I had to redline an ice cold engine today...

[Klutch9]

the ambient temperature outside was no more than 40 degrees F. i live right on a main road, and the car was idling for 2 minutes (at the very most) while i was waiting for my other 3 passengers to get into the car. anyhow, i pull out into traffic and this moron comes flying up behind me with no signs of slowing down. so i panicked and had to WOT redline the car to 6200 rpm and then continue WOT halfway into second gear. UGH!!!

i had 4 adults in the car, including myself, with a cold, 170,000 mile old twin-cam ld9 motor, also with a cold transmission. it runs fine still but i'm hoping no damage was done?

 

[Summerwind]

I've had a similar experience with some vehicles that I have owned...at least with the 2 min prior run time, I would say that all the fluids were circulating. Most likely no harm done, but I know that "I wonder feeling" On a related note, it used to amaze me, in the 80's I believe, many American 4cyl engines would go into "fast-idle" near 2k immediatly on start-up. Now at 0 degrees and below..to me one just waits for parts to go flying..but they never did in my experience.

 

[hate2work]

If the car ran for a minute or more before this happened I wouldn't call it an ice cold engine. It wasn't warmed up, but it definitely had lubrication everywhere it should have. I've done something similar before and no harm was done.

Heck, maybe you finally broke in the rings! LOL

 

[Klutch9]

i've seen a handful of new cars that go into a fast idle when a car is cold started (all around 2k rpm). my idle barely ever exceeds 1000 rpm, and thats when it first starts up, but the revs fall back down immediately. the car is old and i'm sure is already quite worn.

on a side note, the engine was filled with 4 quarts of QSUD 5w-30, only been in the sump for 1000 miles, and i had 3 or 4 ounces of mos2 in the sump as well.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

If the car ran for a minute or more before this happened I wouldn't call it an ice cold engine. It wasn't warmed up, but it definitely had lubrication everywhere it should have. I've done something similar before and no harm was done.

Heck, maybe you finally broke in the rings! LOL


that was my first thought! haha. or maybe i broke the gummed rings loose, since rings are almost always gummed up on any car that isnt new.

 

[The Critic]

What's the big deal?

I redline my cold engine every morning. I like about 100ft from a 55mph speed limited 2-lane highway. Redline every morning is a must in order to not get rear ended.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

Common sense says it's best not to romp on the pedal until the oil has a chance to warm up.

That being said, 40 degrees isn't all that cold, I'm sure the one occurrence didn't hurt much.

 

[The Critic]

40 degrees really isn't that cold. Oil pumps pump a lot of oil-- fast. So what's the problem?

 

[Shannow]

You pulled out in front of someone, and it's THEIR fault that you had to accelerate ?

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
You pulled out in front of someone, and it's THEIR fault that you had to accelerate ?


It is getting bad when people don't even realize how boneheaded their own driving is!!

- Vikas

 

[eljefino]

40'F does not form ice.

My side road is 100 ft long and connects to a highway that's in a village zone. Was 55 mph until 300 ft away where it drops to 35.

My stereoscopic vision is only so good at estimating speed. I pull in front of lots of people that wind up right on my bumper. In hindsight, they were going more than 35.

So what? It's a village zone. I made the assumption they were obeying the limit. If they choose to go faster, they have to be prepared. I'm courteous like the next guy, and would gun my motor to avoid an accident. But my courtesy only goes so far, so I make 'em brake at times.

 

[Eddie]

Some people drive their cars this way every day and the engine survives somehow for many thousands of miles

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
You pulled out in front of someone, and it's THEIR fault that you had to accelerate ?




We don't know all the details, but I find that strange as well.

Regardless, 40 is not that cold, so the engine and the tranny should be fine.

 

[demarpaint]

I wouldn't worry much about it. The oil was circulating and 40*F isn't stone cold.

Ever work at a new car dealership and see how the lot monkeys move cars around? Turn the key and peg the gas petal, redlining the engine the second it fires up. Drop the clutch at 7,000 rpms to light up the tires, all within the first 5-10 seconds the car is running. Somehow they survive.

Doing what you did from time to time is not going to ruin your car. OTOH doing the lot monkey gig everyday will shorten your engine life buy a lot!

 

[sangyup81]

40 degrees is warm enough to use 20w50 (not that you should)

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

If you tear down the engine and find pieces of the rod bearing overlay torn from the backing you probably know why. If your engine has aluminum bearings this won't happen. Chances are your 2-minute warm-up and the 5W-30 prevented any damage.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Have to laugh at the 40F degree comment being cold.....sorry.

Cold is when it's below 25F; real cold is when it's below 10F; and [censored] cold is when it's 20 below 0.

If my truck's had to start in 40f weather, they'd be happy.

At 15f degrees, I've got one truck that's cold blooded, and if I had to redline it after only 2min, I would for sure cringe - mainly because it's got 200k miles and I've known since it was new that it's not one of those vehicles you can crank, only let idle for 2-3 min and run.....can't do that with this beast.

But....all fun aside, at 40f degrees and having let it idle for 2min I think you're good.

I know what you mean about people flying up on you though, and sometimes you can't always see them coming either by nature of how the road turns, blind spots i.e. overhanging trees, etc.

I live 1000ft from a 65mph highway bumper to bumper with truck traffic; looking both ways, you can clearly see traffic coming from one direction for a pretty far distance, the other direction has visual limitations.