ONLY go in 3rd gear when it's cold out.

So, every morning I'd have to go out and let it idle in 3rd gear with the transfer case in neutral. Then it would shift.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Miller88


So, every morning I'd have to go out and let it idle in 3rd gear with the transfer case in neutral. Then it would shift.


What's the chance that it'd slip into gear?

 

[Blinker]

So two things.

1) My grandpa used to idle his cars for several minutes way back in the day and he would always tell people that he was "warming it up". Fast forward 20 years he got a car with EFI and my uncle asked him why he doesnt warm up his car anymore. My grandpa then explained that the only reason he warmed his cars up in the past was because his carburetor cars run bad when they're cold. That was it, no other "logic" or overthinking anything. Whole family was dumbfounded.

2) The only owners manual I have seen that recommended warming up the engine was in my friends 1999 Land Rover Discovery II. That engine was a total piece of junk from cracked piston skirts to cylinder head problems. Coincidence? IDK, those engines were sure junk though.


I just start and go, never had an engine die, quit, fail, "blow up", squeal, knock, stutter, or hate me.

 

[ccap41]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
I am on my way within 15 seconds or so. I do take it easy the first few miles though.


+1.

If the glass has a frozen or foggy coating, then things are different. Otherwise, better to start moving.

If the car is frozen and I need to scrape the glass, I'll usually start it so it can idle while I do that job.


+2.

This is what I do as well. Start it up, back out of the driveway, and off I go. I just try and take it easy at least until the water temp gets up(I know not everything else is warmed up at that point but it's no longer cold either).

 

[Brit33]

No option but to leave it idling until warmed up in winter.
We get thick frosts here and cannot drive, sometimes open the doors, wind down windows or even use the wipers.

Solid with ice especially if its been raining the evening before as it just turns the car into an ice block! I would never drive away straight away. Have to put the front and rear demisters on first and scrape the ice from the windows.

Much less stress on the engine while idling. Oil still needs to heat up despite the advanced technology. Law of physics.
Oil lubricates better once warmed up.
So.. warm up your oil before putting stress on the metal parts. Simple as that IMHO

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: Miller88


So, every morning I'd have to go out and let it idle in 3rd gear with the transfer case in neutral. Then it would shift.


What's the chance that it'd slip into gear?



Trasnfer case takes a good tug / push in order to shift. Very unlikely. And if it did, the engine would stall.

 

[Leo99]

My wife and I get in and go. No warm up required.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: robertcope
I start the car. By the time I get the top down, seatbelt on, etc, it's time to go. Gently until it's good and warm. I believe Honda says five minutes before you full throttle somewhere in the S2000 manual. Maybe I am making that up.

robert

You're making that up.

Honda didn't recommend any easy time before full throttle for S2000.

But I know a guy who tried to rev pass 6k within 1000 ft after parking for 8 hours and the ECU cuts off fuel.

It's common sense to keep the rev below 5-6k the first minute or two.

 

[Brit33]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
My wife and I get in and go. No warm up required.


What do you do when it's 10 below? 3mm of ice on the glass outside, windows inside all misted and sometimes with a layer of ice inside also.
NJ surely gets colder than the UK. Maybe we have more humid winters with lots of moisture freezing.

Normal routine for all my neighbours going to work is spending 5 mins deicing.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Pontual
Impressive! The minimum temperature I find in here is about 30F or minus 1C, and I can tell how much more responsive the flight controls and powerplant efficiency becomes as compared to 35-40C, when it gets all muchy and slugsh, from less air density and pressure.

I've had the unique experience of taking off in colder than -30 C and warmer than 30 C in the same aircraft. The -30 takeoffs are absolutely amazingly fast.

 

[Brit33]

quite a thick frost in the morning here. Try driving off with this all around your windows.
For sure it needs warming up. Even the ice scraper doesn't cut through this.
accumulated frost


daily frost

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
demarpaint, given that I doubt anyone regularly drives a carbed engine these days, the fact that they have a prolonged fast idle on start is indicative that a little load (well actually RPM, that's what warms oil, bearings, and engines up) is clearly the OEM's understanding...unless they are planning to wear your engine out.


I think it's emmisions dictated. the cat needs warming up, and how will you do that?

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: Brit33
Originally Posted By: Leo99
My wife and I get in and go. No warm up required.


What do you do when it's 10 below? 3mm of ice on the glass outside, windows inside all misted and sometimes with a layer of ice inside also.
NJ surely gets colder than the UK. Maybe we have more humid winters with lots of moisture freezing.

Normal routine for all my neighbours going to work is spending 5 mins deicing.





We garage our cars at home so no ice in the mornings. There may be a few evenings where we'll need to scrape the ice from windows but that is more the exception than the norm. We'll run the engine while we scrape.

This thread seems to be heading in two directions. Those that warm their car in order to make it warmer and safer to drive and those that warm their car in order to protect and prolong their engine.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool


Interesting. I wonder what the logic for waiting 30 seconds on a warm day is. At that point, everything that needs to be lubed, will have been lubed for 29.9 seconds.


KISS

simplicity is key if you want buyers to follow your advice. 30 seconds is easy to remember, a time/temperature table isn't.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Over the years saving 50 cents a morning for a few months adds up.


50 cents allows me to idle the car for an hour, and that's european fuel prices! As soon as the window is clear, I go.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Brit33
quite a thick frost in the morning here. Try driving off with this all around your windows.

We do get blisteringly cold, but that's a lot of frost. In -40, that thickness of frost isn't that common.

I don't blame you in the least. Some people, myself included, have put blankets or special covers over the windows, too. I used to do that often on the F-150 when it would be plugged in and have the interior warmer going. With a carb, it still needed warmup time, so I bothered with the cover less and less.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: kmrcstintn
I am forcing myself to let the oil light go out before starting the engine and then allowing 30 seconds to 1 minute for the oil to circulate before starting to drive...seems like a good idea to have oil flowing thru the engine before putting any load on it;

defrosting windows means idling longer when necessary...

What car has a oil light that extinguishes before it's started??? Not one I've seen in the 50 years I've owned vehicles...


Oil level light? I had one of those...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

All of my vehicles will turn on the check engine light, battery light, oil pressure light for 3 seconds before I start them up ...

I think it's a "Hey the key is on but I'm not making any volts" "Hey the key is on I'm not making any oil pressure"