Warming up the engine

I was in a pinch and needed to get it done before a wheeling trip so I went to a drive thru Chevron station (OilStop). So, Chevron's 75w90 fluid. I'll look into that link thanks

 

I let it warm till the rpm drops and its generally a min or two for that then I let it start to bring the needle up on the temp gauge. As long as its moving there is plenty of lubricant.

I heard its not good to idle to operating temps. it puts unneeded stress on the block and can cause loss in life span... but thats just what Ive heard. Those sources could be full of crap.

I have the V6 auto and my shifts are really rough when its cold... Like that rear dif/drive train is molasses. I wonder what can be done about that.

 

10 months down, 4 years 2 months to go for me...

I was a bit surprised that the auto-heat would keep the fan turned off until it was actually ready to blow warm air, neat feature!

 

lol, it feels like it. i have to be on my jobsites by 5am, and since most of them are quite the drive, every minute counts. i love my truck but it also hurts me to hear the tranny clunk.

 

My 6MT, just reverse out of driveway, then its 1.2 miles downhill to highway. I neutral her all the to the highway. Then 1,2, skip shift to 4th and 6th, and steady eddy at 80mph. Bam bam. Loving the PRO and the third pedal.

 

The manual for my 2007 actually says "do not warm engine by idling". Always found that interesting but I do what it says, start it, then drive it.

 

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

I would definitely do more than my typical 60 seconds or so, but to me 10 to 15 seems like a lot, but I am not jumping on the highway for a few miles when I do go that way.

 

This. I would bet that the third gen manual also says it.

 

Many will say it doesn't matter others will say it does.
It really all depends

Is it -25 out? Did it struggle just to start?
Are you going to turn it on throw it in gear and floor it?
Best way for it to warm up is to be running and moving as it will get more heat than at idle, but you don't want to over do it.
Accelerate lightly until it starts to warm up and you should be fine.

I opted to get the block heater from the dealer with mine for this.
Even though its gas it really helps with having it start throughout january february where its -40 overnight and daytime highs are -25 to -30. Also helps the engine warm up faster once it is started and driving since its not going to be as cold.
I'm used to driving diesel so to me I'm used to plugging in at night and giving it 2-3 minutes at idle just to warm up. I also have a digital gauge on my TDI (similar to scan gauge) and I get an accurate oil temp and coolant temp read out. I usually wait until both are 5-10 degrees C before taking off. Basically until the idle RPM drops to within normal. When its cold I'll idle at 1100RPM roughly I wait for it to drop to its 800-900rpm, for both the taco and jetta I have a timer set on the cord and an 1.5hours before I'm leaving in the morning it turns on.

You'll get mixed answers here because everyone will have their own view and also live in different climates.
I move around from southern ontario to central ontario all the time so obviously very different climate. from someone who's coastal and might just get -10 C the coldest and just get a lot of wet snow, where here we just get ice and really cold temps. Or a mix of light fluffy snow and ice in central ontario.

You definitely do not need to be having it idle for 10+ minutes. But giving it 1-3minutes just to warm up and start getting stuff flowing won't hurt and it won't waste much fuel. Besides for peace of mind might just feel better wasting the bit of fuel.

 

ya 10-15 seems a bit drastic for a modern day gas engine.

2-3minutes should be fine.

 

Your catalytic converter is not operating efficiently until it's warmed up so to speed up that process, most manufacturers today don't recommend letting the car idle cold. They want you to drive it quickly. 30 seconds is more than enough time to have oil flowing for adequate protection with light throttle application, however your oil's viscosity and sheer strength will not be attained until it's come up to full operating temp so don't go hot rodding for at least several minutes after your water temp is at operating. Oil takes longer to reach operating temps than water does.

 

I wait for idle to drop to its lowest RPM.

 

I want my truck to warm me up !

 

on my 2017 the Rpm's do not drop lower then 1200-1300 after a few minutes until i put it in gear....all my other new cars always dropped pretty quick...dealer of course said...."it's normal operation "

 

Is your heater on when you turn the ignition on? Mine stays high if it is...
IIRC, our trucks have an electric heater; maybe that's the difference between your other cars.

 

My winter and summer warm ups are pretty much the same.

Start the Truck walk back inside put my boots on finish my coffee turn off the lights.

10 minutes maybe 15

The only difference in the winter wood gets put in the stove.

Now if I get a phone call all bets are off.

I do this because my commute is 5 miles the long way

 

makes sense man...i'll see what's up with that

 

I've had 2 transmission updates and I'm still waiting for it to warm up...

 

When it's really cold (single digits) I let Lil Red warm up while I make my lunch for work and get ready. So generally 5-10 mins. That's just me! I like it to be warm when I drive to work.