letting your truck warm up

Start it and go. Winter time I park in the garage so there is no waiting for anything to melt/defrost.

 

I start it up and go, but I always drive easy out of the neighborhood and for the first couple of miles after that.

 

only takes about 30secs-1min to go to closed loop in the summer here in alabama.

winter time maybe 2-3 min tops. that's even if it's 0 degrees outside.

usually in winter i just crank it and turn defrost heat on high until i can see out the window and then i go. this is with frost or snow or whatever. takes about 5min tops for all of it to be melted.

in winter i always aim the 2 outermost vents towards the side windows. heat blows out of these when in defrost mode so they melt the side windows and rear window while the dash vents melt the windshield.

if it's a big snow which is about 6"-12" down here then of course scrape the window first with one of those ice/snow things.

 

http://blog.esurance.com/5-car-myths-busted/#.VBM5baPvh_Q

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1101499

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/chi-warm-up-engine-20131021-story.html

Don't over think it, just drive.

 

Because it's an old habit, I let it warm up for about 2 min. I let every car do that pretty much...

 

Like many on here, I let the idle come down and then drive gently until the temp gauge is normal, then I *can* hammer it if I want or need to. But I usually don't hammer it. Lots of articles on the internet explaining modern motor oil lubrication, fuel injected engines, emissions controls (cats, 02 sensors, etc). There's just no need to warm up unless the conditions are very cold and the vehicle is kept outside. Now *wanting* to warm the car up, that's a different story and purely a matter of preference.

 

Tony: what years is your truck and is your remote start a OEM or aftermarket?

 

In the summer I usually let it warm up while I am removing the sunshade, etc. Maybe a minute so I start to get cool air from the A/C.

In the winter, even though I use Mobil 1 5W-30, I get piston slap when it has sat out all day in 30 to 40 degree weather. So I usually let it warm up for about a minute, then drive very gently out of the parking lot. Noise disappears after about 2 to 4 minutes. Only hear the noise under moderate load.

It is an '01 with about 74K miles.

 

I found I get better mileage if I let it warm up instead of taking off. From my house to the gym not letting it warm up I get about 15ish, letting it warm up I get 20ish. But yes I always let it warm up and never hammer it

 

Because I live in a generally warm climate, there's no need to wait to warm up the engine...

...however I never lug the engine (high load at low rpms) when it's warming up, and will let it rev more freely in a lower gear rather than load the engine in a higher gear.

 

I've never owned anything as new as this 2004 Taco up until now so I've always let everything warm up. With the Taco I still let it warm up usually until the needle hits the first mark.

The problem isn't whether or not the oil is getting to everything. That happens pretty quick. The problem is that putting a load on the crank, pistons and everything else without the oil at least warm isn't a good idea in my book. Not to mention the fact that pistons and everything else along with the aluminum head all expand and contract as the temps change and the clearanaces really aren't where they should be until everything is heated up.

I let mine warm up even when it's 100 degrees outside. 100 degrees isn't hot to an engine. The only reason everyone is so weird about idling is because they want to save fuel. That, I could care less about. It's the engine I care about.

All those metal parts are far happier when the oil is at least close to operating temp and everywhere it needs to be. It is true though that it takes about 20 minutes to get oil up to operating temp. It lags quite a ways behind the coolant temp.

 

If you're got piston slap which so many newer vehicles have the last thing you should do is take off before the slap stops. That is a big no-no. You're engine will last close to forever with piston slap but putting a load on it with pistons slapping isn't a very good idea.

 

It's 2014, the engine & drive train warm up faster during normal driving.

 

That's true. I just don't think it's a good idea to put a load on any engine until it has at least warmed up a little. No matter the year there are still metal parts sliding against each other and oil doesn't lubricate the best until it reaches normal operating temp.

I am aware, however, that these newer engines are designed so it isn't necessary to warm them all the way up before you drive off.

 

Never. An 8-cylinder takes a minute or so to get going. Not a four.

 

Big difference between driving and an actual "load". Oil doesnt have to be at optimum temp, its doing everything it needs to do way before its warm, unless youre sitting overnight in20 below temps. Just dont go nuts and bouncing off the rev limiter.

 

Prefer to let mine warm up a for about a minute or so. RPMs usually sit around 1500 when I first start it up. Once I see/hear it drop to around 900/1000 RPM I begin driving.

 

At 70K and 6.5 years the number of times I let mine idle more than 30 seconds, I could count on one hand. Mine idles until this first indication of the idle dropping. Anything more and we are dumping more raw fuel into the oil past the rings than necessary, and that thinning of the oil film on the upper cylinder wall is what causes wear. The quicker the engine warms the sooner the air/fuel ratio gets to normal. A engine warms much quicker driving it gently under 2K RPM. My engine uses no oil and makes no strange sounds. If below 0° F I will let it run for about a minute. Rarely happens around here, and usually my truck comes out of a heated garage in the morning.

 

We use 5W30 oil for a reason the 5W lubes every thing during start up it's pour temp is very low like -40C. If my oil light is out it's time to move the engine will warm far quicker and it will be in closed loop far faster, they are very few people that live on an entrance ramp to the highway by the time you get there it's warm enough to hit the road. An engine has no feelings it does not feel pain.

 

It is not necessary to warm up the engine in your Tacoma at all. If your engine has oil pressure you can drive normally, regardless of the lube oil temperature.