Eight Facts About Warming up Your Car

[thmastr]

I can't shift in a cold truck... I have to slam it just to get into 2ed warming up is crusial for manual

I had that issue with my Jeep.

my owners manual for my motorcycle states let engine idle for 3 minutes before riding or racing the engine (raising the rpm). or something to that effect... This is on a fuel injected 2005 model where you have to be above 4000 rpm to get any power... granted it has a 15500 rpm redline...

the matrix will get warmed while we load the car with the kid and the stuff for the day...about 2 or 3 minutes

 

[Mr. Leary]

I have a hard time believing that after 30 seconds, your vehicle is ready go go highway speeds. I remember hearing from my auto tech teacher, a former mechanic, that the most damage can be done to the engine when it is cold. It seems like an engine is designed to run around 210 degrees, and going highway speeds before that means the oil isn't the correct temperature, which seems to have the potential to cause damage. I'd be interested in hearing from a mechanic for a definitive answer.

My little Honda gets up to operating tenperature quite quickly, on the order of 2 minutes or so. After 30 seconds (in Texas, mind you), I feel comfortable that the engine is warm enough to drive gently, not pull onto the highway or put a heavy load on the engine (such as steep hills).

Interestingly, my bikes always took longer to warm up then my trucks. It usually took about 5 minutes for the bikes to start running like they should.

Besides the engine, the transmission should not be driven hard until it has a chance to lubricate itself, which isn't full done until the truck starts moving.

Definitely not for diesels. I think the article should make a point to mention gentle driving. I do have to say that I think letting a vehicle fully warm up before driving is just an excuse for "I don't like the cold". I've noticed that my 4Runner warms up really fast compared to every other vehicle I've driven which is partly the reason why I don't idle at all if above freezing

Driving gently is important. Cold makes your oil pump work very hard to try to push thick oil. Let it get the oil moving when it is not under load first, then once things are lubricated, you can start adding load to the engine. Some people run thinner oil in the winter to help combat this problem. An engine block or oil pan heater is a great solution for this.

 

[PhelpsSR5]

Engine Temp Gage

If you let your engine idle for a few minutes before putting it into gear and taking off the temp gage should be reading normal. Shouldn't the engine temp be in the normal operating temp range before turning the RPM's? I will still say that it is better for the engine to run for a few to bring it up to temp before driving.