To warm or not to warm

While at work tonight I got into a "heated" discussion on letting your car or truck warm up prior to driving. I am adamit about letting my truck warm up before I drive it when the engine is cold. Several people at work said its a waste of gas and time. What's your opinion?

 

Don't warm your truck up unless you plan to drive it hard out of the gate. Your truck reaches operating temperature much faster when you're driving conservatively rather than sitting still. Most engine wear occurs while it's cold, so warming it up quickly is in your best interest.

 

I just drive easy until it's up to operating temp. It only takes 5-10 seconds for oil to start reaching the top end.

 

The truck doesnt benefit from prolonged warm up before driving. Old school vehicles and oiling systems let the oil drain out entirely so you could have a no lube situation until things warmed up and stared flowing. Newer does t let the oil backflow into the pan so youre only looking at a brief time before everything is where it needs to be. Then just drive moderately until the engine is warmed up.



But


I benefit from being in a warm house instead of in a freezing truck or standing in a blizzard scraping ice off my windows. I'm more important than my truck, so the colder it is the longer the warmup period.

 

30 seconds then drive easy.

 

Oil takes some time to reach optimal viscosity. Usually if it's very cold out, I wait a couple of minutes before driving, so that the oil reaches a better temp. There is no sense in putting a load on your engine until this happens, because it makes the engine work harder. Usually I wait until the RPMs are below 1500 before moving.

 

I usually warm my truck up not as much for the befit of the truck itself, but to allow me to scrape the ice off the windshield easier, and to get into a warmer cab.
I can't drive fast for the first 15 minutes or so after leaving my house anyway, so straining the engine is not a major concern for me.

 

First use Permatex deep cleaning windshield wipe followed by Totally Green hydrophobic rain repellant to keep ice off the glass works for me.

 

my butt likes to be warm sometimes. otherwise I let it idle for about a minute and then go slow. one thing the A340 doesn't like to do is shift when cold (<30 F)

 

x2

 

I feel like a sucker all these years letting the truck idle til warm. You guys just tore my world apart

 

It doesn't really matter either way. If you'd rather get into a toasty truck rather than wait a couple of minutes for it to do so, then do it. It's not going to affect anything enough for it to matter. Except a tree hugger might shed a tear.

 

Crashing your truck because your windows are fogged up/iced over on the inside is a good way to destroy the engine.

Our 2015 Camry needs to be warmed up, if not the steering acts weird and the trans doesn't shift "right". Once it warms up its all good. I'm talking weather down in the teens though.

 

I have a remote start. I drive my truck when it's the temperature I like inside the cab. Idling for 10 minutes won't ruin your fuel mileage.

 

So long as you arent in a high crime area But yeah if its raining or something I just get in and drive unless the windows are all fogged up and I cant see. If its covered in snow I start it up and brush off the snow, by the time I get everything somewhat cleared off its already starting to melt the windshield off and if it needs scraped it makes it easier. Then I get in a minute or two and drive off. Sure it burns gas but I like being warm instead of cold...so it at boils down to your preference. Most Toyotas get to 300,000 miles or more in their lifetime so I doubt theres any ill effects...otherwise it would have been known by now...the rest is just wives tales

 

Let it start up and run for ~30seconds then drive slow till it's warm.

 

for me it depends on how cold it is, cuz I hate being cold. I just drive easy till the temp comes up.

 

There's been a few publications that addressed this lately. Basically the general thought of letting a car idle to warm up was carried over from the carb age. Just like people that insist on giving their car gas while engaging the starter. Completely unnecessary on an FI engine.

 

If there's ice on the windshield, I'll start the truck, clear the ice off and roll. Otherwise, I only wait about 30 seconds.

 

My truck in the winter warms up while I run around putting wood on the fire

turning lights off

Throwing a load in the washer

All the things I am to exhausted to do after work

Does it need to be done no not really .

I just like a warm Truck cab in the winter because when I leave it is for a few hundred miles Nothing I hate more then trying to wiggle out of my coat at a stop light.