Warming up the truck still necessary?

At my age 75. I always start the vehicle from the house and let it run on depending on the weather. In the cold winter I remote start with heat on for about 10 minutes. In the hot summer days with A/C on run it for 10 minutes.Other than that I start normal which is start and wait 5 sec and go.

 

I typically wait for the idle to drop before driving off but if it's frigid outside I allow a longer warmup, about 5 min. That time has nothing to do with the truck, I prefer comfort of it being warm (er) in the truck and it gives me time to scrape the windows if needed.

 

I had a 260 Z and parked it for the Winter especially up here in Canada where it is too cold for those little jap cars. Was a nice Summer machine though

 

I start it with the seat warmers on and drive away. Within a couple of minutes driving I can throw on the heat. Easy peasy!

 

~1 minute idle for every ~10 degrees F below freezing.

So 22F =1 minute idle. 15F = 2 min idle, etc. I suppose in the rest of the known universe that would be ~1 min idle for every 5 degrees C below Zero

 

Minus 18 here this morning, so I will start the trucks, come back inside, check the e-mail and banking.
We park outside, and want to have enough heat to ensure the windshield is clear and stays that way before going on the road.

 

Sorry, not sure where you got that information from, but it is total garbage. Regardless of how cold it is, start the engine, click on your seatbelt, put it in gear and drive the vehicle; just take it easy on the "go" pedal until the temperature gauge starts registering some warmth.

 

Truck sat outside in -37C (-34.6F) for about 6 days last week. I let it idle for at least 10 minutes before I leave!

 

Mine (warms up) for about 6-10 mins while i pack my lunch in the mornings... I dont care if it helps or not. That's what I do

 

I warm my truck up long enough to get my Android Auto plugged in and my seat belt on.

If it's really cold, I might let it warm up in the garage while I grab my wallet and brush my teeth. But I'm doing so to let the heater warm the cabin, not for any perceived benefit to the engine.

 

Nope. I just fire it up and go.

 

I warm up mine when it’s cold, 25* and below. It’s in the garage, definitely when it’s below zero

 

The title of this thread is a bit misleading, everyone posting is mostly talking about extreme climates and defrosting the windshield. I get it, but the OP seemed like more of a general "should I still be doing this with a modern vehicle" question.

In regards to engine wear, what kind of damage do people think is being done if they don't let the truck warm up? Are they worried about oil distribution or something? If the oil level is full and the oil warning light isn't on then the oil is getting where it needs to go.

Are they concerned about fuel injection or mixture? It's not like there's a carburetor sitting on top of the engine. The computer knows what it's doing. In fact, the computer would like to get the engine to operating temp sooner rather than later.

All you're doing is wasting gas, I don't get it.

 

Just swerve back and forth like nascar to warm everything up

 

Warming it up is for you, not the truck. If you're using the right oil weight for the temperature (theres a scale in the manual) then start up and drive off. It was -4 at my house this morning and I went out, fired up the old beast and slapped it right in reverse.

 

Same temp today for me too . I start mine up and then scrape the windows. Seat heater is good by then and warm ish air is blowing from heater.

 

I turn the key to ON and pause a good bit to allow the computer more time to boot.
Once all the dash idiot lights go out, I light the engine.

My typical warm up time is a minimum of 60 seconds.
This is the time required to get belted in, adjust the phone in my pocket, remove the sun shades, etc.
I'm retired so the outside temps are 40F or higher at first startup.

 

-6°C this morning and truck sat for 2 days not driven. Needed to drive 150kms, got in, selt belt on, started truck and started driving. The temp gauge was barely warm by the time I got to the highway 7 kms away. Didn't even scrap, just cleared away the ice with the washer fluid and wiper. I have no worries about the engine.

 

Lately I been having to park on a hill with temps around freezing. I start my truck up and shift through R, N, D a few times to get the transmission fluid flowing.

 

Oil pressure is your engine's friend. Low idle = low oil pressure.

At cold start, the ECU puts the engine on high idle and full rich fuel trim(Open loop) to warm up the catalytic converters. Once the cats are at operating temperature, ECU turns the engine on to low idle, Closed Loop, the fuel trim is determent by the catalytic converters(rich vs lean).

You are not helping with oil flow by low idling the engine for longer than 30 seconds.

Drive it, your engine will warm up a lot quicker, gives it better oil flow and higher oil pressure.