mmarshall

It may start to feel tepid or lukewarm in a minute or two, but, in general, you won't feel significant heat out of the vents until the coolant reaches about 140 degrees or so....about when the blue idiot-light goes out, or the needle reaches the bottom-end of the normal portion of the gauge. One thing I like about my Verano's gauge is that it's labelled in degrees (F) as well as the usual tick-markings.

Lil4X

Just to show how much more sophisticated cooling systems have become in the past 50 years or so, I recall a couple of tricks we used to use down here in the Texas tropics for summer driving. Although both were effective, I wouldn't recommend either today.

• Remove the thermostat in April (replace in October). For cooling systems that were marginal in summer's heat, the thermostat represented a flow restriction when demand for heat transfer was at its highest. The engine would warm up quickly anyway, considering outside air temps were often in the 80's in the morning, and neither engines or lubricants were so highly-engineered in those days. The trade off was to maximize the flow of coolant through the system, preventing a boil-over in summer traffic.
  
  
• Shut off the coolant flow to the heater core. In pre-air conditioned cars, and even in most early AC systems, cooling the cabin in summer - April-October down here - was difficult at best. We often installed a valve upstream of the heater core, cutting the hot side hose and installing a 1/2" gate valve from the hardware store's plumbing section. Although there was no air flow through the heater core, in the old days the heater was installed inside the car above the passenger's side foot well and it radiated a LOT of heat, getting things mighty toasty over there - even with no air circulating through it.

Today's high-pressure cooling systems operate at higher temperatures, and we understand flow dynamics a bit better now where thermostats are necessary year 'round for efficiency. Some smart guy moved the heater core to the firewall outside the engine compartment on some cars, and now with AC standard (everywhere but some models in Hawaii, I understand), it's needed even in summer to control moisture levels in the cabin to prevent window fogging.

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

Those that take shorter trips what are you doing since the fluids are not warming up? I have a car that sees quick trips down the road now and in the past it was used for longer commutes. My fear is sludge and other issues over time. I was going to install a remote starter to allow things to warm up, about 5 min of run time, before driving the car. Car has heated seats so that helps when its rather cold out.

any suggestions?

mmarshall

Short of actually taking longer trips and/or letting the engine warm up a little longer longer in the driveway before taking off (which wastes gas), the best solution for cold-weather/short-distance trips is simply more frequent oil changes. That's why most vehicles have a dual maintenance schedule...one for "normal" driving and one for "severe" driving conditions. Driving like yours, which does always warm up the oil fully, is considered "severe". More-frequent coolant and transmission-fluid changes may (?) also be called for.

You could also try cutting the heater down a little (or just not using it) if you are just going a couple of miles or so,aqnd see if the engine warms up quicker. As I described in the opening post, that usually keeps more of the heat the engine actually produces underhood, keeping the engine warm, and not in the heater-core inside the cabin keeping you warm. With some engines, though (as lobuxracer described above with his IS-F), it makes little if any difference.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=mmarshall;7680148]It's interesting....most of the temp-gauges I've had moved slowly but continuously, but the Opel-designed gauge in my Verano seems to jump upward in stages. It hangs in one position for a minute or so (sometimes less) then visibly jumps noticeably (you can watch it spurt). I know that the thermostat and cooling-fans are working properly, though...it reaches 195 and hangs in there like a rock.


The "needle jumping" is probably more accurate since usually the temp gauge has only 1 sensor on the engine & engine coolant temp varies thruout the engine.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

From my understanding, even idling the car for a few second to recirculate oil into the engine is not necessary if you have driven your car within the last day or so. I think oil takes a decent while to fall off engine parts, so there is a decent bit of cold oil already lubricating your engine even when you wake up in the morning.


No, the best solution is to walk or bike.

mmarshall

Why own a car in the first place if you are going to do that?...... (and you can always excercise in a gym). Walking and biking does nothing to keep a car's fluids circulating and the battery charged....though, I'll admit, if enough people do it, it lightens the traffic-load on the streets.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

I was mostly (but not entirely) joking. Still, a short trip from what I understand will do more harm than good for the battery, depending on how short, of course. Plus, the wear and tear and gas you save from biking/walking could be worth something in the long run, and your car will be fine so long as you still drive it once in a while.

<VENOM>

Very interesting article, I love the technical info on cars but I have burned myself more then a few times doing oil changes and the cars ran for maybe less then 20 minutes consecutively

<VENOM>

A good battery, expect to change it sooner, change the fluid according to the maintenance guideline, synthetic motor oil, and drive it gentle, and occasionally take a nice drive to get the car up to operating temp and keep it at that to bake out all the built up moisture

I have been driving 2 miles one way for 3 years, my car looks, runs and sounds new