warming her up
 

Hi all,
I was just wondering how long you should warm the car up before setting off?

I personaly wait till its at normal running temp and then take it easy for a while. I know it takes 3-5 min for the oil to circulate propperly round the engine but i heard a few people saying that idling on the driveway for a while causes hot spots round the engine. Is this true and how long should you w8 till you set off?

Cheers
Chappy

Always give it a few mins on the drive before setting off and driving off boost for about 10 mins, Remember that the temp gauge on the dash is water temp and not oil temp, By the time the car is showing up to temp on the dash readout the oil is probablly only halfway(40/50 deg) up to temp :thumb:

Get in and drive it and just keep off boost until it has warned up but oil take's longer than the water. I have done that for over eight years.

Ha ha, saw the thread title and thought this was about foreplay :lol1:

Having now read it, never heard anything so ridiculous in my life, just start the fcuking car and drive off, so long as you're not thrashing it until it's up to temperature then there is nothing to worry about.

Only times I ever leave mine idling after starting up is while scraping the ice off the windows. Generally it's a bad idea to do so......

So did I

Yep

Same for me

depends what oil youve got in, ive got 5w40 for the winter so it doesnt take as long but as ive got a display of my water temp in degrees and an oil pressure gauge i can tell when its warmed up properly , usually about 5 mins or so depending on the weather

Engine warms faster driving it than idling,fairly sure the manual recommends moving off straight away just take it easy until oil is up to temp.

i let mine idle maybe 30 secs then im off, drive slowly and off boost, its better for the engine to do this and get it warmed up then let it sit idling.

lube and 2 fingers:thumb:

No, trust me, you CANNOT tell if your oil has WARMED by watching an oil, PRESSURE gauge. You might think you can, but it's NOT accurate.

I have oil and water temperatures, plus oil pressure.

The oil temp lags the water temp by around three to four minutes of normal driving.

Meanwhile, the oil pressure drops as soon as the oil STARTS to warm, but remains fairly constant due to the oil pump.
The oil temp, meanwhile, continues to rise.

Mine ONLY gets beans when oil temperature has peaked.

Oh, and for the OP: drive it, stay off boost until the oil is warm.
Leaving it to tickover can do more harm than good.

:lol::luxhello::luxhello::luxhello:

Car engines are designed to warm up while being driven. Sitting idle to warm is not a good idea as you don't have airflow and oil pressure is low. Most hand books state this.

AMEN :notworthy



Here's a question for those letting their car warm up for 6 months before driving off...

You let it warm up at a guess so it doesn't take as long before you can give it the beans? Ok what about your transmission oils, both gearbox and differentials? How does that get warm when idling on your drive annoying the neighbours? ;)

I just start going at it hard. I only really care about my own pleasure and convenience.

With my car I normally let it idle for a min and then drive at low loads/revs until I see 80 deg oil temp.

Don't you mean TONGUE, then two fingers?

Let it idle? Christ, my neighbours would love me if I done that!!!

Sitting there Idling creates bore wash which damages the engine..

This, 100% correct, just increases the amount of water and by products you put in your oil.

what about a forged engine? i wait at least until my pistons have stopped rattling, usually until the water temp has moved off bottom of dial and drive slow out of the estate (not chav estate or a manor before any wise cracks). Hope Im doing the right thing? Annoys the crap out of the neighbours but thats life...

My V4 STI had forged pistons and rattled a bit when cold as well, but I think the same rules apply - start it, de-ice if needed, then drive it gently until its warmed up. Oil temp is important; no hard driving until that's up to temp, but apart from that they are fine. Same for my current WRX, only it's quieter as it doesn't have forged pistons (shame) or an HSK dragger exhaust

Never had complaints from neighbours about idling when de-icing, even at 6am. Mind you, come to think of it both my next door neighbours on either side have moved out since I arrived :Suspiciou

I personally wouldn't complain about the noise of someone idling a scooby on their drive for a short time for a couple of reasons:

1. I do it myself
2. It's a nice sound :cool:
3. My 2.5 diesel Audi was louder and a lot smokier :lol1:

Agreed! They are cars not high maintenance women! :)

start it up drive it, sitting on the drive wont circulate air or fluids properly or in the way they are designed to work.

just take it steady, i've got an oil temp gauge in mine nad can tell you it takes alot longer thsn you think to warm up properly

Doing this wastes fuel, subjects your car to excessive bore wash and condensation, and serves no useful purpose (cept maybe you have a heater working).

Driving it will achieve the benefits faster without washing all the oil from your bores and wearing your nice forged pistons.

great thread, i'll warm her til the rattle stops then drive! (slowly) for 10 mins til temp is fully up there before pushing it. Thanks and very useful :)

cheers lads, i think i will change the way i warm the car up now.

The longer the car idles, the longer it takes to warm, and the longer it stays on cold enrichment, which fouls plugs, a waste of fuel and also causes more oil dilution.

Just get in and drive it. If you want it to help it heat up quicker, turn off the heater.


....Or keep it in a heated garage...or get a block heater ;)

That is true but if you drive it then it squirts more fuel into the cylinder each Otto cycle and you have more squirts per minute (because of higher rpm).

It will warm up faster but I don't know which is better at reducing bore wash or oil dilution in reality.

I think physics says the faster your try and warm something up by applying heat energy the less efficient the warming up is or something?

So it might take more total fuel to warm up a car whilst driving than at idle, and that is fuel which is enriched so bore washing etc.

You might get more fuel by driving but you also get more air equalling optimum ratio.