warming up/cooling down your car?
warming up/cooling down your car?
What do you guys think about warming up and cooling down your cars?
You think it's necassary to do so? I always warm up my car before taking off especially on a really cold day. Sometimes if I ride hard, I let the engine sort of cool off too by letting it idle shortly while I'm parked.
Now I remember when I had my Evo I had to do this because hot oil could damage the turbo, thus the reason for having turbo timers but I never got one because it sometimes causes problems with alarm systems and I had a really nice alarm anyways..
Now in the habit I do this in my G35, warm up and cool down. Anyone else does it? You think it beneficial in the long run of the engine?
It's kind of obvious to warm up your car is half frozen but what about just those colder days and even during the summer.
You think it's necassary to do so? I always warm up my car before taking off especially on a really cold day. Sometimes if I ride hard, I let the engine sort of cool off too by letting it idle shortly while I'm parked.
Now I remember when I had my Evo I had to do this because hot oil could damage the turbo, thus the reason for having turbo timers but I never got one because it sometimes causes problems with alarm systems and I had a really nice alarm anyways..
Now in the habit I do this in my G35, warm up and cool down. Anyone else does it? You think it beneficial in the long run of the engine?
It's kind of obvious to warm up your car is half frozen but what about just those colder days and even during the summer.
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I don't think it's necessary. While I don't do anything similar to cooling down, the closest thing I do to warming up is not driving hard for at least 10 minutes (not exactly granny either... generally keeping the RPMs under 4000).
i typically warm the car up until the idle rpms goes down to 1k then take off and try to not floor it for the first 5-7 minutes
sometimes i'll let it cool off but usually just 30s-1min idle before turning the car off
sometimes i'll let it cool off but usually just 30s-1min idle before turning the car off
On older cars, you had to warm them up because of the carb. On newer cars you only need about 30 seconds to a minute basicly to get the oil circulating to where it needs to be. You still shouldn't start rippin the streets after that since you want the fluids at a certain temp/consistancy for optimal protection. As far as cooling down???? I'm guessing turboed cars need to cool down the turbos and not the rest of the car.
Last edited by gizsf; Jan 31, 2006 at 06:27 PM.
Yes my brother always did a cool down thing on his turbo subaru so I started doing that with my car too. I usually like to wait until rpms are down to a minimum (which takes about 10-15 seconds) after pulling hard into my garage and then I turn the engine off.
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MrCrazy is right on...Warming up a car is the same thing as wasting gas. Just take it easy until the car warms up. The fact that you have it moving speeds the process up a bit. As for cooling it down, i dont think a formal cooldown is neccesary. I suppose the 10-15 seconds mentioned by Ginxed couldnt hurt.
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I don't know why a cooldown would do much good. Idle is where the car can get the hottest since the fan moves a fraction of the air across the radiator that high speed driving does. You rarely hear of a car overheating while cruising down the highway unless it has a complete water pump failure at 60mph.
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fan activation
i ride easy until the temperature gauge goes to the middle..
but, during times when i ride the car for more than 20 minutes, the fan activates while i'm at a red light or entering into a parking lot at low speed. does anybody know why this happens?
but, during times when i ride the car for more than 20 minutes, the fan activates while i'm at a red light or entering into a parking lot at low speed. does anybody know why this happens?
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You think it's necassary to do so? I always warm up my car before taking off especially on a really cold day. Sometimes if I ride hard, I let the engine sort of cool off too by letting it idle shortly while I'm parked.
Now I remember when I had my Evo I had to do this because hot oil could damage the turbo,
I never owned an EVO, but all of the turbo cars I owned had an automatic cool down period whereby the fan would run for a minute or two after engine shut down. As far as a warmup is concerned, none is required. You shouldn't of course go to red line right out of your driveway. M3s have lights on the tachometer that indicate safe RPM ranges. It's prudent to drive at moderate speeds for about five minutes, but warmups haven't been required since the introduction of fuel injection.
Now I remember when I had my Evo I had to do this because hot oil could damage the turbo,
I never owned an EVO, but all of the turbo cars I owned had an automatic cool down period whereby the fan would run for a minute or two after engine shut down. As far as a warmup is concerned, none is required. You shouldn't of course go to red line right out of your driveway. M3s have lights on the tachometer that indicate safe RPM ranges. It's prudent to drive at moderate speeds for about five minutes, but warmups haven't been required since the introduction of fuel injection.
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From: Trolling a forum near u.... (T.O.)
Originally Posted by FAST1
... M3s have lights on the tachometer that indicate safe RPM ranges. It's prudent to drive at moderate speeds for about five minutes, but warmups haven't been required since the introduction of fuel injection.
Perhaps the greatest myth about idling is that it's good for the engine. The truth is that excessive idling can actually damage a vehicle's engine.
Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up a vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. Today's electronically controlled engines allow you to drive away after only 30 seconds of idling, even on the coldest winter days.
Excessive idling can be a problem for a few reasons:
* First, since an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, fuel combustion is incomplete.
* As a result, fuel residues can condense on cylinder walls, contaminate oil and damage engine components. For example, these residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. With more engine idling there is a drop in the average plug temperature and accelerated plug fouling. This can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5 percent.
* Excessive idling can cause water to condense in the vehicle's exhaust. This can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system.
There's another good reason for motorists to drive away soon after starting a vehicle. The engine is only one component of a vehicle. Other parts, such as the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires, also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to get the vehicle moving.
Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up a vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. Today's electronically controlled engines allow you to drive away after only 30 seconds of idling, even on the coldest winter days.
Excessive idling can be a problem for a few reasons:
* First, since an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, fuel combustion is incomplete.
* As a result, fuel residues can condense on cylinder walls, contaminate oil and damage engine components. For example, these residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. With more engine idling there is a drop in the average plug temperature and accelerated plug fouling. This can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5 percent.
* Excessive idling can cause water to condense in the vehicle's exhaust. This can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system.
There's another good reason for motorists to drive away soon after starting a vehicle. The engine is only one component of a vehicle. Other parts, such as the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires, also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to get the vehicle moving.
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From: SI, NY
Originally Posted by gizsf
On older cars, you had to warm them up because of the carb. On newer cars you only need about 30 seconds to a minute basicly to get the oil circulating to where it needs to be. You still shouldn't start rippin the streets after that since you want the fluids at a certain temp/consistancy for optimal protection. As far as cooling down???? I'm guessing turboed cars need to cool down the turbos and not the rest of the car.