PSA: Don't "warm up" your car by idling!

[ilvtofu]

Originally Posted by Lomac

Yes... but because the RPM's are merely in the 900-1500 rpm range, it takes faaaaaaaaaaar longer for the engine to warm up than if the car was actually driving down the road. As such, physically driving the car warms up the interior much faster than just idling.

Eff-1 pretty much said it for me

[!Yaminashi]

I think that surge sound would get annoying

[Lomac]

Originally Posted by ilvtofu

Eff-1 pretty much said it for me

The point, though, is that it's bad for the drivetrain when you do it.

[orange7]

shit.. I've been idling my car from cold starts for 2-5 mins, depending on my schedule, since it was new.

err... should I check if anything is damaged? If so, what should I check for?

[Gh0stRider]

Originally Posted by !SG

.

its not like i idle for a few minutes then race off!

why not????

[JordanLee]

Cardboard and or isopropyl alcohol works wonders.

[roastpuff]

Heated windshield wiper nozzles ftw!

[Benz_05TSX]

I have always wondered that problem too, so I idle for only 1 min....and I am cheap, don't wanna waste gas! hahahahahahahaha

[jlenko]

Here's a PSA for you: No one fucking cares.

BTW, there's a neat product by Rain X called De-Icer: http://www.rainx.com/Products/Windsh...t/De-Icer.aspx, for all you lazy buggers that don't want to scrape. It works fucking amazing!! Windows clear in no time at all.

PS. Yes, I'm a lazy bugger too.

[GabAlmighty]

I idle my car for 5-10 minutes before I drive off in the morning. I'll let you guys know when the engine quits on me.

Originally Posted by PiuYi

same... i dont kno if its releasing slower or whatever
but it feels different when its cold vs. after 10min of driving
anyone kno y?

Hydraulic clutch you have? Hydraulic fluid is thicker when cold.

Originally Posted by Coach Hines

I think that surge sound would get annoying

I got compressor surge around 200km/h in my old car, obviously driving those speeds on public roads with other traffic.

[RonaldTypeR]

Weird, I've been doing this method for almost 10 years every winter, and nothing ever seems to go wrong?

I guess for those who parked their cars in a heated garage, it's easy to say..My cars are parked out in the driveway, and some winter mornings, every single window would be frozen..The inside of the car gets so cold that my water bottle in the car would've been frozen solid..Even if I scrape the ice off the windows, the inside would still be all fogged up..

So I just turn on my car, turn on the rear window defroster, crank up the heater and leave it running for about 10mins, or until everything melts AND defrosted, and the whole car gets warmed up (inside, outside, engine temp)...Again, I've been doing this for almost 10 years, my cars have 200,000+kms (my DD is actually 401,000kms), and nothing has ever gone wrong? Mind you, I also don't race off as soon as I leave the driveway..I usually drive my cars nice and easy (below 3000RPM) for at least another 10mins or so before I do my 'regular' driving

Anyways, just speaking from my own experience, and people I know who also do the same thing and never have any mechanical problem with their cars

Ronald

[GabAlmighty]

Woot^^ real world experience

[sonick]

You guys are missing my point. The fact of the matter is that it is better for your engine if you warm it up by light driving, rather than idling at 900 rpm for five minutes.

Remote start is good and dandy but it is still not good for the engine to warm up to operating temp via idling in your driveway.

Of course if it is a matter of safety to let the windows defrost then by all means do so as effects are likely minor when done on occasion, but where possible its ultimately better to just drivethan to idle. Plus, I'm sure there's plenty of ppl who have done this all along with no issue.

As for the naysayers, go ahead and keep doing what you do, but if you care about your car, and would rather get a head start on your commute, I dont see a downside in what I'm suggesting.
Posted via RS Mobile

[twitchyzero]

when snow melts early evening and freezes over during early morning then you simply can't just scrape it off.

that's why my dad installed the warm water nozzles with the windsheild wiper..works wonders

[3seriesBeeM]

compustar ftw i get in my car and its nice and toasty and defogged

[spoon.ek9]

my DD is parked outside and this is what i've been doing lately:

1. start up engine let it run about 15-30 seconds (which is at 1500rpm not 900rpm)
2. keep revs constant at 2000 rpm for 60 seconds
3. drive slowly until temperature is normal
4. then i turn the heater on (the engine is very sensitive to having the heater on, slows the warming up by a lot)

only extra idling is for when i have to scrape ice off the windows or wait for some fog to clear up. also, i find the gears grind easily when it's cold (especially in reverse) so i shift from 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - jiggle - reverse. that seems to be the only way to not grind it.

[GabAlmighty]

Originally Posted by sonick

You guys are missing my point. The fact of the matter is that it is better for your engine if you warm it up by light driving, rather than idling at 900 rpm for five minutes.
Posted via RS Mobile

I think my cold idle is around 1100 rpm, so is my warm idle. I care about my car, do not assume I don't.

[!SG]

yes yes,

if u are warming up the car, all u are warming up is the engine, not the drive train.

so thus, if u do warm up ur car for a bit, you should still drive slow for the first bit so that the fluids in the drive train circulate + have a chance to warm up a bit.

my car idles at like 1800 rpm if the engine is cold. it actually goes thru different stages, 1800 dead cold, 1200 after a couple minutes, then 800-1000 as it creeps up to normal running temperature.

I changed my rear diff to a gl5 synthetic fluid. feels sluggish at cold temps which is fine by me because that feel reminds me the car is still too cold to drive at normal driving...

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by spoon.ek9

4. then i turn the heater on (the engine is very sensitive to having the heater on, slows the warming up by a lot)

huh. seriously? didn't know this.

[Leopold Stotch]

i read in my mom's owner's manual that driving at lower rpm in higher gears will help the engine warm up quicker.

[notching]

cold idles actually puts the engine in greater stress as opposed to just driving off
i usually idle for 10 seconds to let the oil circulated then drive lightly

[hk20000]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

huh. seriously? didn't know this.

True for Toyotas.

Not true for Mitsubishi (there are NO water valves in the system)

I think not true for Hondas as well, what you want to check is if there's a water valve where your heater system connects to your engine. Some cars change the interior temp by letting hot water into the heater core some just change the amount of ventilation that actually goes through the core.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

Originally Posted by Leopold Stotch

i read in my mom's owner's manual that driving at lower rpm in higher gears will help the engine warm up quicker.

yes it warms up faster becuz of higher rpm, but because every component in the car is still not up to normal operating temp, thus you can do more damage than good. When your car is ice cold, you wonna be as gentle to the throttle as possible, higher rpm = faster warm up because your piston now has to go up and down thousands of times per minute faster if u dont keep ur revs down, and the higher you rev the chance of your oil not doing its lubricating job when its cold.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by spoon.ek9

slows the warming up by a lot)

Depends on where the heater core is supplied from. If it's from the engine side of the thermostat then yes. If it's from the radiator side of the T-stat, then no.

[sonick]

I may have caused some confusion with throwing in "Cold weather". More accurately would be saying to "not warm up the engine by idling regardless of temperature."

I'm not talking about warming up the car's interior or defrosting the windows, but the actual warming up of the engine, engine fluids and drivetrain.