Warming up?

[davew]

i couldn't be bothered sitting a waiting for a car to warm up before i drive off, not necessary at all in a modern car, i do take it easy until the engine is warm.

[Sonia406]

Exactly........

What would his reasoning be behind sitting and waiting that long for a car to ''warm up'' I just don't get it

[Quinny]

I just give it a few seconds to get the oil circulating then drive gently to start with. No load idling isn't the way to warm up a car.

+1

[grasmere59]

In my works Transit as long as the windows are clear,it's as soon as the engine catches it's flat out down the road (until I hit the 70 limiter at least),it makes some quite funny noises under the bonnet but if it breaks it's not my problem.

Ha ha.......
What about your 406 though Grasmere? Is yours also a 2.2 HDi?

The 406 gets started and driven away straight away provided the windows aren't frosted over which as I use the van for work isn't very often,i take it steady until the temp gauge creeps up a bit.It's a mapped 110.

[rwb]

With the 406 it was scrape, start, and go.
Then it used to be straight onto the M5 at J2 southbound on a long uphill pull.

With the 407 I'm trying not to be so tight, so it's start, scrape, and go.
I let it run to the bottom of the road in 2nd, but then it has to accelerate up the other side of the hill.

Heat to windscreen if it's been scraped, and on re-circulation so that it's heating air from inside that should be warmer than air from outside.

Until the water temperature gauge is off the mark the heat is only for the windscreen if it needs it.
It takes so long to get some warm air out of a diesel anyway.
The heated seats are far more effective at providing immediate relief from the cold.

[Sonia406]

Must admit my petrol was a scrape, start, go - and also must admit this diesel is a start, scrape, go!

Best part of it is I am TOLD OFF for just starting and going once I've faffed with heating controls, radio etc... I'm told I should let it warm up properly.... Someone tell Davey boy off for me?

[jonny81191]

Unless the engine is under some load, you risk the oil pressure being too low to lubricate the head. That's why you should literally let it run for 30 seconds or so before moving off gently.

[Sonia406]

Unless the engine is under some load, you risk the oil pressure being too low to lubricate the head. That's why you should literally let it run for 30 seconds or so before moving off gently.

Ahhhh, Jonny, I hear a congrats on your new purchase is in order?
Thanks...

[steve_earwig]

Warming up? Are we talking about cars we care about or cars we don't care about here?

Pug: Start up, full defrost, scrape ice off, gently drive off & treat kindly until it's warmed up.

Yoyo: Scrape ice off (petrol costs money dunnit?), start up & drive off normally wrt the conditions. I must admit the yoyo is sounding a bit diesel-ish but then it does have bucket-and-shim tappets

[pug406nz]

Depends on the outside temperature. If its 0 - 10 degrees, about 4-5 minutes, 10-20 degrees, about 2 minutes, above 20, up to 1 minute.

[Welly]

My Volvo has a 'feature' on cold starts which used to make me cringe; >>>>Start Engine......revs rise immediately to 1600rpm for about 10 seconds (CAT pre-heat) and then settle to 850 rpm. I always saw this as a bad thing but 5 years later all's still ok.

As soon as its finished this performance I'm off like a rally start......err, no I'm not.....I drive like a pussy for about 2 miles, no more than 2000 rpm and then gradually open the taps as the engine gets hot. At least 4 times a day I give it Maximum throttle and Boost, especially in cold weather to clear the water in the eggsauce but generally I am extremely sympathetic to the mechanicals.

Her indoors starts her Ashtray's cold engine and then pulls away during the cold start enrichment phase and takes the revs wayyyy past 3000rpm straight away and she's never had a jot of trouble with any of her cars she pays no distinction whatsoever between a hot or a freezing engine and I'm not about to start educating her now.

[scotty73]

My Volvo has a 'feature' on cold starts which used to make me cringe; >>>>Start Engine......revs rise immediately to 1600rpm for about 10 seconds (CAT pre-heat) and then settle to 850 rpm. I always saw this as a bad thing but 5 years later all's still ok.

As soon as its finished this performance I'm off like a rally start......err, no I'm not.....I drive like a pussy for about 2 miles, no more than 2000 rpm and then gradually open the taps as the engine gets hot. At least 4 times a day I give it Maximum throttle and Boost, especially in cold weather to clear the water in the eggsauce but generally I am extremely sympathetic to the mechanicals.

Her indoors starts her Ashtray's cold engine and then pulls away during the cold start enrichment phase and takes the revs wayyyy past 3000rpm straight away and she's never had a jot of trouble with any of her cars she pays no distinction whatsoever between a hot or a freezing engine and I'm not about to start educating her now.

I've heard my car shoot off up the street at 3000 revs on very cold morning too.

Not being one to pay much attention to the way i drive (well not before i joined this anal forum) i set off this morning just like normal and my conclusion is i normally drive like an old man unless I'm in a wiked mood... There and back i hardly went over 2000 revs.

[jasper5]

On a day when everything frozen over I start my van and clear the outside glass of ice then if I have a clear screen I'm off..I only idle the engine to warm up the heater to help clear the screen.

All other times it's just start up and away.

Bear in mind that these days the oil we all use is made with all temperatures taken into account...I've never heard of or seen damage to an engine from cold starts...now, blocked up EGR valves, blocked PCV valves and overdue oil and filter changes that's another story

A Nissan van I used to own (diesel) had a choke type cable that you used to start the engine below zero degrees in winter....this caused the revs to go up to 2,500 for 5 minutes.
I had that van from new up to 90,000 miles and never had a sniff of a problem with it.

[Welly]

I was sort of talking about this to my Cousin yesterday, and engine wear doesn't really happen now does it? I'm thinking Morris Marina type Bore wear. Quality Manufacturing, Oil quality and Fuel Injection have all put a stop to nasty engines.

I suppose a standard engine is designed to withstand what we would call 'abuse' so it always gives reliable service it's just that I like to be kind to the engine and look after my interests.

[grasmere59]

My old works Vauxhall Vivaro 2.5 td was thrashed to within an inch of it's life hot or cold and it did 156k before it went back to the lease company and the engine was perfect and didn't burn a drop of oil between services,i think a car or van needs to get up to full operating temp to make it last,my van is on the go all day and never really cools down.Short trips and never getting up to proper operating temp is a killer.