How long do you idle your car etc when u start it?

[nEUROtic]

Hi,

Just wondering how long should you idle your car before u back it outta the garage so its properly warmed up. Should u rev it a bit or just turn the key and leave it? Just wanna prolong my engine so any input from ppl in the know would be great.

Cheese

[FR33K]

no dont rev it.. its got an auto choke..
i idle mine for 10 mins while i have breakfast :P

[nEUROtic]

10 mins jesus

[h22a accord]

when its cold i start my car and drive it straight away, i dont rev it above 2000rpm until its warmed up a bit.

[MrPlow]

10mins? haha!

I just let it warm up till the temp dial read warm! Usually afew mins - also I never vtec or rev it hard for the first 10 or so mins of driving...

[|N|]

i start the car b4 i get change.... so thats abt 5 min ... or less....

[SiReal]

I let it go for around 5 mins until the engine sounds like auto choke is off. but not 10 minutes! hahaha.....

[Paul1985]

its not healthy for it leaving it to warm it.. best thing for it is a nice EASY drive on a hwy for like 5 - 10 mins...

[alphabeatsco]

just leave it til it reaches the middle of the temp gauge.and drive u'l be fine.

[e240]

just leave it til it reaches the middle of the temp gauge.and drive u'l be fine.

Geez..most of you guys way overdo the warm up thing.

I just give it a minute for the oil to circulate and then drive off. But I don't gun the car until Operating temperature is reached.

Wanna know how I run in my new vehicles? LOL...

[DomenEK]

Geez..most of you guys way overdo the warm up thing.

I just give it a minute for the oil to circulate and then drive off. But I don't gun the car until Operating temperature is reached.

Exactly.

I'm pretty sure that in the owner's manual it says to let it idle for about a minute, then drive easy until operating temp is reached.

[SINISTR]

Hi,

Just wondering how long should you idle your car before u back it outta the garage so its properly warmed up. Should u rev it a bit or just turn the key and leave it? Just wanna prolong my engine so any input from ppl in the know would be great.

Cheese

Your car being BRAND new (almost) is capable and is designed for you to start and drive pretty much right away! it gets the oil up into the rocker cover faster than you can put it into gear from neutral.

10 - 20yrs ago (my GENONE being an example) - its recommended to simply let the car idle - its not so much to warm the engine but to get the oil around the endine, into and around the valves etc.

If you want to preserve the engine - just don't HURT it right the moment you leave the driveway - thats the time to let the car warm up to almost its optimal operating temperature.

I know WRXs have a little 'sound' that lets you know when the engine is at 'operating' temperature - and that actually happens to be before it even hits the 'C' on the temp gauge.

Your car isn't a rotary where you need to let it warm up before you drive away - moral of the story - don't steal a rotary as a getaway car from a bank robery! hahaha :D

[bennjamin]

i usually let the car ( 92 honda civic Si , 170,000k's) idle for about 5 mins - leaving it for about 5-6 mins lets the car drive off FAR better than if i was to start it and drive off straight away.

[Paul1985]

Your car being BRAND new (almost) is capable and is designed for you to start and drive pretty much right away! it gets the oil up into the rocker cover faster than you can put it into gear from neutral.

10 - 20yrs ago (my GENONE being an example) - its recommended to simply let the car idle - its not so much to warm the engine but to get the oil around the endine, into and around the valves etc.

If you want to preserve the engine - just don't HURT it right the moment you leave the driveway - thats the time to let the car warm up to almost its optimal operating temperature.

I know WRXs have a little 'sound' that lets you know when the engine is at 'operating' temperature - and that actually happens to be before it even hits the 'C' on the temp gauge.

Your car isn't a rotary where you need to let it warm up before you drive away - moral of the story - don't steal a rotary as a getaway car from a bank robery! hahaha :D

well put :thumbsup:
id agree with this reply..

[kenshin]

just leave it til it reaches the middle of the temp gauge.and drive u'l be fine.

lol takes around 15 mins to reach middle of the gauge...

[tRipitaka]

takes about 15 minutes to reach the middle of the gauge on idle..
takes about 2 minutes to reach if u drive off..

[FR33K]

yeh i leave it for that long because im not gonna go and start it half way thru breakfast lol and also my gauge stays cold untill i start driving.. and i turn the heater on so it can be warm when i get in lol

[e240]

Let me throw this in as well...

Did you all realise that at idle, the engine isn't at its most efficient in terms of combustion?

By letting it idle long, especially at startup, not all the fuel is burnt, and falls out of suspension. It then 'washes' the oil off the cylinder walls resulting in greater wear.

Seen Formula 1 / Indy car warm ups? They don't let the car idle rather, they continuously bleep the throttle until op temp is reached.

[FR33K]

not tryin to be a smartass or anything but we dont drive formula 1 cars...

[SINISTR]

lol takes around 15 mins to reach middle of the gauge...

or like on my dads Telstar TX5 it never reaches the middle cos he has a lower temp theromostat installed hahaha... in that case you would never leave the garage!

seriously mate - you don't need to let it idle for longer than a minute or two... its a brand new car... with the new oils they put in them its actually better for the engine to warm up while driving than while standing. Exactly what E240 said :)

Same with battery charging - some people are under the impression that the battery charges while the car is sitting and idling while thats very incorrect, the battery doesn't charge until the engine revs go over 2000rpm on most cars...

[elim]

Just wanna ask everyone if there's any issues if you leave it idling too long (other than what e240 has mentioned above) ?

I thought it's ok to let it idle for as long as u want, only concern IMO is you're just wasting fuel but my friend is telling me that I shouldn't let it idle too long because it will overheat ???? but that's what the fan is for ?

So I thought I'd just ask for your opinions.

Thanks.

[EGB16A]

Just wanna ask everyone if there's any issues if you leave it idling too long (other than what e240 has mentioned above) ?

I thought it's ok to let it idle for as long as u want, only concern IMO is you're just wasting fuel but my friend is telling me that I shouldn't let it idle too long because it will overheat ???? but that's what the fan is for ?

So I thought I'd just ask for your opinions.

Thanks.

your friend is an idiot :D

[revNhevN]

For me it depends on the last time the car was driven. If it was just a couple of hours ago then just jump in and drive. But overnight and being winter, i wait for the rpm to drop. Usuallu 1000rpm, then drive off. M3's have a rev limit built in, that increases as the engine temp gets closer to opperating temp.

[kousoku]

not tryin to be a smartass or anything but we dont drive formula 1 cars...

i do :p

[Apple]

very interesting,,, thanks guys,,,

what about cooling the car down? After driving home from work/school wherever, and you go back into your driveway, do you switch the engine off right away, or do you leave it for a minute or so and turn it off. I guess if you have a turbo timer, then this will automatically do it for you,,,,

ok,,, thanks,,
Alan

[e240]

very interesting,,, thanks guys,,,

what about cooling the car down? After driving home from work/school wherever, and you go back into your driveway, do you switch the engine off right away, or do you leave it for a minute or so and turn it off. I guess if you have a turbo timer, then this will automatically do it for you,,,,

ok,,, thanks,,
Alan

In an NA engine, it just keeps getting hotter the longer you run it, why bother letting it idle? or waste money putting in a Timer?

[dc2dc2dc2]

what the....i never warm up car..when i start...i go...ahahahaha maybe i should start "warming up engine for 10 minutes" like the rest of u guys & gals ! :p

[kenshin]

for the record i'm not idling for 15 mins...

i'm laughin at the guys who are idling for 10+ mins...

i warm it up for 20-30 sec (usually fiddling for a mp3 cd) before i drive off... and dont rev past 3-4krpm for first 15 mins or so

[panda[cRx]]

i warm it up for 20-30 sec (usually fiddling for a mp3 cd) before i drive off...

i do that then.... redline it up my street and she's beautiful:D

[tRipitaka]

that gilchrist commercial is supplying many rumours..

[redliner]

man so pplz do idle for a while dont they
i usually idle for 1-2 min n off i go

[i_own_you]

last time i totally forgot that my car was idling for about 20 mins till a neighbour knocked on my door to tell me that my car was on.

the car over heated. WTF ?

[VTC-8OY]

I never warm up my car, maybe only for few secs to find a cd to play.
IT is actually reccomended that you do not warm up your car, it is much better that you just start and go... your just wearing out the engine more by doing so... Havent you seen the commercial, somthin bout 10% of engine wear comes from startin up your car n idling... so just start and GO

[aimre]

i dotn think thats what the comercial was aiming at saying,
t4hey mean the 10 MIN from when u turn on the car is when most engine wear happens. idleing or not

[SINISTR]

very interesting,,, thanks guys,,,

what about cooling the car down? After driving home from work/school wherever, and you go back into your driveway, do you switch the engine off right away, or do you leave it for a minute or so and turn it off. I guess if you have a turbo timer, then this will automatically do it for you,,,,

ok,,, thanks,,
Alan

Turbo Cars have turbo timers because its damaging to the turbo itself if you switch it off when you stop.
When idling the oil cools down by circulating around the system and through the turbo.

Ive heard somewhere that NA cars can also benefit from a turbo timer. Not to the extent a turbo car can but also to cool the oil. It does sound silly tho when you see a NA barina pull into a carpark and see the guy get out, lock it - walk away while the car is running and then turns off. I've seen it at nandos in Morley :P but makes sense...

[NTR16N]

5mins or less... dependin on the day... ofcourse if its fine it would go quiker... just until the needle starts movin...

[n/a]

have you guys noticed any performance differences when you don't let the car idle till the temp needle moves?

i have, so have many others. i remember i was late for an exam and i had no time to warm up so i just left, keeping it under 2k till it warmed up. all day the car was running sluggish..

10mins is a bit long.. having a cig before i drive usually gets my temp. needle moving, and once it's on the go thats enough warming by the time you get to the end of the street it'll be mid temp.

[SINISTR]

have you guys noticed any performance differences when you don't let the car idle till the temp needle moves?

i have, so have many others. i remember i was late for an exam and i had no time to warm up so i just left, keeping it under 2k till it warmed up. all day the car was running sluggish..

10mins is a bit long.. having a cig before i drive usually gets my temp. needle moving, and once it's on the go thats enough warming by the time you get to the end of the street it'll be mid temp.

I don't think your running sluggish problem was caused by you not letting the car warm up - it could have just been a heavy air day, or smoggy etc... the weather has alot of influence on the way a car runs.

:)

[Boostzor]

Ahahah what kind of moron idles for 10mins, man thats funny. Thats the kind of stuff that u needed to do in teh 70s when oil was made of pig spare parts and came out of the ground via a filter and into ure car.

Modern engines, 10-20 secs and be nice till it reads normal. Simple as. With turbos its a different story of course and u have to sit there for ages 1-2mins before shutdown. Then again if you are flogging the absolute crazies out of it and u pull in the driveway, id give it 20-30secs just to let the exhaust manifold cool a bit, dont wanna stress it after all.

Performance difference is minimal (not like id test the vtec when its cold) but i have noticed the gearbox is a bit sticky when its reall cold.

[zorrt]

Just wanna ask everyone if there's any issues if you leave it idling too long (other than what e240 has mentioned above) ?

I thought it's ok to let it idle for as long as u want, only concern IMO is you're just wasting fuel but my friend is telling me that I shouldn't let it idle too long because it will overheat ???? but that's what the fan is for ?

So I thought I'd just ask for your opinions.

Thanks.

no idling too long doesnt cause your car to overheat and yes idling too long (eg. 10 mins +) is damaging to your engine. I just idle until the temp pin moves up a bit then drive till its warm before hitting it. Normally wait about 5 mins depending how rushed I am.

[WPN.22R]

i just let it sit for a couple of mins for the oil to get around and warm up (usually can tell when engine isnt loud like when on start up) and then drive easily keeping in the low revs till its warm.

letting your car idle for long times will stop the circulation of oil, you should get it revving after 2 mins or so from start up! sit there and rev it up and down 2-3000rpm or just drive easily!

[Chi]

5 - 10mins warm up

Or Keep it under 3-4k rpms till temp needle is half way During driving.

[hebe]

2min and drive under 4k rpm til needle hits normal temp and wait another 10mins

[FunkyR]

What I've come to believe in is that the best is to leave your car idling for about 20 seconds enough for the oil pump to get working well and then only light driving until the car warms up..... radiator temp on the radiator temp guage lags a little behind actual real time oil temp....

The theory I heard was that warming up is good to get oil up to the right temp for lubrication and allow all the metal parts to reach operating temp as not to cause some expansion of metal parts quicker than others - therefore causing more friction.... idling too long on the other hand can cause the formation of condensation inside the engine also causing wear..... it's a balance between the 2....

Oh yeah forgot to add, light driving warms up other non engine mechanical parts prone to wear too... eg gear box/transmission etc.... if u idle up to a 'warm' engine temp, u might forget the other car parts that need warming up too and drive a little hard.....

What I tend to do (everyone will do things differently) is idle for around 20 seconds then try drive lightly (<3000 RPM) until the radiator guage reaches about 80% of the 'normal' position.... then drive a little harder.... but not to psuh really hard it until it's fully warmed out.....

[fadz]

10 min sounds right :P

[aaronng]

Depends on the car. Modern engines are designed to warm up from driving. Older ones take about the same amount of time to warm up for both idling and driving. Example is my Euro and my gf's Astra.

On the Astra, the needle takes a moderate time to get to the middle of the gauge, and it does not shorten appreciably by driving. The Euro on the other hand, takes about the same as the Astra to warm while idling, but if I drive it, it warms up very fast, about 2-3 minutes to reach the middle. This is because the Euro is designed to warm up quick while driving so that it meets LEV requirements.

What I do is to let the car idle for about 45 seconds or so (guessing), so that oil is circulating around properly (and also the oil in the gearbox). Then I drive normally, keeping revs below 2500-3000rpm, and without any heavy throttle application. Just light throttle. After 2-3 minutes, the temperature gauge would have reached operating mark and you're good to go.

So for older engines, let it idle to warm up (might take 5-10 minutes), and this should be the gentlest way. For newer engines (especially those with a cat just after the extractors for trapping unburnt fuel), drive it gently til it warms up.

[Kandy]

Awww crap, I've been doing bad bad things to my car then.

[s2king]

I let it warm up for about a couple minutes, until the second temp bar lights up or about 1500rpm, and go off and drive around within 1-4000rpm for at least another few minutes.

[n/a]

I don't think your running sluggish problem was caused by you not letting the car warm up - it could have just been a heavy air day, or smoggy etc... the weather has alot of influence on the way a car runs.

:)

i think that the temp of idle would affect the performance of my car rather than 1 degree difference on a normal day.

also wouldn't it be better for the engine to let it run a bit after driving hard to let the temp of oil settle down? or would just turning it off be ok?

[Q_ball]

i catch public transport...
i usually warm up after i take a dump n that'l do me well...prob 5mins :p

[aaronng]

i catch public transport...
i usually warm up after i take a dump n that'l do me well...prob 5mins :p
That's some warm dump :D You smear?

[Adagio]

The book says warm your engine for about a minute. In winter I usually wait until I hear the engine note change which is about a minute. The real issue is to have the entire transmission warmed before opening up the throttle. A rule of thumb would be 8 to 10 kms, probably a little less in a city enviroment. :thumbsup:

[tinkerbell]

ha ha ha, so many peeps watching (and believing) Castrol Magnatec ads!!!!

[SINISTR]

i think that the temp of idle would affect the performance of my car rather than 1 degree difference on a normal day.

also wouldn't it be better for the engine to let it run a bit after driving hard to let the temp of oil settle down? or would just turning it off be ok?

But if you consider the fact that in cold conditions your car will actually run better - smoother then 1 degree can make a difference.
In my opinion Hurting a COLD car will damage the engine in the long run - but overdoing the 'idle' period before you drive - is completly irrelevant. 5 mins is MAX you need under normal conditions. We don't live in -10 degree conditions.

As for idling the car after you drive hard - YES - it would be recommended but once again - we're talking about 'normal' cars here - Not Race cars, Indi cars or Rotaties/Turbos... Normal cars are built to be switched on - driven - and then switched off. If it makes the owner feel better - no probs... do it.

:)

[SINISTR]

The book says warm your engine for about a minute. In winter I usually wait until I hear the engine note change which is about a minute. The real issue is to have the entire transmission warmed before opening up the throttle. A rule of thumb would be 8 to 10 kms, probably a little less in a city enviroment. :thumbsup:

Exactly - i think if you follow this procedure it will be fine:

1: walk outside and dissarm the alarm
2: open door and insert key into the ignition
3: turn key onto ignition position, *wait for the engine light to go off* - start the car. (notice you're still standing outside the car*
4: take off your jacket, put your bag onto the back seat
5: sit your 'bottom' in the drivers seat and close the door
6: put on your seatbelt
7: reverse out of the driveway
8: ------> DRIVE!!! not too hard, but normal :)

hehehe... this should sort this out hahaha

[Kawasaki]

I remember reading that by leaving your car to idle when cold wastes alot of petrol... on the particualr car in the mag, forgot... too long ago, his car used more petrol at idle then when he drove off instead.

[SINISTR]

During a tune up - when the car is idling - YES - even a normal car will go through massive amounts of fuel compared to when driving.

[aaronng]

Haha, also your fuel consumption would be infinite L/100km.

[fusion_VTi]

usually about 5-10 seconds does the trick for me!

[anna1984]

ive been letting mine run for 5-10mins in the mornings.
main reason why is coz i leave for work at 430am & need my car to be nice & warm