View Poll Results: How long do you warm up you engine
None, start it and go!
305
36.40%
About 20 sec., until rpm drops to 1200.
321
38.31%
About 2 min., until rpm drops to 1000.
176
21.00%
However long it takes to get water temp up. (post what temp)
36
4.30%
Voters: 838. You may not vote on this poll
How long do you warm up your engine?
12-07-10, 09:17 AM
#216
This has been discussed a number of times... not only is letting it sit there idling to "warm it up" not a good idea, it's an actively bad one. Idling is among the worst things you can do to a car engine.
Barring sub-zero temps, if you want to warm the car up, drive it.
Start car, put on seatbelt, drive. Keep it under 3k rpms or so for the first 5-10 minutes.
Letting it sit there is simply bad for the engine and benefits the car not at all. There's a reason that 'excessive idling' is one of the conditions for putting the car under a severe-duty maintenance schedule.
Barring sub-zero temps, if you want to warm the car up, drive it.
Start car, put on seatbelt, drive. Keep it under 3k rpms or so for the first 5-10 minutes.
Letting it sit there is simply bad for the engine and benefits the car not at all. There's a reason that 'excessive idling' is one of the conditions for putting the car under a severe-duty maintenance schedule.
Last edited by Kurtz; 12-07-10 at 09:23 AM.
12-07-10, 10:18 AM
#220
i always warm it up for a min or two before i head off. i've been told to do that because when your cars been sitting for a while the engine oil settles to the bottom and the internals arent fully lubricated, so you warm it up so the engine has proper time to lubricate. i imagine it can't hurt the engine if you just let it idle for a couple minutes after start up, and not like for hours.
12-07-10, 10:46 AM
#221
i always warm it up for a min or two before i head off. i've been told to do that because when your cars been sitting for a while the engine oil settles to the bottom and the internals arent fully lubricated, so you warm it up so the engine has proper time to lubricate. i imagine it can't hurt the engine if you just let it idle for a couple minutes after start up, and not like for hours.
All you're doing by sitting there is, well, I'll just quote from the other 14 page thread on this-
Idling is the worst thing you can do to an engine, especially if it is cold. All the humidity in the engine condenses on the sides of the engine and the organic acids in the blowby dissolve into the water. The water then drips down the sides of the block and sits on top of the engine oil. The acids in the water attack the oil and cause it to sludge and break down prematurely.
You are FAR better off to just drive the car and get the oil fully heated and move some air through the engine (via the PCV system) to clear out the water and acids as quickly as possible. Or suffer sludging and corrosion. It's entirely up to you.
You are FAR better off to just drive the car and get the oil fully heated and move some air through the engine (via the PCV system) to clear out the water and acids as quickly as possible. Or suffer sludging and corrosion. It's entirely up to you.
Last edited by Kurtz; 12-07-10 at 10:49 AM.
