gathermewool
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All of the parts are lubricated nearly instantaneously. The benefit of warming up a cold engine is yours alone, mentally or physically.
Cold weather warm up?
- Thread starter Oldtom
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My Dad use to just wait for the oil pressure gauge to register.
I warm up for 10-30 seconds until idle drops to below 1,000 RPM.
OVERKILL
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
The enrichment circuit naturally increases the idle. Think about a choke on a carb, which did the same thing. It definitely wasn't for cat warmup there! LOL!
I'm sure it serves a secondary function for that purpose, but the rich nature of the startup/warmup mixture increases idle by itself.
Chokes on carbs had a little stair steppy cam thing to bump up the idle. Just choking off air supply would stall the engine.
True, though I believe that was necessary to create the added enrichment. I don't believe the latter to be the case though. On a Holley the blades are cracked more but then the big flap at the top basically covers the opening, subsequently you end up with a bigger pressure drop across the venturii IIRC and an enrichment condition.
On many small engine carbs the choke is just a moving plate controlled mechanically.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
The enrichment circuit naturally increases the idle. Think about a choke on a carb, which did the same thing. It definitely wasn't for cat warmup there! LOL!
I'm sure it serves a secondary function for that purpose, but the rich nature of the startup/warmup mixture increases idle by itself.
Chokes on carbs had a little stair steppy cam thing to bump up the idle. Just choking off air supply would stall the engine.
True, though I believe that was necessary to create the added enrichment. I don't believe the latter to be the case though. On a Holley the blades are cracked more but then the big flap at the top basically covers the opening, subsequently you end up with a bigger pressure drop across the venturii IIRC and an enrichment condition.
On many small engine carbs the choke is just a moving plate controlled mechanically.
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Start car, scrape or clean off windshield if necessary (snow or ice).
Wait for windshield to defog if necessary...
Don't leave car running unattended, had several automatics slip out of park, and several manuals pop parking brakes loose...
Drive slowly, I have a good stretch of 35, I go 30-ish and in 4th not 5th. Don't lug the engine, keep the RPM's up a little, but don't race the engine...
Once the temp gauge has moved, normal driving can resume...
Wait for windshield to defog if necessary...
Don't leave car running unattended, had several automatics slip out of park, and several manuals pop parking brakes loose...
Drive slowly, I have a good stretch of 35, I go 30-ish and in 4th not 5th. Don't lug the engine, keep the RPM's up a little, but don't race the engine...
Once the temp gauge has moved, normal driving can resume...
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Don't leave car running unattended, had several automatics slip out of park, and several manuals pop parking brakes loose...
I have never heard of any of this before.
Neither have I.
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Don't leave car running unattended, had several automatics slip out of park, and several manuals pop parking brakes loose...
I have never heard of any of this before.
Neither have I.
I think you are doing the right thing. I looked into this a while ago and the sanest/most scientific recommendation I could find was this:
a) Warm up 30 sec.
b) drive away, but stay under 2k rpm until water temp gauge is registering towards normal
I folllow this and I get little appreciable wear on my vehicles with good oil (current highest one is 230k Lexus and zero oil burning). The water temp gauge is a proxy measure for your oil temp getting up and flowing well. Not a direct measure, but once enough heat is transferring into the coolant to get it up to 150F or so or getting close to the thermostat opening temp, the oil should be flowing nicely and you can drive as normal. Makes a ton of physical sense to me and seems to work well, and a very simple rule to follow.
a) Warm up 30 sec.
b) drive away, but stay under 2k rpm until water temp gauge is registering towards normal
I folllow this and I get little appreciable wear on my vehicles with good oil (current highest one is 230k Lexus and zero oil burning). The water temp gauge is a proxy measure for your oil temp getting up and flowing well. Not a direct measure, but once enough heat is transferring into the coolant to get it up to 150F or so or getting close to the thermostat opening temp, the oil should be flowing nicely and you can drive as normal. Makes a ton of physical sense to me and seems to work well, and a very simple rule to follow.
Get an oil pan heater (250watt is good) plug in for 3 hours, you can start and literally drive away and you will have heat shortly thereafter as well. Also, use a good engine coolant surfactant like Amsoil Coolant Boost, or their Propylene coolant for faster warm up times.
I have a 2 mile commute. The car is garaged so I let it run for a minute.
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I like the explanation in my GM manuals. Basically, after engine is started you wait till the engine rpm drops down then drive off slowly. I notice that the colder it is, the longer it takes for the idle to drop down. In these cold temperatures we've had, it can take up to a minute anyway for the idle rpm to drop down.
i spent the night in Fargo North Dakota last night on my way back to Indiana from western Montana. It was -11 in Fargo at 6am this morning i started the Silverado, put my backpack in, lightly idled it around to the front of the hotel, ran my key inside and drove easy right onto i-94. i kept it under 2000 Rpm and didn't go over about 60 until the temperature gauge started getting about 160 degrees. then i drove it 75-80 until i needed fuel. i generally take it super easy on my engines until they are fully warmed up. i aso never full throttle unless i have been driving for at least 15-20 miles and i know the oil temp is above 150 degrees. Start this morning was clean and easy with Synpower 5w30. Id expect no different from M1
A question for the drive away cold crowd. What if you have to make an evasive move acceleration right away?
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
A question for the drive away cold crowd. What if you have to make an evasive move acceleration right away?
a moot point. there no need for an evasive "acceleration" event. Means that you're driving a bit aggro.
If you drive defensively, there's never a need to "accelerate" to evade. You just slow down or stop and let whoever pass, and don't worry about the honking and beeping at your "bad driving" and let that roll off your back.
If it's really becomes that important, that you truly need to "accelerate to evade", then you floor it anyway, because the miniscule engine damage is not going to matter if the alternative is your car is t-boned or crushed by a train or kidnapped by terrorists or whatever you were imagining.
The other thing to remember, is that because you're actually driving, the car will warm up faster than the idle-in-the-driveway crowd.
A question for the drive away cold crowd. What if you have to make an evasive move acceleration right away?
a moot point. there no need for an evasive "acceleration" event. Means that you're driving a bit aggro.
If you drive defensively, there's never a need to "accelerate" to evade. You just slow down or stop and let whoever pass, and don't worry about the honking and beeping at your "bad driving" and let that roll off your back.
If it's really becomes that important, that you truly need to "accelerate to evade", then you floor it anyway, because the miniscule engine damage is not going to matter if the alternative is your car is t-boned or crushed by a train or kidnapped by terrorists or whatever you were imagining.
The other thing to remember, is that because you're actually driving, the car will warm up faster than the idle-in-the-driveway crowd.
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in extreme cold i warm up my vehicles 5 minutes then drive slowly some people may argue but all my engines and transmissions live very very long lives.
As long as you don't race the engine when it's cold I think you're fine either way.
However when it's very cold I let mine idle a minute because the car just doesn't feel good to drive when I drive off immediately.
However when it's very cold I let mine idle a minute because the car just doesn't feel good to drive when I drive off immediately.
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I start the engine, when the tach hits about 1,000 rpms I go. I drive easy until the engine reaches operating temps. I don't like burning up a clutch taking off, or dropping an AT in gear when an engine is revving too high.
This is exactly what my wife and I do with our vehicles....seems like a good rule to follow.
I start the engine, when the tach hits about 1,000 rpms I go. I drive easy until the engine reaches operating temps. I don't like burning up a clutch taking off, or dropping an AT in gear when an engine is revving too high.
This is exactly what my wife and I do with our vehicles....seems like a good rule to follow.
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