Warming up the engine

I've gotten different answers from different mechanics and forums.

Some say that warming up your vehicle in cold weather is a must.

Others argue that running a cold engine in neutral does more harm than good.

I was thinking about this as the weather gets cold. When an engine is first turned on, say for the day, it runs rich...it's burning up more fuel as it tries to warm the engine. The RPMs are initially high during this process as well.

So I'm thinking it doesn't make sense to have the engine waste this rich gas and high RPMs parked. The warming up process is better utilized while you're driving it, so long as you aren't getting on an expressway immediately.

 

I let mine warm up for 30 seconds to 2 minutes pending how cold, the idea is you should let oil flow before driving it, but the longer it's cold the more chance it has to cause wear.

 

Coldest I've been was about 19 F, not super cold pending on where your from. I let the engine do its thing for about 1 min 30 seconds then went off while keeping it below 2000rpm until it got warmer

 

Long time ago I had a 89 Toyota pickup with a 4 banger, 5 speed manual. One morning it was 27 below 0. After truck started it took 10 minutes for the oil pressure gauge to move. Tranny was stiff and hard to move. After that I switched to synthetic oil and no more problems.

 

I like my truck at 87° while the outside is -15°... Screw the wear!

That said, other than burning fuel to be warm, i've never heard of letting the engine warm up causing extra wear and tear!?

When I brought my truck down from Anchorage in mid Feb winter it hit -53°F that night, I didn't dare turn the damn thing of lest I freeze to death

 

You are right. Your truck or any vehicle needs some warm up time when it gets cold out. 30 sec or more depending on temp like OREO CAT said. Then take it easy for the few miles.

 

It does.

 

Lol, I'll have to use that advice on my kids more often...

Hey dad.. why does the earth spin??

Cause... It does

 

Oh boy, this debate again. Every thread I've read turns into an argument about which way is better, with no definitive proof either way. What I take away from no definitive proof is that any difference in wear and tear is negligible, so do whatever your heart desires. I personally will let my vehicles warm up for about 3-5 min when it's cold out, which for me is anything below freezing.

 

Reason I had to let mine run 20 minutes this morning was because I didn't think ahead when I cleaned the salt of the truck last night and my doors froze because of the water... Got the door open, but the lock remained stuck, therefore not latching closed... I really do love winter though!

 

Back in the day,,,, when the only way to unlock the doors was with a key I would not lock my door if freezing rain was predicted or if l went though the car wash.

 

Takes me way back to my first Toyota......late 80’s......A 1972 Celica. Standing in the freezing cold like an idiot outside my parents house, warming my key with a BIC lighter so I could press it into the solid ice inside the lock. Then sitting for 15 minutes in the car while the crappy heater-core barely cleared about 1 square foot of windshield, and the faulty rear window “defogging stripes” cleared one or two thin lines in the ice on the inside of the back window......sorry......getting nostalgic for my youth.

Nowadays, keyless entry, heated seats, heated mirrors, good AC and defrosters, insulated cabs......we are so spoiled!

 

I live in the Hi Desert of Socal at 4k ft elev and I let my Tacoma warm up for 3-5 min no matter what time of year . this lets coolant ,engine oil , pwr steer fluid and trans fluid warm up

Even my street strip car I always let the engine build temp before driving

 

The idea is, longer the engine is cold the higher the chance for wear, but moving it before oil has a chance to flow is also bad

 

Anybody who wants to argue a cold engine at high RPM is better should be fucking shot.

Everybody knows the problem with oil is it's not throughout the engine when you start it up. The problem isn't "warming it up in cold weather" the problem is the oil isn't flowing.

 

I know this is getting off topic... but I used to own a 98' Jetta TDI that had a specialty coolant heater installed, instead of just a plain block heater. It was set on a timer and circulated the heated coolant through the engine at 120 or so for a couple hours before morning... Now that's an engine block heater worth a damn!

 

Because it is such a pain driving when the idle is high at least for me.

Winter or Summer vehicle gets started I finish my morning routine in winter wood on the stove etc

Then leave for my 5 mile commute to work!!

 

https://www.cartalk.com/content/do-cars-need-warm-cold-winter-mornings

 

This is similar to asking which wears your engine more? Jack rabbit start and stopping city driving or casual highway miles or letting your car sit at idle. I would guess the later would cause the least wear. There is a lot more going on bumper to bumper especially in cold weather. Brake fluid, shock valves, differential fluid, bearings, etc... that have to warm up as well. My recommendation would be to let it warm up a few minutes and then drive easy at first to allow other components to warm up as well. There are people on this forum that would want to warm up prior to a 10k run in -10* weather.......me included.

 

Not to mention, if automatic, it helps to warm up the atf