Warming Up the car

[NViejeP]

Recently, I've started warming up the car in the very cold mornings. Around 5 minutes or at least until the meter goes over the last marking. Is this neccesarry in the first place for a car that is 69k miles?

However, it recently has been raining like crazy here, and its been freezing for the most part of the day. Usually I park my car for like 2.5 hours or so and then have to move, and I notice that my heat meter is back to the very bottom, should I heat it up again or is it not neccesarry?

 

[rw229]

SFO is not cold

Let it run until the idle drops to normal and drive away.

 

[BabeGTR]

I'm on the other side of the mountain, in Reno. I am not fortunate to have a garage, and it gets pretty cold here. ( I noticed your other post about remote starts.) I had one installed as soon as I purchased the runner. I got it at Ciruit City installed for around $190. Model is "Valet 56lr".

It has worked perfectly every time...has great range...is priceless when frost or snow is present and I think overall creates less wear and tear on the vehicle. When it's too cold, most people start up and tear off to get the cabin warm.

It does reduce gas mileage slightly, but worth the comfort. It also has the basic safety/security systems that work.

If you park outside in cold weather......It is a musthave.

 

[NViejeP]

I'm on the other side of the mountain, in Reno. I am not fortunate to have a garage, and it gets pretty cold here. ( I noticed your other post about remote starts.) I had one installed as soon as I purchased the runner. I got it at Ciruit City installed for around $190. Model is "Valet 56lr".

It has worked perfectly every time...has great range...is priceless when frost or snow is present and I think overall creates less wear and tear on the vehicle. When it's too cold, most people start up and tear off to get the cabin warm.

It does reduce gas mileage slightly, but worth the comfort. It also has the basic safety/security systems that work.

If you park outside in cold weather......It is a musthave.

I see. A few questions though, how does it work? I start it up, it does not unlock doors, and it just runs normal, when I do get into the car, I plug the key into the ignition and turn it and it works?

What do you mean it reduces gas mileage? How does it reduce gas mileage?

 

[Uneek]

I see. A few questions though, how does it work? I start it up, it does not unlock doors, and it just runs normal, when I do get into the car, I plug the key into the ignition and turn it and it works?

What do you mean it reduces gas mileage? How does it reduce gas mileage?

You don't really need to warm up. Start up and when idle drops, just begin driving and keep your RPMs low until it starts to warm up. I usually start up and start driving within 30 seconds to a minute. I keep my revs under 2-2.5k until the temperature needle starts to move away from C. I just accelerate gently away from a stop.

Depending on if the remote start system is a stand alone or a part of an alarm system. Either way there will be a module installed under your dash that is connected to the truck's ignition. When it receives the start command from your remote, it will start your engine and that's it. You would still need to put the key in (some have a feature that won't allow you to double start while the truck's running under the remote start system), before you can drive away. The doors will remain locked. On my Clifford G4 Intellistart, there's a wire connected to the brakes, so the system cuts off when the brakes are depressed. If the key is in, then the car runs like normal. If there is no key, the engine will stall (this is how it prevents your car from being driven away by a theif). If my alarm goes off while it's under control of the remote start, it'll shut the engine down. The Intellistart, allows you to idle, make a quick run into the house or store and keep the engine running without leaving the keys. It can also act like a turbo timer, when the engine is already running, send it the start command again and remove the key. The engine will shut off after a set duration.

It reduces gas mileage, because when you're not moving and just idling (i.e. warming up), gas is being used, but the truck hasn't gone anywhere yet.

 

[Dennis]

The best literature I've seen advises against warming up an engine by idling. A lot of engine wear occurs while it is warming up, and the way to minimize that wear is to warm it up quickly--by driving. (As Uneek advises, though, don't do any high revving or hard acceleration until the engine is fully warm.)

If you lived in an cold climate, you might make the tradeoff and accept additional wear for the comfort of a warm car when you leave.

By the way, having the coolant temperature up to normal doesn't really mean the engine is fully up to temperature. Things take a lot longer to warm up down in the crankcase. You can see this easily if you have an oil temperature guage. I never had one until my wife got an Audi which comes standard that way.

 

[biglatka]

I agree with Uneek and Dennis. All the info out there, I've seen, recommends driving away within a minute of starting to minimize engine wear and excessive carbon build up, and for faster warmup. Just drive it conservatively until it is fully warmed up.