Do you let your car warm up?

B C

I have heard of a couple extreme cases where a guy made his wife walk to work in the winter a few blocks away because not letting it warm up was bad for the engine.

I have also heard of a guy that wouldnt even think about flogging the car until he felt that even the diff oil was up to temperature.

What do you say?

Earl

I give it 30 seconds and then take off

REKIII

I never liked the warming up thing. I always liked to drive very gently as the car warmed up. When I got my e39, it said specifically that. it said NOT to let the car idle when cold. Start it up and drive with limited revs until the engine warms up. The coolest thing is that the redline even changes as the car warms.

patsbimmer1

I run the vehicle for 1 minute if it has sat more than a few hours just to give the engine time to lubricate everything. After that I keep all of my shifts around 2k with partial throttle until my engine oil has hit 150ish.

I do the same with my escape because it will sit for days without being driven and usually drive it pretty gingerly. Thats mostly because I am afraid its going to blow up at any moment.

LFE36M3

A little warm up for the old 4runner but mostly cause the brakes don't work if its really cold unless it warms up first.

YoungCR

Warm up to let the oil cycle then go. As stated idling a engine is bad especially cold. In my burb I let the glow plus finish cycling and wait until the rpms come down, then take off.

michael1972

Why is it bad to let in warm up? I let mine warm up in the morning because it's F'n cold outside and I like a warm drive to work.

REKIII

The engine is design to do work. Idling just lets everything spin free. Sort of like when you go to pick up something heavy, only it end up being really light.

B C

michael1972 said:

Why is it bad to let in warm up? I let mine warm up in the morning because it's F'n cold outside and I like a warm drive to work.

Word on the street is the engine becomes more prone to carbon buildup.

IMO if you dont have direct injection and you are having carbon buildup, you arent banging it off the limiter enough

jc43089

My truck has to warm up for a few minutes, it also has a carburetor with a manual choke. It needs a little time for the exhaust manifold to warm the intake manifold to aid atomization from the 1950s carb design. The nice thing is when started with full choke from cold it idles around 1000 rpm, you can hear it roaring from inside the house when it gets warm enough because the idle rises to around 1500 and the fan clutch is stuck so it sounds like a tornado is in the driveway, this signals go time.

Bassboy3313

I dont warm it up for the engine, I warm up the car so the cabin is toasty.

i_love_cars

Letting the car idle especially in the cold is horrible - snap already hit on it with carbon buildup. "Warming up" the engine should involve immediately driving it and keeping the rpms in check. This way all components of the car properly heat up. Another way to think about it is ok, so you let your car idle to warm up (which by the way letting an N54/N55 BMW idle to get the oil gauge up to temp will take like 30 minutes), but let's just say you do let it idle to warm up. At that point, you go to drive and everything else important that's mechanical is still cold as fuck like, let's say your CLUTCH. People who warm up their cars like that and then drive like normal are 100% doing long-term damage to their car, reducing the life expectancy of parts.

High rpms when the engine is cold is indeed a bad idea. Good way to crack a block. I've seen it happen. The internals of an engine are made of metal and alloys, which contract and expand with cold/heat. Also, in a BMW, oil is used as a cooling mechanism which is why so many of them require 7-8 quarts of the stuff. Same concept as what Porsche does. The oil temperature should be at regular levels before putting undue stress on the engine (high rpms) when it cannot cool effectively.

Bottom line is, I immediately start driving when I start my car and do not go above 3k rpm until the oil temp is good.

i_love_cars

why am i the only one who voted Taylor swift. wtf

Earl

^You're not alone

rampelsauce

I warm my car up when its cold. Otherwise, any other time of year, I let my car drop idle (30 sec-1 minute, or however much time it takes me to grab what I've forgotten) and then I'm away.

My auto tranny doesn't like the cold. He/she hesitates till it's good and warm. It could probably use a fluid/filter change.

B C

3k is also my imaginary cold rev limit, I could set it to physically do that with ms2 though.

And yes, ive noticed that the n54 takes for freaking ever to get the oil up to temperature. i believe the factory tune limits timing and boost until the oil is up to temp

michael1972

Ok. Well i warm mine up so its warm inside. And right now the 335 is in storage. I do start it about every two weeks and let the oil come up to temp and cycle through the motor. I can't see letting it lie doormant untill spring being good either.

ClassE

I warm up cars when it's 40 or below. I'd be interested to see data on oil viscosity, internal engine wear, and oil seal longevity on a freezing cold engine that's "given a second to warm up" V.S. 4-5 minutes at idle.

I've always wondered why car manufacturers didn't build in "high idle" switches like in firetrucks as part of a "cold weather package"....

Jdesign

I voted: not usually unless icicles are forming on my balls.....

But, I was really torn, because when I do let my car warm up, I listen to T-swift to get amped up for the drive.

Snap, you officially made this one of the hardest voting decisions in my life.

jockhater2

All the options were HILARIOUS.

My motorcycle has a cold start. Once the cold start is done then I drive it gently for the first 5 minutes before giving her the beans.

The truck. Well diesels don't run well cold. So it idles for 5-10 minutes and I also drive it gently usually takes 15 minutes of driving before I feel comfortable putting the hammer down. Reaching half temp takes being on the freeway for about 15 minutes after it's already gone through the previous mentions.

The BMW. I just give a few minutes and drive it easy until the engine warms up.

Best way to warm up a engine is under light load driving. I really only do the excessive idling in winter. I'm looking to get a remote start for the truck.

WIBIMMERS

Do you let your car warm up?