I read in an automotive digest that i subscribe to that says when you start your car and let it warm up, that you should put the carin neurtal and hold the revs steady at 1500-2000 RPM until the temperature gauge reaeches its normal position. this helps all the parts become lubricated and warmed to the proper temperature. does this hold any truth whatsoever?

 

Fortunetly you drive a Lexus and there is no need for such a thing as your car does it by itself. Notice when you turn on your car the RPM starts at 2000 and drops down. During the winter it will take much longer than that for it to warm up.

Chris

 

Chris, don't need a Lexus for that, basically everything has a cold start hi idle, even my old 60's Stang had a choke

 

But with fuel injection you don't need to do anything, the computer does it for you. And in a Lexus it does it so nicely.

 

I was just pointing that all Lexus cars have that as that's what his question was about. My friends motorcycle has it too.

Chris

 

I try and let the revs fall a bit naturally before driving. As Chris said this will take longer in winter so I let it idle more until the revs fall to about the same spot they would in summer. As for the shifting and reving I wouldn’t, it’s just more wear and tear on the transmission. Lastly I don't drive it hard until the temp is in the middle.

 

Don't need fuel injection for that either, my old Tercel getaround car had that crappy Variable Venturi carburetor, but the choke was electric, no need to do anything. IMO the best thing to get if you're concerned about warming up your engine is a remote start.

 

Can't we all just get along? LOL

 

The Lexus manual says that it only takes 10-15 seconds to warm up your car then you drive off. You just have to drive slowly to warm it up. If you let your car sit until the needle goes to middle that is a waste of gas and engine wear. You need the differential and other gears to spin up and warm up too.

 

I'm not concerned about warming up the differential and 'other gears' whatever those are, to me warming up a car is getting oil to the valvetrain, which does take more than a couple secs, and is the main reason IMO you need to warm a car up, since oil from the crankcase has reached the bottoms of the pistons basically right after startup, but needs time to get to the top of the motor.

 

I always let her warm up for between 30 seconds and a couple of minutes unless its only been 15 mins or so since I last drove.

 

In my opinion (I'm biased now since I read the manual and some other books), I think that there would be less engine wear from starting the engine and letting it high idle 10-15 seconds and driving about 1 miles to get the temperature to normal, than letting it high idle for a couple of minutes to normal temperature (it takes my car in California about 4 or 5 minutes). These are the extreme and sure 30 seconds or a minute won't hurt but I think letting it high idle longer than a minute is too much. I'd idle for about 20 seconds in my garage then go. Of course if you parked outside overnight or if it's snowing then it would take a couple of minutes. The good thing about the SC is that there's no grill on the top bumper (92-96), so it takes longer for heat to dissipate.

Quote from Lexus Owner's Manual: "Staring the engine: 2. After engine runs for about 10 seconds, you are ready to drive," (pg. 98)

"How To Save Fuel and Make Your Vehicle Last Longer: -Avoid lenghty warm-up idling. Once the engine is running smoothly, begin driving - but gently. Remember, however, that on cold winter days this may take a little longer," (pg 122). "

Perhaps they meant to say that in terms of saving gas.

 

I want to know why you think idling for an extra minute or two will cause engine wear? There are no loads on the engine at this point since you're not driving.

 

Butter, what do you mean by 'letting it high idle' ? It's not like you have to kick the choke down to get back down to normal idle, the computer controls cold start fast idle, you can't change it. Also, I do not recommend driving the car after only idling it for 10 secs, I don't care what the manual says, start an engine with the valve cover(s) off and see how long it takes for oil to get to the valvetrain. There's no harm in idling the engine an extra couple mins, but driving away when oil hasn't reached the top of the motor yet, well, that's definitely no bueno...

 

You will read a lot about how idling is bad for your car, that you don't need to warm up the engine, etc. Well the quicker you get the car up to operating temperature, including the cats, the more environmentally friendly your car is. Warming up never hurts the engine, but it does waste gas and pollutes. But sometimes it takes forever, ie winter time. So of course everyone wants you to start driving asap so you get the cats up to optimal temp and spew less pollutants into the air. I usually wait until the temp needle starts moving up, about 30 sec in summer upto 5 min in winter, then drive slowly until it reaches normal temp. Decent compromise I think...