sinbad Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Basically theres conflicting information on how you should let your car warm up. Some say you should let it idle for a while and other say you should drive it as soon as its started to get the oil pressure up and that letting it idle to warm is bad for the engine. Race teams start their cars & blip the throttle through out the rev range to circulate the oil around the engine and build oil pressure. Quoted from another forum: IIRC it takes no more than about 30s for the oil to circulate/protect the engine. RE: Warming up most manufacturers seem to recommend you drive the car rather than let it idle to warm, but whats worse? 4000rpm (motorway speeds) on a cold engine, or giving it another minute or so to warm through? Surely putting no strain on the engine is beneficial ? E.g. they say a racing lap (e.g. taking your car around ze ring) puts 8 times the engine wear on as normal driving due the engine being under stress. I generally blip my throttle a couple of times before setting off, but realistically I bet it makes sod all difference, and joe bloggs will continue to either: a.) not warm the car up at all, scrape ice off, hop in start up and drive. b.) leave it to warm and idle... both of which are bad ! It's a sodding minefield of dodgy information. Personally ive let it idle for 2-3 mins and then drive, using only low revs at first and build up as the engine gets warmer. What is the best way to warm an engine up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I always let it idle for a few minutes, then never go above 3k until the oil is up to temp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev946 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 My BMW manual said it would damage the engine if I let it idle and should drive off keeping the revs down. Race engines are a different story. An F1 engine has te colling water heated to about 85 deg C before it can be started. I just drive off as I'm normally late anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 tough one you let it idle and they say because its cold it overfuels to compensate which then allows the unburnt/excess fuel to get down the cylinder walls and thins the oil on the rings causing cylinder wear on most cars that have hydraulic tappets you can hear the oil slowly get to the head and quieten it down, so if you drove off staright away this would surely be oil starved at the cams/tappets i normally get in start it and put my seat belt on and flick the mirrors (couple of mins) and drive but i watch the oil pressure guage then and i dont go over 3k revs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It really depends if you are starting the car in summer or winter before i start the car, I lift up the bonnet and use this: If in summer: and this in winter: after 20 secs when the metal is burning red, I then get in my car, start the engine and thrash it.. Is that wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It really depends if you are starting the car in summer or winter before i start the car, I lift up the bonnet and use this: If in summer: and this in winter: after 20 secs when the metal is burning red, I then get in my car, start the engine and thrash it.. Is that wrong You spacktard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It really depends if you are starting the car in summer or winter before i start the car, I lift up the bonnet and use this: If in summer: and this in winter: after 20 secs when the metal is burning red, I then get in my car, start the engine and thrash it.. Is that wrong You spacktard! +1 on the spacktard definition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It really depends if you are starting the car in summer or winter before i start the car, I lift up the bonnet and use this: If in summer: and this in winter: after 20 secs when the metal is burning red, I then get in my car, start the engine and thrash it.. Is that wrong I genuinely just laughed out loud when I read it but in hindsight I think it was probably because I can actually imagine you doing it!!! I tend to start the car, get it out the garage straight away and while i'm closing the garage, flciking mirrors out, sorting out music etc let it warm up then take it easy until oil temp is up to usual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I genuinely just laughed out loud when I read it but in hindsight I think it was probably because I can actually imagine you doing it!!! I tend to start the car, get it out the garage straight away and while i'm closing the garage, flciking mirrors out, sorting out music etc let it warm up then take it easy until oil temp is up to usual! no faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I used to let the engine warm up on my old car, but tbh I cant be bothered these days. If I let it idle on the drive it never seems to warm up one bit, but driving it down my road at low revs gets the temps up at a nice pace and I get to work a few mins quicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Just start it and drive immediatly, not going over 4k rpm nor pushing too hard on the loud pedal (which can be even worse, even when not passing 4km rpm) for the first 5-10 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 From experience of track cars would always let warm up as oil gets thinner and allows for proper flow. I am talking about K series which are prone to HGF. With true race cars they do not have the same level of cooling so they could not let it warm up using the engine as a heating method. With F! the everything is so close in tolerance they would thrash pretty quickly, but ther engine get rebuilt every second race and they kind of do not do oil changes in the way you do with a production car. My true background is in jet engines reving above 26,000rpm and totally difference ball game a they lose oil until warm but that takes less 10 seconds so no real idle time. In a Zed if I want to keep it for 3 years then I let it warm up, otherwise would probably just drive straight off. As Kev says BMW's are different since it does not have water OR oil temp gauges. Does not even have a oil pressure gauge either which shocked me but I hope they know what they are doing. Even stranger it does not have a dip stick, only an electronic one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySpak Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 You spacktard! Love the use of the word! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It really depends if you are starting the car in summer or winter before i start the car, I lift up the bonnet and use this: If in summer: and this in winter: after 20 secs when the metal is burning red, I then get in my car, start the engine and thrash it.. Is that wrong PMSL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I think, unless your planning on keeping your Zed forever !... just start it up and thrash the living daylights out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySpak Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I think, unless your planning on keeping your Zed forever !... just start it up and thrash the living daylights out of it I hope you're planning on keeping yours forever because no one on here is ever going to buy it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I think, unless your planning on keeping your Zed forever !... just start it up and thrash the living daylights out of it I hope you're planning on keeping yours forever because no one on here is ever going to buy it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satsuma71 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Drive straight away at sensible rev limits, about 3 thousand until the lump warms up, which in reality takes about 5 to 6 miles Sats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 My Alfa V6 got started and within one minute of starting was driven onto a motorway at 3-4K revs for an hour. Twice a day, 4-5 days a week. I recently sold it with 236K on the clock and it didn`t use oil, still pulled really well. I know Alfa V6 engines are built like tanks but it still shows that so long as you don`t thrash, you will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Drive straight away at sensible rev limits, about 3 thousand until the lump warms up, which in reality takes about 5 to 6 miles Sats With you there Sats - and avoid any harsh throttle imputs until it is fully warmed up - from what I have read over the years that is the biggest killer of engine longevity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satsuma71 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Drive straight away at sensible rev limits, about 3 thousand until the lump warms up, which in reality takes about 5 to 6 miles Sats With you there Sats - and avoid any harsh throttle imputs until it is fully warmed up - from what I have read over the years that is the biggest killer of engine longevity. Spot on EBIZED, spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I think, unless your planning on keeping your Zed forever !... just start it up and thrash the living daylights out of it remind me not to buy your car Tim I think just take car before it warms up. Pointless waiting for 2-3 mins. It's no race engine where it's tolerances are very small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 On a turbo install, what is the requirements here? I know that after driving you cant just turn the engine straight off, am I right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 On a turbo install, what is the requirements here? I know that after driving you cant just turn the engine straight off, am I right? I used to leave mine idling for a few minutes. Invest in a turbo timer though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 On a turbo install, what is the requirements here? I know that after driving you cant just turn the engine straight off, am I right? I used to leave mine idling for a few minutes. Invest in a turbo timer though good point, and set it to run for how long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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