When you start your car first thing in the morning, what RPMs is your car idling at? Mine is between 2000 and 2500 RPMs, which seems high to me. I am wondering if this is normal? Since I have noticed this (and it has NOT been cold in So Cal in the morning lately), I have started to give the car some gas and wait before putting it into reverse in order for the RPMs to drop.

Opinions? Is this what our engines are supposed to do?

Thanks in advance.

Herschel

 

I get about 2K when first started. I think it's intentional and normal for this car.

 

That sounds about right... subsequent starts go much lower ~ 1200 RPMs.

 

Mine does the same 2-25k rpm in the morn, once warmed up then it drops after 1 minute

 

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.

Good to know things are working as normal!

 

Yep, Normal. Nissans/Infinitis idle high when cold. The other cars we have owned Toyota and the Acuras do not idle near that high. About 1200~ they idle compared to 2000-2500.

 

My Civic starts high also, I don't have an RPM gauge yet, but I suspect it is high, but it goes down within 1-3 minutes depending on the temp. outside. It's normal, warms up the engine, then drops a lot lower, my friend's Altima does the same thing, at about 2k in the morn.

 

When I turn her on in the morning in the winter, it never idles past 1700RPMS...usually it's at 1500 or 1600 RPMs, and within 20 seconds it's down to 1200 RPMS and stays there for a couple of minutes...eventually it will drop to ~500 RPMS if I wait 5 mins or so for it to completely warm up.

PS, my car is an auto, 2005, with 21k on the motor. I'd be shocked if I ever saw it idle at 2500 RPMS. How cold is it there? It hasn't been colder than 4 degrees when I've started my car, but these are the results I've seen.

 

Mine starts at about 2k (temp this morning was about 55), then drops 100 rpms about every 10 - 15 seconds.

 

yeah im in so cal too and i noticed that the idle is kinda high. 2-25k, i thought it was because it was cold but i was just about to ask the same question! good to know its normal all across the board!

 

Im in Northern CA and it has been in the mid to low 50s when I leave for work. My 07 does the same thing where at first start up it hits ~2K then over 20-30 sec it slowly goes down to ~850.

 

im in socal too and it does it. my moms i30 use to do it too so it wasnt a shock to me.

 

Maybe it's emissions related??

 

Different cars, different ECU's

 

To answer the OP, It's totally normal. cold start mode, goes off of coolant temp, not ambient air temp IIRC. If your cars' been sitting for a few hours, more than likely it will do this, if the coolant temp is low/cold.