Warming up the truck still necessary?

No more tears about this issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX_8p7NaibQ

 

That's partially true. The most wear to an engine happens on cold starts regardless of if you drive it or not. If it is extremely cold outside like it gets at my end of the pond and you force the engine to warmup by driving it, it's similar to pressing and holding the gas pedal the moment you start the engine, and before the dissimilar metals have had time to expand properly.

The internal combustion engines are designed to so that the ECU responds to the ambient temperatures versus internal engine temperatures. The ECU sets the engine on HI idle on cold starts, then as the internal temperatures increase, the engine RPM is reduced accordingly, all the way to normal idle RPM (600-700 or so for gasoline engines). Once the required oil pressure is achieved on the cold start, the oil lubricates the moving parts and wear is reduced to a minimum. But driving it right away, before it has a chance to warmup a little, puts a heavy drag on the engine (like towing a trailer). In this case the tolerances (metal expansion) of both the engine and transmission's moving parts are very tight. The transmission takes longer to engage in the next high gear, the grease in wheel bearings is stiff, and so on.

The fact is that the higher the RPM is, the soonest the engine wears. Just watch INDI ad F1 racing and see how the engine is warmed first to allow for proper metal expansion. Then the following high RPM in the race further increases engine wear. Once the engine is warm, leaving it idling makes no difference relating to engine wear. It can idle until the tank is empty, without engine wear...unless it runs out of engine oil.

That said, it is up to one to decided what to do with one's truck. I would never persuade anybody in this forum to do the opposite of what they want to do about their trucks.

 

Start. Go.

 

I let my rides warm a bit in cold weather, don’t care if it’s old school. And the notion that while it’s warming up you are diluting the engine oil with gas is bullshit. If that was true then every time you are idling at a stop light or waiting for a train to pass is diluting the oil. I live right off of a busy highway and I can’t just pull out and drive slow till it warms up or I’ll get my ass run over.

 

Sorry, the BS is in your post. Pulling up to a train crossing, sitting in traffic, or sitting at a long traffic light are different. Why? The engine is warmed up and much more efficient. The goal should be to warm your engine up as quickly as is possible without leaning on the "Go" pedal too hard; cold-starting, and then driving away at moderate power settings is the best way to warm an engine up.

 

Yes oil dilution happens every time you're idling at a railroad crossing or stoplight. Cold start idling adds to the dilution. That's why Toyota's maintenance booklet lists extended idling as one of the "special operating conditions" that cuts the oil change interval by half.

 

The engines in our trucks aren't even in the same universe as high performance engines like F1 or other race cars.
Toyota engineers these engines to be much more tolerable to a wide range of operating conditions.
The goal is longevity and reliability, not 100% wide open throttle for 60 minutes straight

Everyday use vs extreme high performance isn't even close

3/4 of these posts are about defrosting the windows and getting the cabin warm for driver comfort. Any concerns about engine lubrication or bearing clearance/tolerances is completely overblown. If these engines were that brittle they'd be grenading everywhere all the time

 

The air-injection pump and clutch cooling fan are my on-board assistants: On a cold start-up, the retro fan initially roars and the air-pump whines loudly and reverses itself and then they both go back to sleep: That's my/the signal to Select "D" and go bye-bye: Done.

 

When talking about modern vehicles, Absolutely not.

Not only one is wasting gas, but diluting the oil with gas because engine is running rich longer then needed. Gas is a solvent.

Even if its -30C, i give it maximum of 1 minute or so once the engine tone changes. Then gently drive it with heater OFF (defrost ON if needed, uses heat from elements and not the coolant) Engine warms up much quicker when gently driving it. Even the manual states that there is no need to "warm up the engine", I dont understand why its even a topic on TW. Its best when engine gets to operating temps ASAP.


I see sooooo many people up here idle their vehicles for 10-20 minutes and it makes me cringe...


This is not 1970 and we dont drive carbureted cars.

 

Ya well you don't live where it's almost always below 0. Windows caked in heavy frost and or snow. -25 right now even though it's mid day and sunny. You don't just get in, start, and drive here. Letting the engine run for a bit isn't always about and for the engine.

 

Are you referring to me?

If so, I live up north in Prince George where it gets very cold.

You can always put a cover overnight on your windshield, problem solved.



Why so many folks make it complicated when it doesnt have to be?

 

windshield cover
No one uses those silly things here and that would already start to complicate things.

 

I live in AZ. Some days I start my truck in the morning and the temp gauge comes right up to the middle before I'm off my street. Everything is heat soaked already, up to about 120° from sitting in the sun.

But like you, I live near a free way and work right off of it so when winter comes, Thankfully my entrance ramp is a long down hill grade and I have a bout a 1 to 1.25 miles before I get to it. I'm super cautious about acceleration until that temp needle starts getting near the middle. More for getting the fluids in the transmission closer to operating temp than anything else.

But then I'm not right ON the freeway and it's not that cold here so it's not that big of a deal. If I lived up north, or a cooler climate, yeah I'd probably let it warm up. But this is just something I would do because I believe it is good. Not because of this survey and that study and this analysis, and that paper that was published in the Journal of American Mechanics or what ever.

 

3-5 minute warm up for my engines

 

I have used the windshield cover and it works great.

Sometimes, I would forget to put in on the night before or the weather freakishly froze the windshield.

In any case, I agree these newer vehicles do not need engine warm-ups...heck, I start her up under normal weather conditions and go!

 

Alrighty sir.

 

Im sorry but its not bullshit, its facts plain and simple. Cold engine is running rich longer when its idling VS gently driving, thus diluting oil with gas more.

https://youtu.be/wEUMzSuEPBA?si=Cq2IX_ny-LCnF2Tm

 

100%

Im not sure why this concept is so hard to grasp for some. It only makes perfect sense.

 

/thread.

 

That is a true statement (highlighted text). Perhaps I should have explained in a different way. On extremely cold starts like the ones I encounter, it is best to allow the engine to warn enough to allow for the dissimilar metals in the engine to expand to the designed tolerances. But the temperatures in the racing circuits (mentioned above) aren't anything like the ones I experience each winter; even so, in these racing circuits the engines are warmed first.

Now, I will explain a few things that apply to the types of temperatures I go through, and the way every automobile with an automatic transmission that I have owned for several decades react to stream cold temperatures. Just keep in mind that what I am going to write does not apply for people leaving in most of the lower-48 States, while it does apply to the northernmost regions of Canada (the Yukon, for example):

Driving a 2012 Corolla I owned a few years ago, with temperatures in the -30 degrees F, it would have taken over 15 minutes of driving at 50-55 MPH before the engine temperature gage would rise barely above the cold mark. When it is that cold it takes quite a long time for the transmission to shift to the higher gear, so one has to either press the gas pedal to keep the engine RPM high, or just shift the transmission to a lower gear, which in turn maintains a higher RPM. However, blowing cold air like that in ones face and hand for several minutes is not pleasant at all, and to make matters worst is that you have to decide between defrosting the windshield, or warming your feet, since the entire cabin is extremely cold.

At -30 degrees and colder, I can drive my 2013 Tundra 5.7L after a cold start with the heater set at full blast, and it would take about ten minutes for barely warm air to start defrosting the windshield. The transmission won't shift to the higher gears, much as if I were towing a trailer on tow mode. During the winter cars and trucks burn a minimum of 20% more fuel than the rest of the year, regardless if one forces the engine to warm-up or not. Cold weather between -30 and -40 F puts quite a drag on the engine, just to reach and maintain 55 MPH on the highway. It feels as if one is tying a trailer up a hill.
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Now, during the summer months, I start the engine using the remote, and by the time I walk out of my house, check the exterior of the truck for obstacles and so on, I just drive-away without any issues. I no longer need to rush (am retired form the workforce), so now I have time to enjoy a warm (or cool) cabin by the time I drive my wife and I trucks and SUV.

I have never had engine troubles with any of the vehicles I have owned-while living in the interior of Alaska. Over here long idling during the winter is the norm. Even when groceries shopping at -20 F and colder there are a great number of cars and trucks idling at the supermarket lot. The majority of vehicles have remote starters, and are "winterized" (block heaters, oil pan heaters, battery blankets or trickle charges, etc.)