Dude!

I have a M-reg JDM WRX with a few mods (full blitz nur-spec, hks induction, remapped to run Optimax). Now I have been told to warn her up so the oil is 70 degrees before driving her.

This can take 20 mins when its cold out, but a good friend said that letting her idle for that long is doing more harm than good!

What is right? Do I wait for her to be 70 degree's or not?
The waiting is not an issue, I really just want to take care of the engine.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

That's crazy! I'm sure what he meant was to allow the oil to reach that temp. before using the performance. Of course you can drive it straight away, although from a cold start most people allow it to run for a minute to ensure the oil is flowing everywhere it should then refrain from taking it into boost if possible and keep the revs relatively low (but not labour) until the engine is up to working temp.
JohnD

jowl

Someone did some experiments a bit ago and suggest around 9 miles till it's fully up to temp - that was in the winter. I try to go for around that before really booting it.

Dude!

Drive it off-boost whats that mean?!? I'm not really that heavy with the old right foot, honest!)

Quite often, by the time I have driven 9 miles I am already at where I was going!

Any other opinions?

jowl

I know, it can be a pain! Though you can do 75/80 and still be under 3k rev.......just!

I sometimes let mine run while idle for a shortwhile....while I'm loading or such stuff - but I read that the gearbox oil isn't up to temp until you've done a few miles.

Only going what I've read off here though...but trying to protect the engine as much as you can

tath

engines take ages to warm up at idle because there's not much fuel being burnt, and coupled with the fact that oil pressure is very low at idle means that idling a cold engine is a very bad thing. drive off immediately just don't use any boost and dont over rev. i stick to 3k for about 5 minutes then gradually build up. as a rule of thumb wait til the temp gauge is at normal then wait another five minutes before using any performance.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

As John said, he'll have meant wait untill the oil is up to temperature before driving on-boost. There is nothing wrong with giving it a minute or so on Idle, but it's not a substitute for driving it gently as i) it'll take much longer for the engine oil to reach optimum temperature under these conditions and ii) the gearbox oil won't be heating up. I give mine a couple of minutes to warm slightly on the drive and then give it about 10 miles before driving on boost.

Another bonus of letting it idle for a few minutes is that some people who've reported having juddery clutches when cold find that it goes away if they let the car idle for a couple of minutes first.

Best,

NS04

Dude!

Thanks people, I will do that now

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

no I said what I meant.

I was told by a very reliable source that I should let the engine warm in the morning to operating temerature before use.

thats what I did from the time I was first told that to the day I sold it! either way you look at it, the engine is pristine, and runs beautifully (dude! will confirm this im sure) dude at the end of the day its your car mate do what you want to.

It was my belief and still is to this day, that letting your engine slowley warm and slowley cool maintains the life of your engine, and keeps it in tip top condition.

shaggy

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

No argument on the positive effects of warming up and cooling down the car properly......BUT

I don't know how long an engine takes to get to "operating temp" idling , but I'm guessing that this means that you would have left your car for at least 15mins on the drive then? A common misconception on here appears to be that when the temp guage reads normal, the car is up to temp (usually happens after about 3-5 mins of idle IME. However, this is not the case: the oil takes significantly longer than the coolant to reach temperature. The transmission oil will not be getting warm with the car sitting on the drive, so you'd still need to drive it gently anyway.

AFAIK There is nothing wrong with letting the car idle for a while before setting off, but it IS NOT a substitute for gentle driving. i.e. you must not let your car warm up on the drive and then gun it as soon as you leave.

Regards,

NS04

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

the car has oil temp guage.

I run the car to the letter as I was suggested to do so by the garage that always serviced my cars.

It was my 3rd impreza, and I have never had any issues with the engine in any of my cars at all.

I put that down to regular maintenance and good up keep of the car and engine, as such my cars have always been warmed up/cooled down correctly, and have always lasted!!

*******

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Have you changed your name!?!?

I'm not criticising your warm up method mate, I can't see why getting the engine oil up to temp whilst idling would do any harm (although I'm not a mechanic) and I wouldn't dream of suggesting that one should neglect warming the car up and cooling it down properly- to do so is to risk shortening the life of one's engine!! I don't think many people would be prepared to wait for 15 minutes or whatever it takes in an idling car before setting off though.

The only proviso with your method is that you'd still have to drive gently for a while to allow the gearbox oil to get up to temp. I can't help but think that given the car just a few minutes before setting off then driving gently for about 10 miles before extending it is perfectly adequate.

Of course, all this is somewhat redundant if one is not using the right grade of oil!!

Regards,

NS04

scoobfan

I can't wait to see what Pete has to say about this one !

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

yep changed my name, and yes, have to still run the car slowley for 2 - 3 miles to get gear box oil at running temp.

I was more than willing to do that though, as I have never had to fork out 2 - 3k on a engine rebuild, saying that I always replaced the maf yearly as well.

pete will like my comments I think. if not, **** him lol

*******

Dude!

Did not mean to start up an argument - just want to know the best thing for the engine.

She runs sweet, and I want her to stay that way

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

LOL its not an argument dude; it's a discussion.

Both ******* and I agree that you must get your car's engine oil and gearbox oil up to temp before giving it some beans, we just differ in our approaches on doing this. The Key thing is you must let your car warm up properly before driving on boost.i.e. don't rag it when cold!! If you do that, let it cool down and keep the car serviced properly, chances are you'll never have a problem!

Best wishes,

NS04

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

what he said

Dude!

Thats alright then

Thanks people

Big Guy

For what it's worth, moving off immediately/very soon after start-up, but limiting the revs to 3k, fits with the instructions in a number of handbooks for other cars that I've read (usually while waiting for the Mrs to come out of some shop or another). Some manuals specifically instruct you not to allow the engine to idle for long on start-up.

Anyway, there's been plenty said above about warming the engine, but what's the correct proceedure for cooling? Someone told me to let it idle for a minute or so before switching off; Is this correct/sufficient?

Cheers.....

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

The idea of "cooling down" is to allow the turbo to cool to a reasonable temp. after some hard use (where it could be close to red hot on the exhaust side of the turbine) to reduce the possibility of "frying" the oil in the bearing once the flow stops. If you've been driving slowly for a couple of miles before stopping there will be little need to let it idle for very long (and annoy the neighbours?) Also, never "blip" the throttle as you switch off a turbo car as the turbine will keep spinning but with no oil flow to the bearing!
JohnD

Big Guy

Thanks for the good advice John.

malibuda

this is what i found in nasioc forum

June 2001 TechTIPS published by Subaru for Subaru Technicians states:

"2002MY WRX TURBO COOL DOWN PROCEDURE
FHI's position regarding this is that it is not necessary to perform a "cool down/idling" procedure, as was recommended with past turbo models. Our current 2.0L turbo engine has a far greater cooling capacity and, coupled with technology advances, makes this practice no longer necessary. This explains why information about cool down is not included in the 2002MY Impreza Owner's Manual.

The heat contained in the turbo charger will begin to vaporize the coolant at the turbo charger after the engine is stopped. This hot vapor will then enter the coolant reservoir tank which is the highest point of the coolant system. At the same time the vapor exits the turbo charger, coolant supplied from the right bank cylinder head flows into the turbo. This action cools the turbo charger down. This process will continue until the vaporizing action in the turbo charger has stopped or cooled down."

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

It doesn't mention the oil though

Anyway, if it was so critical to warm an engine to the correct oil temp before driving it hard then the manufacturer would have installed oil temp gauges, or restricted power levels until the correct temp was reached. Where is it written that the oil must be 90C before full power can be used?

No one has said how efficient the oil is at 40C or 65C? It could be that the oil is 100% efficient at 90C and 95% at 50C for all we know? Perhaps that's why when the water temp gauge reaches mid point the oil is at perhaps 45C and is good enough for most std engines to use full power?

I have a modified engine and I happen to wait until the oil temp is 85C before applying full power but I don't think it is that critical on std engines IMO.

F

Vegescoob

Yonks ago we had an Alfasud, another boxer, I do like boxers, that had a red light on the dash and the manual instructed not to drive hard till that light had gone out.
Never did investigate what drove the light though.

swaussie

when tuning off a turbo engine I would have thought engine oil technology was a lot more advanced these days and I also would have thought the days of old SAAB turbos and the like turning mineral oil to a coke like sludge would be past with moden synthetic oils?? But I still drive the last few miles off boost.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Never did investigate what drove the light though.[/QUOTE]If it was anything like my Alfas it was the " Your car will now begin to rust " switch..

Jamesemt

Getting back to the warming up bit - I don't see a problem with using a few pounds of boost before the car is up to temperature. I'm not talking about revving its nuts off but I find it helps the engine to warm up by using a couple of psi of boost now and then (and I did say only a couple of psi )