What does everyone here think about this article?

I think this is where I need to post this but if not.....mods please move it!

So I am a pretty good wrench but not because I know everything but rather because while I know a lot about a lot....I am really good at listening to others that know more than I do!

This is an article about warming your vehicle up before driving. I have my own beliefs but would love to hear what some other enlightened and skilled people have to say about what this article claims.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/biggest-myth-warming-car-winter-164138459.html

 

Well, if I let my truck idle for a couple of minutes before I go anywhere, it's not to warm up the engine, it's to warm up the interior, and to get the defrosters to start to melt some of the ice and snow off so I can actually see what I'm gonna run into!

 

I start the Tacoma and let it idle long enough to drop back below 1k RPM's.
The Dodge I have to let it idle long enough to get up to temp, because it's carb'd and doesn't run right otherwise.

 

I pretty much start mine and gently drive it when it's cold. UNLESS we've had frost, snow or ice where I happily will trade some engine wear to avoid the much hated & dreaded ice scraper! (I love remote start) Plus being able to see out well has its own benefits at least while the car is in motion...

 

I agree with all of this so far and I have already read some threads on this topic but this is the first time I have read an article that was so specific and it kind of messed me up! I have always warmed up all of my vehicles for 5-10 minutes!

 

I used to warm up my engine before driving even in the warm climate here, but with all my recent cars, I just start, idle for <30 seconds and go. I always drive easy until the engine is warmed up though. Most all car manufacturers say to just drive after starting, and the naysayers will say that it's because the manufacturers want to keep their mileage figures good but that's all a bunch of crap.

 

This

 

For almost 40 years this has been my understanding. Idling is not a positive and more likely a negative to engine longevity. Carbs were worse and fuel injection an improvement on diluting your oil with gas during prolonged idling, especially when cold. Idling is not necessary for engine health if you take it easy driving for the first mile or so. I always take it easy.

Not new information.

 

I idle my truck. Some mornings I'll go out fire it up with the heat off(coolant arms up quicker) go back in get my coffee come back out turn the heat on then smoke a cig then go. No more then 10 min. I usually always let it run when hot or cold out for 5 min while I smoke. There's also times I've had to fire it up drive around back load/unload shit for the day I've let it run north of 20 min.

I'm a mechanic I have heard what they are talking about in the article. I know oil warms up quicker while driving .In a perfect world, for an na gas engine yeah. start it up, when idle settles to normal drive it easy Iv got turbo cars and a turbo diesel and I do a few autocross events with turbo cars. I let them idle all the time. You want to keep the oil temp up. You want to keep oil flowing through the turbos after driving before shutting off, you want oil moving freely before you jump in and smash the gas. Ect. I take engines apart all the time including my own. I won't stop ideling my vehicles. I change my oil more then necessary and I don't feel like It does too much more damage either way

Besides the frame will probly rust apart long before I have any major engine issues, Itl be time to get a new dd

 

I just keep it below 2k rpms until i see my temp gauge move past the "c"

 

With the lift and the Flippac mine won't fit into the garage, so my remote starter is a wonderful upgrade when the weather hits the extremes so I can get the cabin warmed or cooled off as well as giving me a head start on clearing iced over windows. Does idling hurt the engine? Probably, but not enough for me to lose sleep over.

 

I don't think it matters unless you start it up and take right off like a banshee

 

I don't warm mine up. I usually drive with a nice thick layer of ice and a small hole that I can peek through.

 

Mine idles at ~2000 rpms for about 30 seconds after I start it cold. I assume this would warm it up just as fast as driving it around right after starting, or at least to a point that the cylinder walls are hot enough to prevent fuel washdown. Seems to be a lot of conjecture in that article without any statistical or empirical support.