cold winters, do our cars need to be warmed up?

[Nissan-S14]

Who here actually warms up their cars, before driving in the winter? Is it bad if you dont?

[bcar240]

I warm mine up if I have time. But if I don't I just run it real easy until it warms up, but I do this throughout the year. I don't know if it is really bad to drive it cold, but it can't be good for the engine. Engines run best when they are warmed up because they were designed to run at that temperature, and when they are cold the metal and gaskets and stuff contract a little bit which makes it less efficient and the fluids might not circulate well.

[nismofly]

people here at school have this thing on their auto starters that senses the engine temperature, and when it gets to a point where the engine might not start it starts the car and runs it for a few minutes, just so the car will still start in the morning despite the temperature.

[91SE]

I'm told that the best thing is to just drive right away and keep it under approx. 3500 until the temp. gauge moves into it's usual position. Apparently if you just leave it idle it's harder on the engine because you're not getting optimum oil circulation.

[Axel Grungy]

always always warm up your car. it is very hard on your engine if you run it cold.

[93sleeper]

I've heard it recommended that most newer cars (ours included) should be driven gently from a cold start, in order to warm the engine up more quickly. Regardless of what method you choose, though, the correct oil will probably make a much bigger difference in preventing wear during a cold start.

[Nissan-S14]

hmmmm so 50/50, i get different feebacks everywhere. Everyone believes in their own theory.

[guyaverage]

'Warming up' a car is a relic of the 50's, 60's, and 70's when cars with carbs and chokes were prone to stall in cold weather. A properly running modern car with fuel injection will generally start and run well even in rediculously cold weather. I cant remember the last time I needed to warm up a car, any car, at any temperature.

Use an appropriate oil (5w30, 10w30) for the weather your area gets, allow the oil pressure to stabilize or the light to go out after you start, and drive gently for the first couple miles, and you'll do fine.

Letting a car warm up for even 2-3 minutes is completely unnecessary, dumps excess pollutants into the air, can overheat the catalyst if you let it sit too long, burns $2 a gallon gas and gets you zero miles per gallon in the process.

If your car NEEDS a warmup, its probably due for some maintenance. But driving a cold engine gently for the first few minutes/miles, as long as it has the proper oil in it, will be fine and wont hurt it a bit.

[Fenvy]

according to the oil pressure gauge

it's at 400kpa when I first start it up, after it warms up it's at 100kpa, 3k rpm after warm up is at around 400kpa again.

if anything.... there are more oil circulation when the engine is cold (I think?)

i let my car idle for 3 min every time I Drive it. guyaverage made a good point but I rather be safe than sorry.

[Zydeco]

Idleing too long will build carbon(sp) up.

[KDashy]

Cars with ECU's have feul maps for running at cold temperatures. I believe it runs a bit rich until it hits normal operating temperatures.

My old carbed Accord HAD to be warmed up before driving because it compensated itself from the cold weather by idling at 2500 RMP, it became quite a challenge to stopping at a stop sign without putting it in neutral.

[Dano]

as said b4, ALWAYS warm up your car when its cold outside, and try to let it warm up to operating temp anytime b4 running it hard. but its really important when its cold. you dont want sludge in your motor or many other horrible things that can happen!

-Dan

[guyaverage]

I had an '84 Accord with 290,000 miles, with the interesting 3 barrel carb, that idled pretty high too, about 2500-2700 or so for the minute or so if you let it sit there while I scraped the windows or whatever... but even in the dead of winter after about a 10-15 second warm up, it was good to go. Had to blip the throttle to bring the idle down to about 1500 or so, and it would stumble, and sometimes stall, but only if it was super cold out. Couldnt kill that car. Yes those first couple of stop signs were a challenge, fighting the engine with the brake pedal, especially if there was snow on the road. Rear wheels locked, front wheels still pulling. What a mess. Great car though.

My 240, it doesnt care what the temperature is, take it easy for the first mile or so, and she just goes smooth as silk.

[l3ooherS14]

Ive noticed withe every car i have ever drivin in the cold without warming it up that it sounds wierd when you push on the gas. Like its lugging.

[yelnatsch517]

Hmm, all you guys comments were enlightening, but what about people with auto? Some of you guys mentioned keeping it lower than 3500 rpm. For an auto, you would have to push it pretty hard to get it to even hit that high. So for automatic cars what would you guys recommend doing?

[silkk]

I warm my car up for 2-3 minutes. :p

[base9se]

I always warm up my cars, especially in the winter season. If I'm in a rush I at least let the motor run for 1 minute.

[91SE]

Ever seen those old mobil 1 commercials? Your pressure is high at first because the oil is cold and thick. Because it's harder to circulate, it builds more pressure. Which is why its better to just drive. Warm it up quicker=more "fluid like" quicker=better for your engine.

[Dookie]

When its cold down here, its almost impossible for my car to hit operating temp. Then when the needle even slightly moves from C to normal, it drops back down to C when I turn the heater on. Is my car just retarded?

[nismofly]

hey can anyone comment on the cold start abilities of a single cam ka? i want to bring my car to school next year but i have to leave it outside, i was wondering how the old ka24e will like it when it has to start and its about -30 outside temp wise, -90 or so wind chill.

[Doomed2Walk]

I warm up my car for a minute or two then start driving gently. If I try to drive too hard when the transmission's too cold, it's very hard and unpleasant to shift. Engine warms up after about a minute after light driving, but the transmission can take up to like 10.

[PGBrian]

i warm my car up to about 60 degrees before i get going.sometimes i'm in a rush, so i just go ASAP.

[BadMojo]

I'll let it idle for about 30 second to a minute and then I'm off. The only problems I have with my car in cold weather is that the gearbox is a little reticent until I've been driving for a few minutes once temps approach 32F.

PGBrian and other SoCal folks...you probably do not know of this mystical 32° fahrenheit.

[nismofly]

32? im lucky if its -32 some mornings here, thats why im worried, maybe i should get like a car cover or something

[bcar240]

so whether you let it sit or drive, I would think the safest thing would be to keep it under a few K rpms for a few minutes at least. My cold idle is around 1500-1800, and I try not to go over 2500 when driving cold.

hey can anyone comment on the cold start abilities of a single cam ka? i want to bring my car to school next year but i have to leave it outside, i was wondering how the old ka24e will like it when it has to start and its about -30 outside temp wise, -90 or so wind chill.

damn, that is cold! That is approaching the freezing point of gas and coolant (maybe not so much gas, I think it is like -45 F*). I guess if you ran antifreeze only slightly diluted and really thin oil, you would be ok. I am sure there are special additives for that sort of stuff too. If I were you I would probably let it sit until the interior is warmed up anyway, because at that temp, water vapor from you breath will like flash freeze on the glass.

I remember some show I saw on disc, were these guys were working in siberia, and they had to light fires under their truck every morning to thaw their gas and oil! What a job!

[nismofly]

ya in about 2 months here ill take a video and post it where i take a bucket of hot water and throw it in the air and it freezes in mid-air, its real cool to see the patterns

thanks for the info anyway

ps: also a lot of people here have a thing attached to their remote starter that starts the car in the night and runs it so the engine and fluids and other critical things dont get frozen, has anyone had any experience with these things and should i trust it to randomly start my car outside in the middle of night?

[yelnatsch517]

ya in about 2 months here ill take a video and post it where i take a bucket of hot water and throw it in the air and it freezes in mid-air, its real cool to see the patterns

thanks for the info anyway

ps: also a lot of people here have a thing attached to their remote starter that starts the car in the night and runs it so the engine and fluids and other critical things dont get frozen, has anyone had any experience with these things and should i trust it to randomly start my car outside in the middle of night?

Whoa cool. I want to see that vid. I thought that only happened in places like Antarctica in the winter. Man and to think I was born in NY. Too bad I can't remember ever being that cold since I moved to SoCal before preschool. As for the random starting of the car, that is just asking to be stolen . I'm imagining a running car in the middle of a pitch black night with nobody inside. That is like taking candy from a baby.

[bcar240]

ya in about 2 months here ill take a video and post it where i take a bucket of hot water and throw it in the air and it freezes in mid-air, its real cool to see the patterns

I bet it would be funny to find someone who didn't know this and throw a bucket of water at them. Those auto-starter things sound like a good idea for super cold climates. I would think they would be safe, as long as the car wasn't left in gear . The only thing I would be worried about is the unit not really knowing what is going on around it, like the car is out of gas, or some loser shoved a potato in your tailpipe, or something like that and I guess it would keep trying to start the car. I havn't had any personal experience though, maybe someone here has and can recommend a good brand or something.

[LaughingBull]

As far as I know you can't get a remote starter for manuals. And yeah warming up is more for older vehicles. My pickup is insanely hard to keep running in cold weather. You have to give it a lil gas after starting it for a while or it just dies off the bat. Then I have to let it warm up for 4 or 5 minutes or as soon I put it in drive it dies. This is a rebuilt engine with like 5k miles so theres nothing actually wrong with the engine. Has to do with the carb. Wow long post.

[skydragoness]

'Warming up' a car is a relic of the 50's, 60's, and 70's when cars with carbs and chokes were prone to stall in cold weather. A properly running modern car with fuel injection will generally start and run well even in rediculously cold weather. I cant remember the last time I needed to warm up a car, any car, at any temperature.

Use an appropriate oil (5w30, 10w30) for the weather your area gets, allow the oil pressure to stabilize or the light to go out after you start, and drive gently for the first couple miles, and you'll do fine.

Letting a car warm up for even 2-3 minutes is completely unnecessary, dumps excess pollutants into the air, can overheat the catalyst if you let it sit too long, burns $2 a gallon gas and gets you zero miles per gallon in the process.

If your car NEEDS a warmup, its probably due for some maintenance. But driving a cold engine gently for the first few minutes/miles, as long as it has the proper oil in it, will be fine and wont hurt it a bit.

THANK YOU for dispeling that myth. My mom infused that into my brain a long time ago. I did some research and found that your'e ok as long as your'e running the proper oil and your coolant system is functioning properly, etc etc.

What i usually do, since it's starting to get cold now (teh suck. i hate cold weather, i hate winter, i hate snow. ARGH) I will start my car, let it run until the rpm drops just about under 1k, then take it easy: i.e. shifting around 2500rpm and shifting slow until the temp gauge gets nominal, then i drive it like i normally would.

I think it's still bad to start your car up and drive right away, i think it's better to let the fluids flow for a minute before you drive off.