warming up the coupe?

[YeR iTz MiKe]

okay, well i read that when you start your car in the cold weather, you let it idle for only 30 seconds and then you can go. when that happens though, my needle is still under the C, is it bad to start driving while the needle is under C?

[Beak]

its not baaad, but its deff not great to drive a car in the cold after a cold start. at lease wait untill the needle moves a little bit. once it hits the first line ur safe.

im sure other people may have different opinions, it just depends on how much you want to baby your coupe.

[elwesso]

fact of the matter is that oil does a pretty crummy job of lubricating before it gets to about 100-150°F...

The oil temperature will not reach "operating temperature" nearly as fast as the coolant will.

BTW, everytime you do a cold start (in other words the oil/block is roughly ambient temp), its the same amount of wear that 50 highway miles does..

[YeR iTz MiKe]

fact of the matter is that oil does a pretty crummy job of lubricating before it gets to about 100-150°F...

The oil temperature will not reach "operating temperature" nearly as fast as the coolant will.

BTW, everytime you do a cold start (in other words the oil/block is roughly ambient temp), its the same amount of wear that 50 highway miles does..

really? so if i start my car and wait like 2-3 mins till the needle hits c, then nothing bad happens to the car right?

and i baby my car alot, i wash her like 1x a week lol, i need to detail her soon though.

[elwesso]

You might find this thread interesting...

zerothread?id=446222

[JAFO]

I always thought that waiting to warm a car up was more to allow the fluids to lubricate everything well than to not start with a cold engine. I know on older car's with carburetor's, you'd have to warm them up to prevent sputtering.

In the morning before work, I usually let the car warm up for a good 1-2 minutes to get everything circulating, then I have a nice 3 minute drive through residential streets to get on the highway. I don't really accelerate quickly or get the car over 30MPH during this three minute drive. The on ramp to the highway is where I usually take off!

[rcboy514]

i def. baby mine too much, but I will usually try to let it idle in the morning for at LEAST 1-2 min.

this may not have anything to do with it, due to the technology in engines today, but at colder temps wouldn't the metal in the engine somewhat be affected? like contract? i.e. the pistons fitting better when they are warm?

anyway if I have to just cold start and leave, I wont go above 1800-1900 RPMS until it gets past the first line. this subject is pretty debated....

[elwesso]

The materials in the engine are carefully selected so they all have the same rate of thermal expansion... in theory, the tolerances should be the same especially on a newer engine, but in practice this is hardly the case because in high mileage engines, you can see the cold cranking compression be very low (well out of OEM specs), but at operating temperature be well within spec.

[toxik]

eh f*** it, let the next owner of my car worry about engine problems

[Heels1010]

i read an article a while back saying that new cars are made so you don;t have to let the car warm up. Older cars tend to require letting the car warm up. The article actually stated that letting new cars set warming up for extended periods of time can be more harmful than good. I think it said something about carbon deposits building up. I still let my car start up for like 2 minutes before going out int he winter. The article was in a newspaper I think or maybe on the internet so don't rip me apart if you disagree. I am just relaying what I read and I know alot of crap online is made up.

[ESP]

i read an article a while back saying that new cars are made so you don;t have to let the car warm up. Older cars tend to require letting the car warm up. The article actually stated that letting new cars set warming up for extended periods of time can be more harmful than good. I think it said something about carbon deposits building up. I still let my car start up for like 2 minutes before going out int he winter. The article was in a newspaper I think or maybe on the internet so don't rip me apart if you disagree. I am just relaying what I read and I know alot of crap online is made up.

I've read a similar article and while I agree that new vehicles aren't as prone to damage when it's a shade below zero (Celsius), I'd dare anyone to prove that warming up a car isn't necessary when you're in the middle of a -30 prairie winter...

[elwesso]

i read an article a while back saying that new cars are made so you don;t have to let the car warm up. Older cars tend to require letting the car warm up. The article actually stated that letting new cars set warming up for extended periods of time can be more harmful than good. I think it said something about carbon deposits building up. I still let my car start up for like 2 minutes before going out int he winter. The article was in a newspaper I think or maybe on the internet so don't rip me apart if you disagree. I am just relaying what I read and I know alot of crap online is made up.

I would agree with it being harmful, if you let it "warm up" for like 45 mins, else how can reaching operating temperature BEFORE you put a load on the engine be harmful... Besides, the old "italian tune-up" will take care of any carbon deposits....

[crayzitalian3]

i always let my car warm up till it hits a little under the middle between the H and C. i feel that i need to so i just do it!

[YeR iTz MiKe]

word man, i let mine go that much too, i baby my car so much

[niztec]

i usually let mines warm up for about one minute and then drive off. we dont have winter here in hawaii so i guess thats pretty much all the time.

[Idok]

If you live in an area with really cold winters, switch out to a 0w-30 oil instead of 5w-30. This will give you better protection at cold start and the same lubricity when running at normal operating temps. It is not really necessary to let the engine fully warm prior to driving. 30-90 sec. would be fine. Just try to keep the RPMs below about 2000 until the temp gauge starts moving.

[Heels1010]

i always let my car warm up till it hits a little under the middle between the H and C. i feel that i need to so i just do it!

Crazy italian....love the way you car looks with the dual set LED strips. Love the rims too, I have the same ones in gunmetal. You live in deer park....u ever go to the bald hill meets? I would love to see those lighs in person.. did you do them yourself? I have no problem removing the bumper I just don't want to start splicing wires. I know the day I start, projectors with built in LED strips will go on the market lol