optimal warm up time

[kiwi135]

how long should i warm my car up for in that morning before i set off (ek with b18c7 dont no if it matters or not) ATM i leave it for about 2mins.

[DLO01]

Turn on, make sure you have oil pressue, then go. No need to sit and warm up. Just make sure you drive 'normally' till the car has warmed up completly (10mins or so)

[JetSir]

start and go pretty much.... i have friends that let it idle for 5min =/ waste of petrol in my eyes

[Crapdaz]

yeh wastes petrol on cold starts,
start and go and normally i keep my revs under 2-2.5 for say the first 10mins sometimes i give a little more say 3.
Once warm im up to 6-7k

[VTi_b0i]

i let my turbo civic warm up for like 3-4mins when thats cold, it drives like a pig if i dont... but my daily (09 Getz) about 30seconds to a minute...

[Mr_will]

you dont need to sit there for longer than about 30 seconds. by then you will well and truly have oil pressure.

dont over rev, and dont be too hard on throttle until temp reaches normal level

[mattchuej8]

agree. just dont go making yoru engine work hard form the get go.
i personally let it idle for 30sec-1minute, then drive gently (2-3k revs) till engine has warmed up then if i need to push it a little i do.
just personal preference.

[JDM.Power]

5min wait for me, and drive like a granny for another 5mins or till temperature reaches warm.

[02gzm]

Extended idleing is bad for fuel consumption. 30sec-1min for me on cold mornings as my car doesn't like to idle for the first minute or so if I take off earlier. IACV is clean and no vacuum leaks either :?:

[BURST]

I read somewhere that letting it just sit there doesnt warm up your gearbox, so it's better to drive it gently. Is this true?

[JohnL]

I read somewhere that letting it just sit there doesnt warm up your gearbox, so it's better to drive it gently. Is this true?

Yes, though keep in mind that the gearbox isn't as sensitive as the engine to being properly warmed up.

This isn't to suggest that it's OK to 'fang it' as soon as the temp guage nears / reaches 'normal'. It's not a good idea to drive the car hard (or more than fairly gently) as soon as the coolant is up to temp because the oil temp lags behind coolant temp. It's best to give it a few more minutes to make sure everything is thoroughly warmed up. Cold oil doesn't lubricate as well as warmed up oil.

It's not a good idea to leave the engine idling for any extended period because oil spray onto the bore walls ('flinging' off the crank from the big end bearings) at idle speeds is not great, and the pistons may be running with less oil than is ideal. This is especially the case when the oil is cold and thus thicker than at operating temperature...

[kiwi135]

interesting, next time i start her up cold i leave for a minute and set off and drive gently

[curtis265]

Yeah i can't decide whether it's better to sit and let it warm, or jsut go.

on my dad's mazda 6, it gives u crazy fuel consumption numbers if you drive with the cold engine, but when it's warm it's more normal.

Maybe 1-2 minutes warm up is a good idea.

[OMG.JAI xD]

Turn on, make sure you have oil pressue, then go. No need to sit and warm up. Just make sure you drive 'normally' till the car has warmed up completly (10mins or so)

Spot on.

EFI engines dont need warming up.

Though it is better.
Waste a few mL of fuel every cold start up and prolong your engines lifespan a little bit.

Clearances are bigger when its cold, driving off even with granny driving still puts load on the engine. I only warm up on mornings. Other times I let the oil run thru the system and drive off.

I dont like cold engines anyway. Oil pressure doesnt get high enough for vtec to kick in.

[string]

I dont like cold engines anyway. Oil pressure doesnt get high enough for vtec to kick in.
VTEC doesn't kick in because it has an interlock on coolant temperature (for good reason). Oil pressure is highest when your engine is cold...

I see 80+psi about 2seconds after the car has started. Seat belt on and your off.

[migoreng]

just let your car sit for 15secs then drive off slowly..
i see many people that start the car, put then handbrake down and drive within 2 seconds...

i have to open my gate/close the garage every morning so my car gets over a 1min of idling before i start driving

[aaronng]

It takes about 3 minutes for coolant temperature to reach normal temperature and about 8 minutes for oil temperature to reach normal on my car. And if I let it idle from cold, the oil temperature does not reach the operating temperature for a long long long time.

[JohnL]

just let your car sit for 15secs then drive off slowly..

That's fine.


i see many people that start the car, put then handbrake down and drive within 2 seconds...

And that's perfectly OK as well, but you seem to think it isn't?

I suspect you might be concerned about whether oil has circulated to all the nooks and crannies of the engine in the first few seconds, but really as soon as the oil pressure light goes out it's fine to raise the rpm a bit and put some light load on the engine.

It's actually a good thing to (within reason) raise the rpm very shortly after the OP light has gone out in order to quickly spray some oil up onto the cylinder walls (which will be relatively dry at start up). This is a good thing that the 'cold fast idle' does, but a bad thing is that it tends to not wait for the OP to build up...


i have to open my gate/close the garage every morning so my car gets over a 1min of idling before i start driving

Not ideal IMO, but then the 'cold fast idle' speed is probably high enough to spray an adequate quantity of oil around...

[JohnL]

It takes about 3 minutes for coolant temperature to reach normal temperature and about 8 minutes for oil temperature to reach normal on my car.

Exactly. Which is why coolant temp alone is not a good indicator of the engine's readiness to be thrashed...


And if I let it idle from cold, the oil temperature does not reach the operating temperature for a long long long time.

So if the engine is idled up to temp then when that point is reached, the coolant will be 'hot', the engine oil only warm, and the gearbox oil for all intents and purposes dead cold...

[UCNDRM]

I actually had the same question regarding my car and the dealer actually told me to warm up the car for bout 2 mins and cycle through the gears up and down a couple times to get the fluids moving on cold starts, it is supposed to help out with the cold morning notchiness

[aaronng]

I actually had the same question regarding my car and the dealer actually told me to warm up the car for bout 2 mins and cycle through the gears up and down a couple times to get the fluids moving on cold starts, it is supposed to help out with the cold morning notchiness

If your car is an auto, you don't need to do that. "D" lets it go through all gears with no restriction.

[curtis265]

yeah i hate gold gearboxes. 1-2 doesn't go in properly, andi have to double clutch to get it in

[trism]

ive posted thisd a few times

warming a car up is the worse thing you can do, for a few reasons, if you have a search youll find them all, but here is a quick run down

1. idling causes fuel wash. the excess fuel in the cylinder not being burnt literally washes the oil off the cylinder walls, removing lubrication
2. emissions control devices, specifically the catalytic convertor work when heated up. idling the car isnt going to heat it up, so for the 5 minutes its warming up all the toxic nastys are spewing out the exhaust.
3. youre wasting fuel warming up. the ecu automatically supplies more fuel when cold to prevent stalling. thus wasting petrol (and causing fuel wash)
4. you sit there for 5 mins warming the engine up thinking youre sweet, then pull out and give it a hit thinking its all fine. well its not. where does the power go through before it hits the wheels? the gearbox/rest of the drivetrain. you hit it, and your 'box is cold still and you cause wear on the drivetrain.


thats a basic run down on why its not necessary. simply get in, start the car up and drive away, taking it easy until the temp reaches operating temperature, that way everything warms up at the same time and you dont damage anything

[UCNDRM]

If your car is an auto, you don't need to do that. "D" lets it go through all gears with no restriction.

Nah buddy is a manual, 1st and 2nd gear tend to be a bit notchy on cold mornings, hence why i cycle through gears in neutral to get some fluids moving. It just helps with the gear box getting sticky

[kriZy]

According to the Honda Manual:
1 minute warm up is enough on a pretty cool day along with driving the car gently until warm.

[EK1.6LCIV]

Install oil pressure gauge, wait til it drops back to below 25psi

[Riced_Civic]

i let my car warm up for 1 min then i drive off and dont rev past 3k until my oil temp hits 60*C.

[jks24]

i always like to let my car idle for at least 5mins, might be a waste of fuel but thats just me. And then i will never really take it over 3k until the engine has been running for about ten mins.

[JohnL]

i always like to let my car idle for at least 5mins, might be a waste of fuel but thats just me.

There are credible reasons already posted as to why allowing an engine to idle for an extended period (especially when / from cold) is not a good idea. It's pointless to tell us that you like to do the opposite unless you also give reasons why you think it's a correct thing to do...


And then i will never really take it over 3k until the engine has been running for about ten mins.

Good practice, if possibly a little over-cautious.

[4age8u]

how about for carb hondas? i know if it dont let it warm up for around 5min,i runs so bad pufiing smoke but when its warm runs fine

[JohnL]

how about for carb hondas? i know if it dont let it warm up for around 5min,i runs so bad pufiing smoke but when its warm runs fine

Smoke (black?) only when the engine is cold suggests the mixture is overly rich when the engine is cold, so the automatic choke may need adjustment...?

[Petronas]

yeh wastes petrol on cold starts,
start and go and normally i keep my revs under 2-2.5 for say the first 10mins sometimes i give a little more say 3.
Once warm im up to 6-7k

Exactly what I do...

[4age8u]

Smoke (black?) only when the engine is cold suggests the mixture is overly rich when the engine is cold, so the automatic choke may need adjustment...?

yeah mate black smoke sounds like a rotor for around 5min then after that runs perfect again>?

[JohnL]

yeah mate black smoke sounds like a rotor for around 5min then after that runs perfect again>?

"Rotor"?

Automatic chokes tend to be less than reliable and generally not a good thing (even when they're working as intended they tend to take too long to lean out the mixture, at least in my experience). Choked carbs tend to liberally wash down the bore walls with petrol (more so than EFI on cold cycle), which washes the oil film away (causing ring / piston / bore wear) as well as diluting the oil with fuel.

You might want to look into converting the choke to manual operation? It might still(?) be possible to buy cable kits to do this from auto accesories stores.

[trism]

"Rotor"?


rotary engine.

like in an rx7

[JohnL]

rotary engine.

like in an rx7

You mean like a modified Wankel, i.e. with a relatively high and 'hunting' idle?

That would be typical of an automatic choke holding the butterfly valve a bit open to create a high idle speed, but where the mixture is way too rich causing the idle speed to fluctuate (i.e. speed up and slow down in a rapidly 'hunting' cycle).