How Long Do You Warm Your Car Up For?

I don't sit and idle for much more than a minute before I get rolling. However, I don't get on it till I "feel" that the car has loosened up, if that makes any sense.

DrTax

 

I also get rolling within a minute or two after I have pulled out of the garage and fastened my belts. However I keep the revs between 2 and 3 K until water temp. is halfway to normal, then ease up to 4K. Nothing higher until both water and oil temps are close to normal (90C). In the wintertime and on the highway the oil temp sometimes drops back down to the 70C area.

John

 

Is there anything bad about sitting for too long before first moving? I mean above two minutes or so.

 

I'm with Dale: keep it below 3k rpm until the oil temp is past the 1/4 mark (about 1/3 is right), and don't touch 5k+ until it's at ~190. Water temp is high enough by then.

--Dan

 

if you let it sit and idle for a long time, its said that the burt carbon from the combustion builds up more easily inside the engine. this is the only bad thing that ive heard about letting a car sit and idle....dont know how true/significant this is though.

in my opinion the best way to warm up a car is to drive it about 1-2 minutes after its started. like everyone else has said, keeping the revs low at first then gradually increasing them until everything is at operating temp.

 

I've assumed you mean start and wait until moving, so I voted no warm up. Naturally, I don't rev the engine hard, change gears quickly or use heavy acceleration until oil and water temps have risen.

 

Me: Idle for two minutes and take it easy until the temp starts to come up.

My Girlfriend: Turn the key and go like a bat out'a hell....GOD this pisses me off! I'm the one that will have to take care of her repair bills!

 

I let the car idle for a good 5 minutes for me....depends on the car lol....my A to B car I usually just let it idle for about 1-2 minutes then i just take off

 

2 or 3 minutes, drive very slowly for about 5 or 6 miles until all fluids are in operating temp zone, upshift 1 to 3 during this time and use low revs, of course I can only STAND to look at her and HEAR her in the garage idling for this amount of time before that spirit inside forced me to jump in, strap in and drive off!!

 

same as above, 3-5 minutes.

 

5 minutes and sometimes longer to get the fluids and car warm. However, I usually don't just let it sit and idle. I try to vary RPM after a couple of minutes. Typically wait until oil/water temp are 170+ before 5K RPMs+.

 

I let the engine warm up. Once the revs die back down, the I usually drive like my hair is fire. I have found though on my car if I do let the car warm up before backing it out of the garage, I do not have the shifting into second gear problem alot of other F-cars have.

 

I'll let it idle for about 5 minutes, then I roll off slowly. I don't go past 3k rpm and 1/5 throttle or so (just an estimate) until the oil temp needle is settled at the middle of the gauges. Then I gradually ramp up the revs and the throttle.

 

My Lotus may be different than a fuel injected Ferrari, but I let it idle about 1-2 minutes then drive, BUT I keep the rpms in the lower range without lugging the engine, and don't drive her hard until the temp gauge is at 88C, which is normal. In cold weather the choke is on 1/4 for the first 3-4 minutes. Full temp. takes 10 minutes or so depending on the weather. I think it's fine to drive a car cold if you take it easy, in fact lots of people say extended idling is bad, especially for the spark plugs. In extreme cold, a 3 min warmup is fine.

Ken

 

I turn on the engine then I do my stuff & strap my harness on then I drive but I keep the revs under 4500 till the oil temp comes off the peg

 

I just start it first before I fiddle about getting ready to go. Then just go - warm up on the move means the gearbox gets warmed up as well. Better to warm up on the move than stationary.

Interesting my last Porsche owners book specifically says don't idle it, just get in and warm up on the go.

360 Manual says "Do not run the engine at speed rates over 4000 rev./Minute until the oil temperature has reached 150-160F (65-70C), approximately".

 

I follow owner's manual adbvice: idle until the little yellow light goes off. About 5 min in colder weather. I use synthetic (Redline 10/40; 75/90NS) oil for increased oil flow at startup.

 

I would have liked to post:

"Send 'James' down to the garage to dust the car and start it up. Five minutes later, he hands me my coffee and opens the car door for me. As I pull down the driveway, he starts washing the Jag".

 

Uhh, another impossible poll... guys, don't leave gaps in your poll choices.

I let it warm up until the emission nonsense phases out and the idle goes to its normal spot. And oil pressure should be up. But I do NOT wait until the oil temp needle is rising. The time is between 1 minute and 3 minutes.

After that, I drive very gently until the oil temperature gets up a bit... and don't go hard until oil temperature is up to normal.

 

Ta Ta

 

I'm with brian: somewhere between 1 and 3 minutes before moving off, and then drive at as low a throttle setting as will carry my hill to the main road (3000 RPMs in second works well). By the time I get to the main road, the oil nedle has moved (unless its freezing or below--seldom in texas). But I still wait until the oil temp is in the 150 dF range before using more than half throttle or more than 5000 RPMs.

In my garage situation, after backing the car out, I have to get out and close the garage manually, so this basically insures more than 1 minute of warmup, but then I get back in, back up my driveway, and onto the first of several feeder roads we call a neighborhood.

At the race track with some temperature in the engine from the previous run, I still let the engine idle for 30 seconds before backing out of the garage and slowly moving through the staging areas. I don't use full throttle until after the first (warm up) lap is done. Then watch out, I'm a cumun for ya.

 

Problem: no cup holders.