Starting the car in cold weather. (winter is coming D:)
Also, many EFI vehicles (if not all of them) have a cold-warmup cycle which causes the engine to idle up due to running rich and the eec raising idle temp. It will do this on 20 degree days, as well as 75 degree days sometimes.
Nothing to prevent you from slipping in D and carefully driving away until everything warms up. Sitting in your driveway idling is just wasting gas. Driving 20-30MPH down the road at 1800RPM is no different. But like said before, don't pull out of your driveway with the tires spinning up. You def want to take it easy until coolant and oil temp are up to par.
But i must ask. It's september. How cold of a day are we talking here? Please tell me this isn't a thread about warming a car up on a 40 degree day.
That's still sunroof open weather to us northerners
Nothing to prevent you from slipping in D and carefully driving away until everything warms up. Sitting in your driveway idling is just wasting gas. Driving 20-30MPH down the road at 1800RPM is no different. But like said before, don't pull out of your driveway with the tires spinning up. You def want to take it easy until coolant and oil temp are up to par.
But i must ask. It's september. How cold of a day are we talking here? Please tell me this isn't a thread about warming a car up on a 40 degree day.
That's still sunroof open weather to us northerners
There was a HUGE thread on this not so long ago. Yup, just start it and drive it. If you're someplace that it actually gets cold, you may want to plug in your block heater for a few hours before starting. If you don't know what that is, you don't need to warm up your car, LOL!
EDIT: here is the previous thread...
https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...-your-car.html
EDIT: here is the previous thread...
https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...-your-car.html
Last edited by Swivel; Sep 17, 2010 at 10:05 AM.
There was a HUGE thread on this not so long ago. Yup, just start it and drive it. If you're someplace that it actually gets cold, you may want to plug in your block heater for a few hours before starting. If you don't know what that is, you don't need to warm up your car, LOL!
EDIT: here is the previous thread...
https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...-your-car.html
EDIT: here is the previous thread...
https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...-your-car.html
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From: California
I believe as long as you don't just start your car and immediately run it into high rpm's (not drive it hard) you won't be doing any harm. It's supposed to be really bad to rev your car into high rpm's when it's cold, but that's just what I was told.
Using a good synthetic would probably help the circulate the oil faster during very cold mornings. Dino oil can tend to get pretty thick at very cold temps. Synthetics have a much better "cold pour" ratings
+1, my sunroof was open today at 530AM, i think weather was in the 40-50's and i LOVE it.
ONLY plug it in for a few hours before starting on a really cold morning put it on a timer or plug it in only the night before), I'm talking about 0F or colder. Leaving it plugged in all the time is a waste of electricity and will wear out the heating element eventually.
ONLY plug it in for a few hours before starting on a really cold morning put it on a timer or plug it in only the night before), I'm talking about 0F or colder. Leaving it plugged in all the time is a waste of electricity and will wear out the heating element eventually.
I let the engine run at least 30-45 seconds before driving. Giving the oil time to loosen up and get all through the engine. This also gives time for the A/T fluid (for 5at guys) to warm up a bit and start circulating. I'm not sure if it's stated in the G's manual, but this rule is mentioned in other car manuals I've owned.
I then drive very light on the throttle and keep it under 2.5krpm until the oil temps are all the way up. It can take 5-10 minutes of light driving for the oil to get to proper temp and pressure levels AFTER the coolant is at full temp.
Don't think just because your coolant gauge is in the middle it's ready to be abused...
I then drive very light on the throttle and keep it under 2.5krpm until the oil temps are all the way up. It can take 5-10 minutes of light driving for the oil to get to proper temp and pressure levels AFTER the coolant is at full temp.
Don't think just because your coolant gauge is in the middle it's ready to be abused...
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OP, long before I was born, or maybe when I was born, carburators were still a huge part of the market and there was a sort of understood and unwritten law surrounding warming up your car before taking off.
This is what my Dad (Braintree on the forum) wrote last year:
Car Talk guys suggest that warm-up times be based on outside temps, adding seconds based on the outside temp, such as 10-15 seconds for 40 degrees, 20-30 seconds for 30 degrees, 45-60 seconds for <20, and so on. Once the car has "warmed up," begin driving slowly so that tranny, differential and oil can slowly catch up.
I suspect my Dad is right--- what do others think?
This is what my Dad (Braintree on the forum) wrote last year:
The law was deeply rooted in poor vaporization of the gas in a cold carburator and intake manifold. At that time, warming up the engine was supposed to eliminate hesitation and stalling. However, what they didn't know then was that extended warmup (>3-5 minutes) could actually cause damage to the engine by diluting the oil with excess fuel, and it could also result in hot spots in the combustion chamber.
A cold engine experiences excessive wear due to the rich mixture required by the EFI system. This tends to wash fuel from the cylinder walls and aggravates wear between the rings and cylinder bores. engineers include in the ECU an analytical/semi-empirical mathematical model of the heat transfer within the engine. It is basically a super-thermostat. The ECU uses information from various temp- and flow-sensors to adjust the parameters that affect an engine heating: coolant flow, richness of the mixture, etc. This is all designed to heat up the engine as quickly as possible.
An engine that is driven immediately will have much higher coolant and oil temperatures than one that idles for 5 minutes. At the same time you will also warm up the rest of the drivetrain like the transmission and wheel bearings. Something idling cannot do.
A cold engine experiences excessive wear due to the rich mixture required by the EFI system. This tends to wash fuel from the cylinder walls and aggravates wear between the rings and cylinder bores. engineers include in the ECU an analytical/semi-empirical mathematical model of the heat transfer within the engine. It is basically a super-thermostat. The ECU uses information from various temp- and flow-sensors to adjust the parameters that affect an engine heating: coolant flow, richness of the mixture, etc. This is all designed to heat up the engine as quickly as possible.
An engine that is driven immediately will have much higher coolant and oil temperatures than one that idles for 5 minutes. At the same time you will also warm up the rest of the drivetrain like the transmission and wheel bearings. Something idling cannot do.
I suspect my Dad is right--- what do others think?
^^ Kind of. The cylinder washing due to rich mixture doesn't apply to us. Our ECU's go into closed-loop mode and maintain 14.7 (stoich) within 30 seconds of startup, something a carburator cannot do. Definately don't idle for 5-10 minutes...total waste and I do think it can cause more wear because the oil never really gets up to temp.
Like I said, 30-45 secons seconds of warmup is all you really need... just be easy on the gas/RPM's for the first 5-10 min of driving depending on outside temps to allow the oil and other fluids to get up to temp.
Like I said, 30-45 secons seconds of warmup is all you really need... just be easy on the gas/RPM's for the first 5-10 min of driving depending on outside temps to allow the oil and other fluids to get up to temp.
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