Do you let your car warm up before you drive off?

[mtnagel]

I was always told by my parents that it was best to let your car "warm up", even if just for a minute or so, instead of just starting the car and throwing it into drive and taking off. So that's what I try to do. I even give it a tiny amount of gas (not reving hard) just to warm it up a little faster.

Then I read this article (http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerreports/lowercost.html) from Yahoo (second section down - No Loitering) and it says "After starting the car in the morning, begin driving right away; don't let it sit and "warm up" for several minutes. An engine actually warms up faster while driving. With most gasoline engines, it's more efficient to turn off the engine rather than idle for 30 seconds or longer."

Does everyone agree with this? I definitely disagree in the winter - I like to let mine warm up at least 10 minutes so that it's nice and toasty warm when I get in.

Thoughts?
Matthew

[GhettoSuperStar]

I don't let my car idle for any amount of time first thing in the morning. I start it and go. I read long ago about that and it was way before the internet.

[wiley]

I always let my car idle for 30 seconds to a minute. spring, summer or fall -- I store during the winter.

It's not a great amount of time, just enough to let me get settled and ready to roll

wiley

[Riley1123d]

On cold mornings I try to give it some time so I can come back in to a nice heated car. When i'm in a rush I get in and drive. Normally, I get in start up, and by the time my seat belt is on, and the radio is playing what I like, and everything is in order 30 seconds have passed before I go.

[Old Guy]

In the older cars we always let them idle for a little while before we ran them. I just sit long enough for the rattling in the 3.4 to go away. I doubt that you'll hurt the engine either way.

[mtnagel]

Originally posted by The Old Guy
In the older cars we always let them idle for a little while before we ran them. I just sit long enough for the rattling in the 3.4 to go away. I doubt that you'll hurt the engine either way. Wow, 4 replies in less than 10 mins! Must not be much on TV tonight. :D

I guess I've been waiting needlessly. Damn parents and their old time ways :D

[RocketFast321]

Summer time I'm in drive or reverse before the rpm can drop. Winter time I let it run till the heater is warm, because it like a slug when it is 20F outside, the tranny wont out of first till like 3kRPM. But too me you have to drive off right as the heater is getting warm or it will get suck gas sitting there.



:offtopic:
How are winter start ups for the people with 180F thermostats

[Themeneea]

i let it sit for 20 secs or so. i assumed it let the oil curculate and the piston slap to stop.

[MikeNice]

Originally posted by mtnagel
Wow, 4 replies in less than 10 mins! Must not be much on TV tonight. :D

I guess I've been waiting needlessly. Damn parents and their old time ways :D

Actually I watched the 2 hour Samllville special. :) Love that show.

About idling...i usually start the car, then wait about 30 seconds for it to idle just below the "1". If I take off as soon as I start the car, the gas doesn't feel right. Feels like it's sputtering sort of...

[Jordon'sGrandAm]

I always let my car idel for like 1-2 minutes. any car i drive i do that. in winter i give it more time because it's cold and it's better to get it a few minutes to warm up and stuff.

[p8ntman442]

Startup procedure for samantha. Get in sit down shut up turn key mash gas while simultaneously dropping into gear
I dont think I have ever not spun tire with her in my driveway. even in the dead of winter. No internal wear on that baby. :angel2:

[Bouchie11982]

i let my car run for a good 5 min or so...i live in New England...it gets liek below zero here at nights and stuff. and a little above 5 in the mornings. plus i have almost a 10 yr old car. i used to have an 81 V8 Buick Centruy wagon and i let that one run for a good 10 min. (it was old though) soooo....i would prefer to let an older car run for a good 5 min. just to get the car warmed up (my father is a mechanic...he sometimes knows what he is talking about)

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by mtnagel
I was always told by my parents that it was best to let your car "warm up", even if just for a minute or so, instead of just starting the car and throwing it into drive and taking off. So that's what I try to do. I even give it a tiny amount of gas (not reving hard) just to warm it up a little faster.

Then I read this article (http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerreports/lowercost.html) from Yahoo (second section down - No Loitering) and it says "After starting the car in the morning, begin driving right away; don't let it sit and "warm up" for several minutes. An engine actually warms up faster while driving. With most gasoline engines, it's more efficient to turn off the engine rather than idle for 30 seconds or longer."

Does everyone agree with this? I definitely disagree in the winter - I like to let mine warm up at least 10 minutes so that it's nice and toasty warm when I get in.

Thoughts?
Matthew
Only time I let it 'warm up' is in the winter to literally warm up the car and defrost the windows. Other than that it's pointless on a car driven daily. A car sitting for 10-12 hours will still have lubricated internals, especially one using synthetics. Now if the car has been garaged, or parked for awhile I would let it idle for a minute before driving.

Second part is also true. If I'm going to be a minute or more I turn my car off. I always hear people tell me, 'It takes more gas to start your car than to let it run for 5 minutes.' I don't know what they are driving, but I just smile and turn away. Only negitive side to turning it off and back on is wear and tear on the starter.

[Night Wolf]

Well, when I was driving my mothers car ,which is carburated, on a cold day I woul have to let it warm up, otherwise pulling out of the driveway on to a main road, she would want to stall or just be real sluggish, while my fuel injection dosn't care either way....

....uaully I start it up and 30 seconds later I am leaving, but my engine dosn't actually "warm-up" for 2 miles or so, what I mean is, if I have the heat on, for about 2 miles or 3 minutes, it will still blow cold air..... I need to just let her idel in the driveway a bit, becuase I ave just been dirivng, and my windows are all fogged up, and I would run the wipers to try and clear the fog, meanwhile I am driving 45 and can't see aorund the turn, then add in the sunglare, and it becomes very aparent that I really can't see where I am going, I learned that the last 3 days of driving, so tomorrow morning she warms up for a minute or so.

I know my engine, on a cold start, especally if is is chilly out 9it's been going down to the high 40's/low 50's at night now) runs a litle rough for the first minute of running, even on warmer days, it's just one of those 4.9 things....that and the rough idel are about the only things that could be considered "bad" wit these engines.......after a minute or so, the roughness goes away, then it is just always rough at idel, but not like when it is cold (get that?)

[Artic]

In the winter I press the button she starts and warms up when i am getting ready to leave round 10 min

[goldfinger]

Before I had my remote starter....... no. Now that I do? Yes.

I beleive it's best to be as easy on the engine as you can until things get up to temp.

And like someone said above when it's cold out mine doesn't want to shift until about 3K rpms.

*shrug*

[Bandit]

I don't wait long before driving off, but you will kill your car quick if you start it cold and jump on it right away..

[SmokinGT00]

My dad told me that I should let it warm up before I drive it anywhere. I let her warm up until the needle gets up to 100 or so, then I go. In winter I definitely let it warm up. Cassie is used to warming up for a minute or two...guess I'll experiment with waiting only 30 seconds and see how she reacts.

[p8ntman442]

Originally posted by Bandit
I don't wait long before driving off, but you will kill your car quick if you start it cold and jump on it right away..


thats a bunch of bull. I understand the theory behind it but my "rigerous scientific testing" has disproven this myth.

[p8ntman442]

Originally posted by Bouchie11982
i let my car run for a good 5 min or so...i live in New England...it gets liek below zero here at nights and stuff. and a little above 5 in the mornings. plus i have almost a 10 yr old car. i used to have an 81 V8 Buick Centruy wagon and i let that one run for a good 10 min. (it was old though) soooo....i would prefer to let an older car run for a good 5 min. just to get the car warmed up (my father is a mechanic...he sometimes knows what he is talking about)

Nah i live in boston/ woodstock Ct, and I never let her warm up. Never a knock from her either. she likes it hard from the start. get the temp right up there.

[Night Wolf]

you should never run an engine hard while it's still cold, just not good for it....

.....even with my lawn tractor, I start it up, and let it run aobut 1/2 throttle for a minute or 2 before running WOT and cut the grass.... but if it's my car, and i cared aobut it, I would not run it hard until it is at normal operating temp.

[HondaCivicsSuck]

i really dont have much rattling on cold starts..... i still let it warm up for about 60 sec

[Bandit]

thats a bunch of bull. I understand the theory behind it but my "rigerous scientific testing" has disproven this myth.

What I mean is, if you get up in the morning with snow on your hood (in other words, it's freezing cold) and you start your car and jump on it (I have a friend who used to do that with his Stanza) you will reduce the life expentancy of the engine. The oil gets thicker in the cold, and dispite the lubrication that people think stays all around their engine, pistons for one make such a nice seal against the cylinder that they literally "scrape" all the oil off the cylinder wall on their way back down, else everyone would be puffing blue.

Further, engines are designed to run at a certain operating temperature. Tolerances within an engine are very very precise, to the point that a few hundred degrees makes a large difference. Anyone with the 3100s will notice when they start up cold the brief ticking from the valvetrain. It goes away once oil gets around there and the temp comes up, which takes a matter of a few seconds, but still illustrates the point.

When it's cold, it's a good idea to give your car some time to warm up before you hit it hard. 30 seconds is more than enough time, but it is a bad bad bad idea to start a car cold and drive it hard right away. Bad bad bad.

[Grandam02chick]

I've always let my car warm up to atleast about 150 in the temp gauge it's not really good if u just take off and drive and exspecially in cold temps u want it to warm up so u can be warm too when u have to be somewhere

[p8ntman442]

See thats why you have to scorch your rings so they dont scrape the cylinder walls on start up. Beating the piss out of a car will make it last forever. :cool:

[Vintalage]

I start it up and go. Don't matter what season. I don't get on it until it is completely warm. I take it easy.

[jayhawk]

When I start up my car, I let it idle until the seat belt light starts flashing...about 15 seconds. When I shut it off, I never let it sit, especially in winter. In winter I found it starts easier in the morning if I shut it off really fast. Weird.

[4kQuad]

I like to give it 15 to 30 seconds. Lets the oil get moving trough the system before I go.

Letting it sit for more than a minute or two is waisting gas, and at the price now days.

[gagt98driver]

In any weather above freezing I will wait about 15 seconds before I drive off in any car. By the time I get it backed out of the garage, get out and close the garage door its set for another 15 seconds there as well.

However, below freezing I will always give the car at least 30 seconds before putting it into gear.

Yes I use Mobil 1 which has a pour point of well over -30F, however once you start to get down below freezing, it doesn't matter what oil is in the vehicle it still starts to flow more like molasses than oil.

[HeyDace]

Back in the day we had to warm them up or we'd be boggin down due to the choke plate not being open enough. Fuel injection does not need this because it adjusts itself accordingly to cold weather. Although it is a good idea to allow the engine to stabilize before mashing the gas.

[DEMonte1997]

i usually let the car warm up to at least 150 before it is put in drive. that's about 5 minutes i guess. i don't think it's a good thing to put the 3400 to work before the gaskets and all the sh_t have had a chance to warm up. with everything i hear about the leaking intake gaskets, i would want to make sure that everything is good and expanded before moving around. that's aside from all the other funny sounds the engine makes.
^^
that's my g/friends GT...

on my DOHC, i have to usually let it warm up for at least 10 mins before the cams stop buzzing. :P that sound is worse than anything a GA could do. then comes the ticking.. ohhh, that lifter ticking. :mad: