To warm or not to warm

I preheat all my vehicles. Trying to push cold thick oil through the engine with tight tolerances while under a load is asking for a spun bearing and premature engine wear. Love your engine and let it warm up.

 

I live in Montana and it's regularly below zero throughout the winter. No garage, no block heater, truck gets started and idles for about 3-5 minutes while I scrape off the windows, then go in and kiss the wife goodbye and head to work. No problems at all. Only time I let it warm up all the way is when I want it to be nice and warm inside. Other than that, I get in and drive easy until the temp needle reaches the center spot on the gauge, and then go like I normally do!

 

What are you running for oil, 15w40 Rotella? I can always tell when my engine oil has circulated to the top end, the slight valve clatter stops after about 3 seconds after startup, meaning oil has reached the top end and is circulating smoothly. Good enough for me! And with quality synthetic oils, they are made to stay very fluid at subzero temps. 5w30 synthetic has a pour point of around -45 degrees, any of the 0w20/30 syn oils are closer to -60. With any of these type of oils, they should be circulated throughout the entire engine in less than 5 seconds after startup, if they aren't, then you must be in -80*F Antarctica or something's really wrong with your engine! Haha

 

2003 Toyota Tacoma Extended Cab SR5 5VZ-FE 3.4L V6 4WD 4 speed automatic. I live in Florida. I let my engine warm up because when I crank it in the morning the engine revs high to about 1800 to 2000 RPMS. The colder it is the higher it revs up. I let the engine run until the RPM's come down to 1000 RPM's. Is there a way to prevent the engine from revving up so high at start up? I am not sure if I have something wrong with it or not. The engine runs well other than the high Revs at startup. Any Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Try being manual, if it's in the teens-20s and I don't let the truck warm up and heat soak the trans I'm lucky to get it out of gear and into to 2nd.

 

Also x2.

 

Had the truck 9 years with no engine issues. Even in the teens I turn the key and go. By the time I roll down my driveway (about 10 seconds) she's ready. With the TRD exhaust, if I were to let the truck idle for more than 10 seconds my whole house would wake up and then I'd have to come home to a cranky wife.

 

Sometimes I care to warm it up. Other times I don't care to warm it up.

I think the idea is a lot like working out. You "should" warm up before strenuous exercise. But it doesn't mean you have to.

Injuries or (excessive wear on the engine in this case) can happen at anytime. Warm or not.

 

My neighborhood is full of people who warm their cars up for 5-10 minutes in the winter (it's NYC, so it can be 0 or 50 on any given morning) by revving their engines, or just hold the skinny pedal at 3-4000 RPM. It's maddening.

 

Heated garage FTW!!!! At work I let it idle for 1 minute then I drive easy for a few minutes.

 

I usually wait until the temp gauge needle starts to move...

 

Ever watched the oil pressure gauge on a vehicle jump up to 80lbs when cold? Yeah, that is the oil pump TRYING to force oil in to the critical rotating parts (bearings) and very little is getting them which is more than likely causing metal to metal contact which causes wear. Ever seen the bearings out of a engine that was driven by a women that starts and goes? I have. Excessive wear. I am all about longevity of my engine and have rebuilt several GM motors that were abused from the lack of mechanical knowledge. Car dealers like people like you.