How Long Do You Warm Your Car Up For?

I usually let it idle for about 2-3 minutes. Then I have an (almost) set warm up route before I get on the freeway or before running revs higher. In cold weather it seems to take my car bewteen 5 and 10 miles of warmup to get the oil temp up where it belongs. I'm sure I'll be able to cut that down in warmer weather!!

 

Same here...

 

Why not category 2? Actually, I voted for nothing. Hence, when you leave a gap, you wholly invalidate the results... especially when the missing choice is a very popular one... you don't know whether those people "rounded up", "rounded down", or "abstained". A shame, since like you, I think seeing the distribution of how people warm up their cars would be very interesting... particularly to see cat 2 vs. 2 1/2 vs. 3. Great question for a poll, though!

 

I start the car and wait for the engine to be on song, just to make sure everything is running OK. That's all the warm-up that I need.

Running the car at idle for a long time only cause the water vapour and moisture to build up and it's bad for the exhaust system.

 

yes that is what I do with most of my cars too

idling the car until the temperature is up is considered bad because of the emission stuff – the cats should be brought up to temperature as soon as possible to be effective – until operating temperature is reached car runs in some strange mode applying some enrichment factor – putting some load on the car allows to reach normal mode faster

however I have changed this process with the 360 F1 - I am waiting until the temperature gauge starts to move (around 80C) – I find that the gearbox responds better if the temperature is up (faster clutch operation; less slip) – manual says that the computer changes pick-up parameters with engine coolant temperature - the gearbox oil is also heated by the water/oil heat exchanger

 

Since I head to work before 6 am, and I want to maintain decent relations with the neighborhood, I start the car and roll out immediately at very low RPM. I literally idle out of the neighborhood at about 1000 RPM in 3rd/4th. After that it takes a few minutes of surface street driving before I hit the freeway,so the car is usually warming up by then.

 

I let her warm for at least 5 minutes or more, longer this time of year.I shift from 1st to 3rd for the first few miles then she is good to go.

 

I totally agree with Brian. I let the car warm up until the idle settles, but usually drive off before I have any registered water temp (at least in the winter, when my garage is at 45 degrees F). Waiting for oil temp would be close to ten minutes. I keep the revs low until I have normal water temp, and don't come close to redline until I have normal oil temp.

Also, I "skip shift" from first to third for the first few minutes of driving, until the gearbox is warm. This raises a question, probably raised in numerous posts previously. Does the F-1 system wear the second gear synchro by shifting more quickly (upshifts) when cold?

I agree that the poll is useful, but not complete. The other issue is winter vs. summer, and ambient temp when the car is started. This effects time to operating temperature somewhat.

Cheers--Scott

 

Warm up time depends on the F-model.
While driving the 355 at 60mph it is ready to go in a few minutes.
The 328 needs much more time - I had to be sooooo patiently.
Guess the cooling management became smarter with the clever 355.

forza

VV

 

I usually light the car up and let it warm up a good 3-5 min before driving out. I live close to freeway (>2 miles) and if the engine oil is not warmed up by the time I am merging into traffic I get into trouble and don't want to stress the engine with unwanted oil pressure.

 

I wait close to 5 minutes.

 

Here's the Dave M. Dino procedure.

Turn key two clicks, count to 15 and let fuel pump build pressure. Pump gas twice, crank her over. Hold breath while engine turns and fires. (Can sometimes be a little dicey with the old starter.)

Once fired, let idle for about a minute or two with light pressure on gas to avoid stalling. Back out, watch idle, cause the idle is still a little low.

Roll away slowly, using moderate gas (stay under 4K) and no second gear until water comes up to temp. Continue to lay off second gear, although feeling free to use more revs, until oil temp comes up. When oil is above 160 or so, then use 2nd gear, carefully.

Once fully warmed, and loosed up (subjective, but we all know how our car feels when ready to really run) use all gears, wind engine to 7000+ when wanted and let all hell break loose.

 

About the same as Brian C. Stradale - on all of my cars I fire it up and wait for that first RPM drop, then off we go. With the Ferrari I have been doing the 1-3 shift and keeping it under 4K revs until the oil temp comes up and then let's go see Mr. Redline!!

Cheers
Kevin

 

I have a carburated 308.

Fasten seatbelt, turn key to on and listen as the carburators fill...wait one minute.

Pump twice, fire up and hold at 3,000 RPM until water temp. is up to about 160. Sometimes when I leave "early" the shifting is very, very difficult and the car is really not happy...so since I would love to drive under optimum conditions I force myself to wait.

THE WAIT IS AGONIZING!!! ,but the difference between a fully warmed up car and one that isn't is remarkable. It's definitely different in summer and winter.
When it is cold out the car just isn't right.

 

I let my 348 idle until the cooling fans come on. If I don't let it come up to temperature before I drive off it is a big time pain in the butt to shift.

 

328 - 30 secs idle while i close the garage door, then off we go...around 3000 rpm(no greater than 3500) till water temp gauge starts moving, then max of 3500 rpm till oil gauge starts moving...then, anything goes after that...

No need to keep revs down in 2k range after you start moving, 3k+- seems to be about right for a 328 motor.

 

2-3 minutes in the garage. The first 5 minutes of my commute is down hill so I generally idle it down there too.

DL

 

It's got to depend on the model, doesn't it? Modern cars compute fuel mixture, spark advance, manage water and oil temps. If I had a new Ferrari, I'd wait half a minute, drive off and don't whale on it until the temps are up.

I was taught to start old Ferraris by a great and famous racing and Ferrari mechanic named Art Bly to do as follows:

Ignition on

Fuel pump on until stuttering sound stops when float bowls are filled

Three full pumps on throttle (fuel pump will start stuttering again because you just pumped some gas from the bowls into the venturi/manifold)

Foot off gas, push key in

Car fires up

Slowly push throttle on and off to vary running RPM between idle and 3000rpm

Wait till water temperature is moving up and then drive off

Wait till oil temp is up before caning it.

Hot start is same procedure except no throttle pumping and hold pedal to floor until engine ignites.

 

Start the car ease out of the garage, go get dressed 5-7min get in car water warm maybe al ittle oil temp, when oil decently off peg start to trot when warm go for it. Recently i heard that on a Dino idiling for too long leads to premature camshaft wear as oil circulation at low revs bad. Do any of the other f-cars have the same problem.

 

None, starts like a champ. When cold, I'll bet the motor doesn't make a full revolution before it catches. When hot (and hot soaked) it might crank 3 seconds.

I wouldn't do anything like this with a modern Ferrari though. Let the electronics do the thinking.