Do you guys warmup your car?

[CreativeDesignZ]

i guess i shouldnt beat the crap out of it for that cool intake sound when shes still a little cold then huh? oh well time to stop doing that lol

[4DGS]

Were talking about whats relevant in a g35driver thread? That is a first.

Give the guy a break he made a comment about something that did have to do with letting cars warm. Like he said he comes from rotary engines so he would never just get in his car and cruise, that's not what HE is use to.

The Bmw adjusting redline is actually really cool, it sets it so that's the MAX redline the car should be allowed during the warm up time. That's the point of it.

[wise-1]

4DGS, I appreciate your understanding but I feel like stirring the pot a little.

Originally Posted by Jeff92se

I just saw the rotary comment as none revelant. The issue of flooding isn't the concern that we are discussing in regards to
.

And your response to my comment was relevant how?

Originally Posted by Jeff92se

As I've said, letting the engine idle to warm it up actually prolongs the warm up process and actually dilute/contaminate the oil faster than just driving gently.

Prove it.

Originally Posted by Jeff92se

I'm not sure what the varible redline thing has do do with what we are discussing either.

You don't know much then.



Form what I derived from your posts, it is okay to turn on your car, put it in gear and drive off without a moments hesitation. It is true that modern fuel injected cars do not need that much times to warm up, but in reality it would be a good idea to do so. Some may argue other-wise due to high pressure oil pumps that most modern day cars are equipped with. But one must also take into consideration the period of time a car has been sitting and the weight of the oil being used.

I've heard car's on dry starts, and its not a nice sound. And for the oil to properly circulate from the crankcase all the way up to valve, lifter, rocker arms etc; I would give the car a good 2 minutes on a warm day (25degrees celcius).

Over here in Canada, where temperatures get well below -20 degrees celcius, it is, in my mind, imperative you warm up your motor so that the oil temp is at an acceptable operating temp. With out your oil thinning out properly, your motor is forced to work harder to move the heavier oil to the top of the motor, which puts more wear and tear on the moving parts in your engine.


So to summarize what I just said, Warm up your car for at least 1-2 minutes. Don't get in your car and drive like Jeff suggested, you're motor will not like you much.

[Jeff92se]

Prove running a rich cold start program won't dilute your oil? You must not have run too many carb'd cars in your time.

Yes from what you read, I advocate starting the car and running it. The OP is from California if you didn't notice.

PROVE to me that starting the car and driving it is detrimental to the life of the engine. (provided it's run gently)

Redline line thing. I know enough that I don't need some idiot redline limiter during warmup to tell me not to drive the car hard when the car is cold.

If you have concerns about getting the oil up to the valvetrain in cold temps like you mention, you had better be running a synthetic that has superior cold temp flow characteristics. Running a dino when cold is probably doing way more harm than anything mentioned here.

I'd also mention that if you think warming up the car to temp and tearing down the road is okay, think again. The motor oil and coolant might be warm but the tranny fliud isn't(neither are the tires, diff oil etc....). Something actually running the car down the road accomplishes

You actually think it take anything CLOSE to 2 minutes for oil to circulate up the heads? Try within the 1st 10 seconds if 1/3rd that.

[ZachWithNH]

i usually allow mine 30sec - 1 min to warm up. That gives it plenty of time to idle around 1k rpms

[G35_FTMFW]

I put it in drive before i even crank it

[wise-1]

Originally Posted by Jeff92se

You actually think it take anything CLOSE to 2 minutes for oil to circulate up the heads? Try within the 1st 10 seconds if that.

I did also mention the consistency of the oil correct? I know how long it takes for oil to circulate, but how efficiently does it do it? How efficiently will cold oil protect a motor?

I'm not warming up the motor so the coolant gauge is smack dab in the middle, so the cold start program won't be running for as long as you make it seem like. I warm up my motor so that the oil pressure and oil temp is at a nominal level for normal driving.

You're making it look like I warm my motor up for 5-10 minutes, that I agree is a waste in our cars. But the way I warm up my motor, doesn't run the cold start program for long, so the engine doesn't run as rich to a extended period of time, (Although I have test pipe with no piggy back to adjust the a/f, so my car consistently runs rich).

As for everything else, tires, brakes, tranny, diff. I don't run anything hard until the whole car has warmed up. But then again, I never mentioned anything about warming those parts up. That's a whole different ball game.

[Jeff92se]

I've always said here to start and drive gently. Exactly how is that wrong? (since you just said NOT to use my advice)

[jaysizzlecity2]

I Always warm my baby up

[partyman66]

Pretty much everything Jeff said here is spot on in regards to warming up your car. If someone has issues with his take on the relevance of the rotary engine to this thread, that's a completely different matter. My suggestion is to ignore it. Thick skin is a good thing to have when dealing with forums rather than taking stuff like that personally.

[g35luva]

Originally Posted by gary c

Damn glad I'm not luva's G, cold azz winters in Boston and he's only giving me a minute to circulate and warm up my oil.... but that would be a waste....? Sounds like he's to cheap for syntentic too or a garage....poor G.
Gary

Modern engines dont need more than a few seconds of idling time before they can be driven safely. Moreover, the best way to warm up a car is to drive it, since that warms up the catalytic converter and other mechanical parts of the car, in addition to the engine.

In the winter i may let the engine run for a minute or two tops and then i ease into it on my commute. You do what you feel is best. But so many combine myth with fact. But whatever...

You sound like a douche by your last comment, or maybe Im just taking it personal. Either way whatever dude....

[Gibenstein]

I agree with Jeff92se on most of his posts. I just start my car, pick a cd, and go. Keeping my RPM's under 3k until I reach normal operating temps. As far as the rotary comment I honestly owned 4 RX's and never warmed up any of them. As soon as I started it and got myself situated I was off. Letting your car idle to warm up IMHO seems bad as it would take longer for the oil to reach normal operating temps and produce less oil flow as opposed to driving it lightly to decrease the time to get the oil to correct temps and proper circulation.

[wise-1]

But what I'm saying is that when the engine starts up, the oil pressure is low. Correct? Having low oil pressure is never really good for the engine. Also, *since ive been doing some reading* wouldn't the piston rings be cold too? I understand at this point I'm nit-picking, but running a car for 2 min at idle, in my mind, does more good than it would do harm. Also, Jeff's note about the car running a cold start program for "too long"? I just realized we had O2 sensor, and don't O2 sensors tell the ECU how the car is running in regards to coolant temp, oil temp, etc and then adjust a/f mixtures accordingly?

I'm just trying to come to terms with the knowledge I've gathered since I started getting into cars as my hobbie.

[marcellsr]

I start the car, buckle the seat belt, lock the doors, turn VDC off, release the Ebrake and i'm gone, is that long enough......lol

[G35Gus]

Now that I have my car here in MI instead of FL I def warm it up a little longer then I did down there..maybe 30 secs to a min but as the winter starts getting worse, maybe a bit longer.