Question about warming up the car in winter

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Some days i dont drive my car and im in Chicago our temps range from 30f to -20f and i was just wondering is it ok to just let it run for like 10-20min and turn it off on days i dont drive it since its really cold? I know im wasting gas but i dont mind as long as my car is gonna ok.I just wanna keep that battery juiced up as i know these cold temps make it drain.

Its a 99 oldsmobile lss and i only fill it up with premium gas
 
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It warms the engine enough to put moisture in the crankcase, but not enough to evaporate it out. It does the same to the exhaust system.
 
Good way to end up with 20% of your crankcase being gasoline since, as I read it, you will be doing cold starts and let it warm up?

The car will run rich for several or many minutes with no drive time to flash the volatiles off.
 
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It's a 17 year old car and made it this far without someone warming it up on its off days. Just start it, buckle the seatbelt, pop a cassette in and go.
 
Tried to edit my first post, but time expired. So, I repeat, NO, do not start and run it unless you can take it out for a nice long drive to get the moisture/ gas burned out. If you must drive short trips, there is nothing you can do about it, and you just have to live with the consequences. But if you have the choice of wether or not to start it in very cold weather, JUST DON'T. If it is going to set a couple weeks or more, you may need to disconnect the battery, as most modern cars have a constant drain
 
Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
Good way to keep your exhaust shop in business replacing the pipes yearly!

Mfgr's switched to stainless in the early '90s(at least on most cars), haven't seen rusted out exhaust since...

No I wouldn't run it just because, I do commonly warm mine cause I don't enjoy riding in a cold car...
 
No need to warm up a car, even in that cold. Maybe let it idle for 15 seconds before you go, just drive gently.

The cold isn't hard on batteries. Batteries last FAR longer in Canada and back East than they do out here in the heat. In Phoenix, you're lucky to get maybe 2 years out of a battery, 3 tops.
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
Good way to keep your exhaust shop in business replacing the pipes yearly!

Mfgr's switched to stainless in the early '90s(at least on most cars), haven't seen rusted out exhaust since...

No I wouldn't run it just because, I do commonly warm mine cause I don't enjoy riding in a cold car...


Really? Guess I spent too much time on ford forms. Aluminized at best
And to think this is an original exhaust! MOST shops don't use SS unless you are willing to pay. So what Mfg's used and switched to when doesn't matter much.
 
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Don't start it unless you plan to drive it. If you want to warm it up before you drive it I don't see a problem with that. Many here are against warmup, I am not one of those guys.

I hate getting in a cold car. So I warm mine up for 10mins or so on cold days. It's 7F in southern Indiana tonight. Before I went to town I let the truck run a few minutes for my personal comfort.
 
I'm missing something what is the purpose of starting it.. if not driving somewhere?

That is awful on a car.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
No need to warm up a car, even in that cold. Maybe let it idle for 15 seconds before you go, just drive gently.

The cold isn't hard on batteries. Batteries last FAR longer in Canada and back East than they do out here in the heat. In Phoenix, you're lucky to get maybe 2 years out of a battery, 3 tops.


This.

My battery is the original still. Starts still when -20 to -25 still. Heat is worse then cold on batteries but CCA drops when cold but no point in doing that.
 
Originally Posted By: old1
Tried to edit my first post, but time expired. So, I repeat, NO, do not start and run it unless you can take it out for a nice long drive to get the moisture/ gas burned out. If you must drive short trips, there is nothing you can do about it, and you just have to live with the consequences. But if you have the choice of wether or not to start it in very cold weather, JUST DON'T. If it is going to set a couple weeks or more, you may need to disconnect the battery, as most modern cars have a constant drain


+1

For short trips, take longer route from point A to point B.
 
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