Hello guys

I have a huge problem these days. I live in Northern part of Canada and it will get as cold as -20F/-30C daily. I have no space in my garage (new summer car lol). If block heater and remote start is not an option, is there ANY way I can deal with the long warm up time? I usually need 15 mins of warming up otherwise the car feel like it is sleepy.

I notice Lexus love to make their car hard to warm up. my roommates infiniti warm up so fast, so is my gf's audi and bmw.


However I just can't make up my mind to drive sth else then the Lex LOL


Ps. When I first start it up it idles to about 1.7k rpm because of the cold, 600-800 during summer time, is that normal?

 

The higher idle is normal when its cold. I live in a warmer climate so i'm not going to be able to offer any suggestions in regards to the cold start.

 

Thanks for clarifying that out.

 

Hi There,

I too wonder the same thing. I drive a 06 IS350 and live in Alberta as well. I park under a shelter that is not heated but provides some sort of covering over rain/snow. I think every morning what I do is start the car for 5-10 minutes, usually the RPM is around 1k when I go and when driving to work I try not to go past 2k rpm. It warms up relatively quickly.

It would be interesting to know the answer to this! Thanks for asking.

 

You can try changing oil viscosity to 0W20 or 30

Mine starts out at about 1.5k and lowers to 1k in a few seconds. I drive slowly after 30 seconds and it eventually reaches an idle of about 600 in 10 minutes. So our start up idle is similar

When you say 15 minute warm up, do you let it idle for that long? Or it takes that amount of slow driving to reach normal temp?

 

If I recall from what Kurtz has said.

You should be able to drive it once it starts up. Idling to let it warm up isn't good for the modern car.

 

I lived in deadmonton for 23 years before moving back. Use a block heater for sure. No matter how cold it is, start driving the car. Letting it idle for more than 5 min doesn't really help warm it up any faster, specially if you are in the car already. Just drive and you will notice that it does warm up faster, than just waiting around for it.

Letting it idle for long periods of time is bad for the engine, wastes gas and bad for the environment (if you are a tree hugger).

 

Why can't you get remote start or a block heater? You could get a simple oil pan heater that magnetically sticks to your oil pan. You have to take it off before you drive it though.

You could also start your car more often so it does not sit so long between starts. Just like you would do with a remote start . . . instead of starting it from your living room, now you have to run outside and start it. Let it run for five minutes and then start it again a few hours later.

I live in Minnesota and have the same cold weather. I have not noticed anything different in the warm up time of my 2007 IS 250. The car has nearly 7 quarts of oil so it may need a bit more time on those extremely cold days as there is more oil sitting in the pan getting cold.

I realize the heat comes from the coolant/heater core but that does not seem like the question. If the car is not producing heat, there could be other issues. You know, you see semi trucks with covers over their radiator's to help reduce the cold air hitting the radiator. Of course, semi radiator's are probably 10 times the size of ours.

 

Thanks for the input guys. The whole warming it up thing is mainly for the cabin to warm up, since my gf HATES the cold.

The rpm just won't drop (dropped 100-200 may be) when I idle it for about 10 mins. and this is what I'm worrying about.

I will def look into the changing oil thing and see if it will do any good.

Jasonart: I just simply have bad experiences with starters and I hate to bring along another fob around with me.

 

Get Viper smartstart, your phone becomes your fob

Also, no way the car is gonna warm up to the point where the cabin is warm unless you run it for 20 minutes. I usually remote start my car 5 mins before I head out the door so the RPMs are stable. I've definitely noticed that my car hits normal operating temperature by the time I get to work now in the winter. Before it wouldn't warm up all the way when I just got in and drove off.

 

I let it sit for 2-3 mins and then head out. For me, I found that that's enough to warm up the car quick once I drive off. If I start it and go, it waste so much gas just going a mile down the road.

 

Put it in drive and go. Tell your GF that what the seat warmer are for. It take less the 5min of driving to warm up. Waste of gas to idle for 10-15min. Engine works harder to when idle in the cold. Car is a fuel inject not a carburetor lol.

 

I only live 7 min from work so by the time i get to work the car barely warms up.....

 

What's the point in posting then?

I'm in Manitoba; temps have been as bad as -35 C in the last couple of weeks. The car starts fine after sitting overnight, without a block heater or oil pan warmer. I usually let it run for about a minute or two to let the revs stabilize, then drive it easy for the first couple of kms. The engine and cabin will warm up faster while driving, usually after about 5 to 10 mins.

 

I live in toronto it gets no where near -35...,but I use 0w20 mobil1and dats suppose to help with cold starts, I dont warm up for more than 30secs lol, start and go