What I tend to do is start the car in the garage and reverse out. Let it idle until the water needle gets to the first marker then drive off keeping the car below 3000 and staying away from boost. I would then give it a few miles to warm through before giving it any rgiht foot treatment. I do have oil Press/Temp gauges on my shopping list so that should help monitoring.

My main problem is that my work is only a few miles away so the car deosn't get a chance to warm up at all so anything I do before it warms through should help. Once summer comes and the nipper is old enough for the trek I can walk her to creche then on to work which should help reduce any problems arising from only doing short journeys.

Whats your routine? is mine wrong or need changing?

That's what I normally do, you'll be surprised a how long it can take before the oil is up to temperature. Usually about 7-8 miles of cruising under 3500 rpm before I'm up to about 85/90C.
Always give a minute or so to cool down even if not driven hard:rolleyes:

I'd miss out the idle session until the first mark, this just delays the warm up (and hence increases wear) compared to driving off straight away. Stay away boost or high rpm until the oil has had a chance to warm up to 50-60 deg C (4-5 miles/10 mins ish)

Cool down is only required if you have been really thrashing it !

To check if you have been 'really thrashing it' look under the bonnet at night, if the turbo doesn't have at least a dull red glow, then you have not been :D

Andy

I just turn the key and go to get the oil hot asap, wait for 5 miles then give it some boost.
I only let the car idle for a couple of minutes when getting gas off the motorway, apart from that I just turn the car off.

Dipster

I start up and drive off, maybe 20secs manouvering (sp) to get out of the drive, then drive gently for at least 5 miles, then no full throttle or high boost for a few more miles, when returning home I drive off boost for at least the last two miles, then park, and switch off once i've put the disclock on,, then get out and lock up.

Ron.

There's an element of paranioa sets in if you're not careful. If turbo's were so delicate then just about all the diesel rep mobiles you see all over would be in for replacements every few months.
The only time you need to be careful is if you are thrashing the car - like the other posts, drive off straight away but steady for a good few minutes (longer than it takes for the water to reach normal temp) and a few steady minutes off big boost or a couple of minutes to idle if you've just given the car some stick prior to stopping.

mines a doddle

i wake up get ready for work, leave the house get in the car

drive towards the tyne tunnel slow and easy

come out the tyne tunnel and hoof it down the road nice and fast


easy :D

I keep it under 3,000rpm and off-boost until the oil temp gauge reads 80°C. Then once it's at 85/90°C I'll give the full beans. Regarding cool-down, I keep it off boost for the last mile or so (tends to be ~30mph anyway) and then idle when parked for few seconds (30secs?).

Do you do the same damage to the engine if you're stuck in traffic for a long time idling along, as you would by idling the engine for a few minutes on first start up?

Cheers,

George.

No, because it's hot then. Idling when cold just delays the warm up so there is more duration for bore wash and condensation inside the engine than there would be if you drive off normally.

Andy

Ok so now its time to stop the idling before I drive away :(

Thanks Andy :)

Never bothered with any warming up routines, just kept to a max of 3000rpm until the needle gets to around its normal position.

Cooling down when going home is a little easier, I live at the far end of our estate, so it's a gentle trundle along for a minute or two before pulling onto the drive.

You can "feel" it. When its cold, the car is hesitant, tight etc, once it's able to cope, smooothness is evident. The gears are easier, it picks up better etc.
Personally I don't get to fussed with it. Lets face it, most of us on our way to work, hardly get a chance to boot it anyway. What with other traffic, speed cameras etc.
Cooling down i only tend to do after any track stuff or garage off of a motorway type situation (Although it could be argued that the oil in a car doing a steady 3,500 rpm and 80 mph is cooler than a car that has just done a 5,000 rpm session up a dual carriage way and is now sitting at a roundabout (If it's wrong don't hang me ;) )
Common sense and mechanical sympathy are the best gauges you'll ever have :D

Mikey :cool:

start , drive off easy , after a few miles maybe overtake before getting to Norwich.
get to work , wait for 10 mins to get in the front gate , park, switch off.

The jorney home is much better !

warm up going through Norwich , then floor it down the twisty country roads , at home park use the turbo timer set to 2 mins , chill out with a tinny or two

I wait until oil temp reaches 80 degrees, usually takes 4- 5 miles. Water temp gauge shows normal operating temp after 1.5 - 2 miles.
Always drive the last 2 or 3 miles off boost.

Cool chaps, thanks for the replys.

So it looks like idling when cold may not be such a good idea. However what about short journeys? I only have a few miles to work so the car doesn't get any chance to warm up at all. Will this increase the possibility of bore wash? its never really getting up to operating tempreture so I never let it go over 3000 for the work journey.

Hi,

Im a bit rougher than you guys, i drive straight off, i think this is always a good idea as the oil gets to 'splash about'. Also im quite willing to rev to 4500rpm but with little or no load, when the water temp is up i will run it a little harder (5000 rmp medium load) and when the oils up (guess about 10-15mins) i start to open it up.

For cool down i just make sure the last 5 mins of jurney are cooling the engine down.

Simon

EddScott,
I am sure the manual did mentioned that if the car is used for short trips,do change the oil more frequent.
Even where I am staying with tropical heat of 30-33 deg C day time,the engine takes about 10 minutes to reach 80 deg C.This is driving with not more than 3000rpm.My oil temp reched 95 deg C max during hard driving.
My work place is a few miles away from where I stayed and it takes about 6 minutes to reach my work place with hardly any traffic on the road,ie early in the morning and the oil will not even has a chance to reach 80 deg when I reach my work place.I changed my oil at 5000 km intervals,drive hard during my off days and I use semi synthetic oil.I do let it idle 2-3 minutes before driving but since someone pointed out that it is not such a good idea,I will now let it idle for 20 seconds before driving.Cooling is always 1 minute before engine shut down.

Oh well at least I am getting some of it right. I always keep under 3k rpm or so until the car is up to a decent temp (around 10 minutes or so as I have no oil temp gauge), and drive the last few miles/minutes nice and gentle to let things cool down even though I rarely get the chance to really sustain high revs for extended periods.
The one thing I am a little paranoid about now though is that on icy mornings I tend to start the car up and put on the heater, rear demister and A C as an alternative to scraping. I might have to rethink this ....

get in start engine

drive off then as per road conditions dictate..

arrive at destination turn off

simple

M

When people say wait until after 80 deg on oil temp gauge before booting it is that if the gauge sender is mounted above cylinder 3 or mounted in the sump as the sump temp takes longer to heat up i believe.

XXX

Mine's above #3

Live 5 minutes away from work, takes 1 minute to get the car out of the drive etc, drive off, keep below 3000 rpm, same on the way home, drive straight off, cools down before back in garage.

Cheers

my wife gets in starts car revs to 5k stalls car

restarts revs to 5k slips clutch still at 5k!!car moves clutch up bogs down stalls :D

restart while cursing stupid car 5k slip clutch car moves more revs so as not to stall again down street at 40mph in first:D

continue journey in similar fashion get to work rev to 5k to get into space turn off :D


thats why my clutch lasts 6 months:D