munchini

I have this old '89 camry, and I've lived on both east coast *Boston* and west coast *Washington* where the weather isn't exacally moderate. Just today, I was giving a friend a ride home, and while I sat there warming up the engine he looks at me and says "warming up the engine is such a myth... you only need 30 seconds before everything is hot". His statement goes against what I have always beleived of waiting until the thermostat moves to indicate there IS heat. My questions is this.. is there really a need to heat up a engine? If so, how long? and if not, why?

I would appreciate any help as to clearing up my confusing. Thanks in advance!

shakran

ok, he's dead wrong. Everything is not hot after 30 seconds. But you don't need to sit there idling until the temp gauge reads normal either. The current common school of thought is to go ahead and drive after you start it - the increased hydraulic pressure from putting the load on the motor will actually help the oil get to the top of the engine faster.

The trick is to drive GENTLY until 5 minutes AFTER the needle indicates operating temperature. You wait the extra five minutes to be sure the oil is warm enough - remember that the needle is showing you the water temperature, NOT the oil temp.

Super Model

Always warm up your engine in winters, otherwise you will pay for that during summers. It takes an average of 5 to 7 minutes to for your engine temp. needle to start going to the center. Only then you can start driving. And yes it is your water temp. needle, but still. If you trully car about your car or your wallet, always warm up.

DEI37

I usually let mine warm up for the time it takes to get the windows cleaned off. That's usually 60-90 seconds. It's also plenty long. We had a cold spell here a couple weeks back. Actual temps of -30, and wind chills of -45. I would operate the car in this way, and had good heat within 2.5 miles, in which 4 minutes passed. I had FULL heat another four minutes and 3.5 miles later. That's less than ten minutes of run time for FULL heat at bitterly cold temps.

Warming up an engine is probably the worst thing for it. It runs excessively rich for an extended period of time, and just doesn't warm up.

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Peryn

Well, it really depends on where you live. Like here, in the dead of winter, it will hit lows of about 35. Thats really not all that cold for most people, but i still try and let it warm up a little bit. Probably about 30 seconds, then followed by gentle driving. I think thats most important. Dont be afraid to drive it after a short warm-up period, but be gentle about it. Drive it like a deisel. For me, i usually shift about 1500-1750 when its cold.

Also, it really depends on the car. My jeep, even in the hot summer, it will take a good 10 minutes for the needle to move, 15 to be in the middle, and 30 to finally hit closed loop. Its just plain rediculous. So unless i wanna idle for half an hour, i have no choice but to run on a cold engine. Whereas on my moms van, it takes about 1.5 minutes in the cold winter, and your up to temp, closed loop, and megahot air coming out of the heater. In a car like that, sure, id let it warm up until right about when the needle starts creeping up.

In my opinion, warm it up some, but most importantly, just drive gentle until it warms up.

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tec-9-7

Your Camry is fuel injected right? The quickest way to warm up an engine is to drive it. If you are using the correct viscosity oil, and it's not 20 degrees or colder, start the car and go, but drive conservatively until your temp gauge starts moving.

If it is cold-cold, give the car a minute or two, but beyond that, you're just wasting gas.

Scorps

My van is 1982 Chevy G20, with a Small block 350, with a 650 single holly pump, and well the choke hasn't worked right for like the last 8 years so you pump it twice hold half way she starts right up.....then wait about 10-15 mins int he wineter for it to warm up and you need maybe 2 mins in the summer, just long enough to get some tunes pounding and get your seat-belt on.

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santafe5000

I usually let it warm for a minute or two. Just long enough to clear the windows, if necessary. I live in the south, so ice is never really a problem.

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Scorps

Well its hard to drive a Fuel Injected car with ice covered windows......

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Scorps

My van is 1982 Chevy G20, with a Small block 350, with a 650 single holly pump, and well the choke hasn't worked right for like the last 8 years so you pump it twice hold half way she st

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tec-9-7

Ice scraper?

powerclown

No warm up here. Unless someone's with me and its the dead of winter and wants the car interior warm, I just get in and go. Never had any problems. In winter, I also get warm air coming out after driving about 1/2 - 1 mile, and my ass is heated up by the seat in about 5 minutes. So there!!

Destrox

If its below 40 degrees outside, it runs for at least 10 min.

Then again, this has no real purpose other then making it warm as hell for when I get in.

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JStrider

when its cold (sub 40ish) my car idles in park higher for a few minutes (about 1500 rpms) and then it drops down to a more nomral idle of bout 750ish rpms.... so i usually wait for that to change...

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Redlemon

I just did a search through the cartalk.com website, and they are insistent that no warm-up period is necessary, as long as the car is fuel-injected.

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brandon11983

Ahhh the joys of the midwestern winter. It's usually in the single digits these mornings. I remote start my car every morning. It is set on 12 minutes now, and I usually end up running it into a second cycle cuz I'm usually not ready to leave by then. In the summer, though, I usually just hit it and go.

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grumpyolddude

The biggest concern is lack of lubrication (as it is with so many aspects of life!). As stated above, with the proper vicosity oil, very little "warm up" is required, but hitting a gear before the starter winds down is a no-no. 30secs-or-so except in extreme cold should be more than sufficient.

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Ilow

I usually let it warm for a little bit until I heat the valves stop clacking so much (stupid Volvo). I got my g/f a remote starter though which is pretty cool for those with delicate, cold sensitive behinds.

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Boo

IMO:
Use the right viscosity oil.

Never put a load on your engine until it has oil pressure (don't start and rev).

Below 0, I like 5-10 minutes of warm up time.

Above 0 2-5 minutes.

Above 20 I move after 30 secs.

Under all conditions I never rev the engine until the guage starts moving up.

Anything more is wasting fuel and polluting our world.

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bad30th

Well, necessary or not, I know my car well enough to know that it runs, drives, and feels 100x better for the first few miles if I warm it up for 3 or 4 minutes.

Just my experience....

castex

My driving style is dictated by the transmission oil temperature gauge. It takes some 20 minutes or so before I can even think about beginning to extend the engine, and for the first ten minutes there's no question of moving out of first gear. Others clearly find this annoying but, you know, tough cack.
I never let the car sit and idle - just get out there and let things take care of themselves slowly.
Such a technique might seem a little over the top for a camry, but I believe the principle to be a good one.

krwlz

Yes warm it up. Its the fact that the oil isnt warm enough to be thin enough to make it to all the parts.

You should alway warm up your car. In the winter, bare minimum until the needle starts moving. In the summer... 30 secs or so is fine.

When you get right in and go repeatedly, and warp a head, becasue things dont warm at the same rate, and you put too much power to it...

well serves you right.

I usually let it warm up for 5-10 mins in the winter.

Absolutly necesary to do it that long? No, but its nice and toasty in there by the time I have to get in my car

tec-9-7

Three word: Multiviscosity Engine Oil! In upstate NY you should probably be using 0W30 or 0W20 - a quality synthetic at those grades should pour almost like water even down to 0 or so.

Scorps

Ya I got one or 4 of them, but he said the best way to warm a fuel injected car is to drive it.

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noblejr

My 77 corvette gets about 5 min or so to warm up. My 95 Ford Escort gets about .2 seconds before I start moving.

BonneFan

I give my Aurora 2 mins to warm up, if its less then 30F outside, then try not to go over 2500 until proper operating temps.

Having the proper oil in the winter helps too

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CS733t

The only car you need to heat up before driving is a turbocharged car. Improper warming/cooling can blow oil seals on the turbo.

However you can still drive when cold, just dont have a heavy foot.

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Scorps

Well in 20F temp you cant jump into my van start it and drive away....you need to let it run for a good 15 min then i turn the heat up full and leave it running for a good 20 min, then its toast warm

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floydthebarber

I used to work in the Northwest Territories and when it's -40c or colder we never shut our trucks off untill we were at home. You always carried a second set of keys so you could leave it running while in the mall. Once we got home, we would plug in the block heater to keep it warm.
We also had remote starters on our trucks.

Now I just fire it up, wait a half minute and then drive easy for a few kilometres. Letting a vehicle warm up for more than a couple of minutes is not requred.

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Scorps

Oh ya gotta love the block heater!

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X_cody_X

i gotta let my car warm up for 3-5 minutes, during "winter"(no such thing in FL), but other than that 3 minutes tops. BTW, my car is a 1971 VW, no fuel injection(converted to dual carbs), and no radiator, all air cooled. So what everybody else does doesn't really apply to my car that much.

madsenj37

If im going to drive my car, i just turn it on and go. However since I have a rotary, I cannot turn it on and off when its cold. If i need to move it, and its cold, I have to let it sit for several minutes, or else it will flood.

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BoCo

I drive a Honda, so I just start and go. I've never warmed it up in over 8 years and it still runs like the day I bought it.

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Scorps

Also depend on where you live!

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WarWagon

All 3 of my cars have carb'd motors, and all 3 are warmed up. The wagon gets warmed up before dyno pulls/in the staging lanes, but we often ice down the intake to keep that cool. The Firebird is warmed up always, no ifs ands or buts about it. Those who have had the pleasure of forking over big bucks for NGK plugs and have had the pleasure of pulling plugs in order to un-flood the motor know well enough to let the RX7 warm up first.

Sion

no, the worst thing you can do to an engine is start it. on startup, 98% of the oil is in the oilpan. so all those parts are moving with little or no lubrication. and that is BAD for engines. and that is also why teflon treatment products such as Slick 50 and others, are a GOOD idea.



as for warm-up period: assuming you are using the correct viscosity of oil for the temperature you are experiencing, then 2 mins max is all that is necessary. and thats being overly cautious. (if you dont have proper oil pressure and distribution throughout the motor within 30 seconds, you have other, more serious problems that need addressed.) anything beyond that is merely for the purpose of getting the cabin warm for you and your passengers. however, as stated by others above, you want to be gentle until the engine reaches proper operating temperature (about 200-220 deg F). over-revving it prior to that can cause damage such as head or block cracking, head gasket failure due to warm block (begins expanding), cold head (remains contracted) or other possibilities too numerous to mention.

also, the temp guage is (usually) reading coolant fluid temperature, which is generally LOWER than engine temp. remember, the water gets its heat from the engine block. thus, if the water temp is at, say 150, then the engine is likely at 170.

finally, closed loop is generally achieved well before the thermostat opens (assuming everything is working correctly, of course.) on most systems, the O2 sensor is the key going from open to closed loop. once the exhaust gasses have gotten the O2 sensor hot enough to cause it to start registering, then the computer will switch from open to closed loop. this generally occurs within 2 mins, while it may take as long as 5 or 10 (or even longer) for the thermostat to open.

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taylorspl

I let it warm the the bottom mark where the C is and then baby it for a few miles. But then again its hot as hell 8 months out of the year here.

twilightfoix

shit, i live in florida and here 40 degrees is cold and trust me, you don't need to let the car idle when it's 40 one day out of the year.

cjgallen

I just start and go.

The owner's manual even recommends this.

pocon1

I have a garage for both cars, and my car parks in a work garage. Because I work in a health club, I usually drive to work in shorts unless it is actually snowing outside.