How long to warm up a 355 engine

My practice is to drive slowly keeping the RPM's under 4K until I get the oil temp reading up to normal. That way I know the oil is warm and circulating through the engine. Once the oil temp is at normal operating level, I hammer it!

 

Same here,
I start it up, back into the drive and leave with in 30 seconds and keep the revs below 4 k till I see the coolant & oil temperature up to operating temperature......in the summer this only takes around 7-8 minutes or so.

Note: if your concerned about oil flow in the motor change your oil to mobil 1 0W40.
I run this excusively now .

 

My rule of thumb is to idle until the air pump turns off (can hear the high pitch whine). No great technical reason for this, but the air pump shut off is tied to exhaust temp and it's a convenient thing to listen for. This only takes a minute or two, then I drive reeeeal slow (under 3k rpm) until water temp is up and oil pressure is down.

Any chance you can back it out slightly to help with the exhaust?

 

For sure don't press hard until the oil is up to temp. Big mistake for anyone who does. It takes the oil longer to get warm than the water. So, don't just go on the water temp. Water doesn't lubricate your engine. That said, once the oil is warm, go for it!

 

+1 That'a exactly what I do too.

 

Nice posts above!


Always nice to see good firsthand tips posted.




Now, if you want to speed up the warmup process, put a bright light (i.e. moderate heat - but take precautions to not use a setup that would start a fire if you had a fluid leak) on the floor under the tranny and have it turn on via a timer about half an hour before you are typically ready to leave.

There are even aircraft engine heaters available if you want to go whole hog.

 

Just a word of warning, if your car has an F1 transmission, you will destroy your clutch very quickly by backing it up a hill. Never ever back up a hill with an F1 transmission!

The F1 system slips the clutch when the car is in reverse, so any backing up must be done on the flat. Some people back up by giving it a fair amount of gas and then letting it coast, this is easier on the clutch than constant throttle.

I would back the car down the driveway when parking it and then you can drive it out in 1st gear. You can fire it up,pull it out and then let it warm up outside the garage with the door shut before you take it for a drive.

 

get some fans to blow the fumes out into the open air. If you can please the wife and the Ferrari in one trip to Home Depot, then life is good.

 

Is your car in fact an F1? Unfortunately sometimes you are in a situation when you just have to back up a slight incline. If your driveway is real steep you might consider letting it creep down backwards (in neutral), then leaving you're in 1st. But then the problem is your exhaust is really pointing at the house, and not even fans will help then. Do you have cats? Those help keep the smell down quite a bit.