novasscnc

If you have auto its good to warm it up

wonka12_98

I let my idle speed hit 650 RPM's before I take off.

Mike Campbell

I really don't get on it until the tach's yellow line becomes the red line. If that's warming it up, then I guess it is. Usually & have to drive at least a mile until that happens.

Randy G.

This one?

2fastnow

You can idle a car for years no matter. Look at trooper cars. They idle all day (northeast mostly) and most police cars are left to idle because of problems on restart (researched by Police). They beat those cars regularly. They go to auction with 200 to 300 thousand miles on them. Taxi drivers pick them up for nothing. All trooper/Police cars are heavy duty with coolers everywhere but still....
Diesel motors in trucks cars idle into eternity with no problems.
Taking off when a car is cold is what kills them because the oil is muddy until temps are up. The oil doesn't spread evenly leaving dry spots.

Gasoline engines do fowl plugs when idling too long though.

Scruff Vette

This is what I do. Make's it pretty fool proof.

NSC5

I use remote start on my cars when I am a short distance away so that by the time I have belted in the engine is at base idle and ready to drive off. I drive moderately until the engine is approaching normal operating temperature.

I like the cold weather warmup process GM started using for their pickup truck diesel engines around 2006 or so. When the engine is very cold it starts at slow idle and then the transmission output shaft is locked with the transmission engaged and engine RPM gradually steps up to around 1500 RPM. At the same time the variable vane turbo exhaust vanes are used to restrict the exhaust and this combination allows a proper warmup with the vehicle remaining stationary.

FLATJ

I knew that guy in Vietnam...had all his wrenches personalized.

MJC611

My brother had a Ferrari a few years ago and the dealer told him to let it idle until warmed up before driving. He was surprised I didn't let the Z06 warm up before driving it.

Foosh

Oh, a dealer told him that. I guess it must be true.

Steve_R

Zappa

Let me guess.....you like automatics

obxchartercaptain

Actually, I don't. I prefer a manual Transmission in my cars. On a boat you have no choice. There are only a few Marine Transmissions (they are called CLUTCHES) available now. With ZF and Twin Disc being the most popular on a conventional setup. The IPS drives that Volvo and Mercruiser uses have their own unique clutches. Back in the day, there were many more but as the industry consolidated they died out. And, like most things today even those Clutches have OPTIONS on them....like Electronic Wireless Shifting and Electronic Trolling Valves.

robert miller

I just start my car let it run just for a few seconds, Just enough time to let the oil start to move and I am gone. But then also will not do any hard driving r WOT until car is up to temp.

roadbike56

GM master mechanics don't agree with running while cold.
When I had the C5, it had the dreaded piston slap when cold that so many LS1s had. I talked with a Corvette Master Mechanic, another GM master mechanic, and a Volvo/BMW mechanic who also worked on Corvettes. All three, separately said the same thing. Warm it up at least 5 minutes or more. The two GM mechanics had many nightmare stories about LS engines that were operating/driving while cold and landed up back in their shop for a total engine replacement. The causes of the failures were traced back to operating the engines cold.
So who to believe, the guys who dealt with GM replacing engines or an article on the internet?
I let the C7 warm up at least a couple minutes, then drive it slow for a few more. However, I'm skeptical of the "no need to warm up" statements.

Patman

Dry spots? I can assure you that there are no parts of your engine that are completely dry of oil at any time. Even if you did not start your car for a year, there would still be a thin film of oil everywhere inside your engine. If there were ever any pure metal to metal contact inside your engine at any point in time you would know it right away as it would sound pretty nasty.

tlippy

OK - but how about when the car is in storage? Like Winter in my garage. Any value in running till hot air starts coming out of the heater vents = appx. 10 run time? I did that to get Sta Bil 360 in the lines.

Maxpowers

I'll add that the lower redline during warm up is a great feature. While most of us are programed to respect redline until the engine is warm it's a nice reminder.

Patman

I had 133,000 miles on the LS1 in my 98 Corvette when I traded for my C6 and I never warmed that engine up before driving, I would just start it up and drive it gently until the oil came up to a decent temperature. It was parked outside overnight for most of that time and there were many extremely cold starts (below 0F) that it was subjected to during the first 7 years I had it and winter drove it. It had no piston slap, no excessive oil consumption and it never needed any engine repairs of any kind, it ran perfectly. I also did oil analysis after every oil change and it showed very low engine wear numbers. Go figure.

I seriously doubt that any engine built in the last 30 years would need 5 minutes of idling before driving it in order to keep it from self destruction. That's just ludicrous. GM does all kinds of cold weather testing before they release any new engine designs into production. My cousin works for GM and is an engine test engineer and worked extensively on the LS1 when it came out and he would probably have a good laugh reading what you wrote here.

C7Joy

I let it idle after starting only about 60 seconds, then I'm gone! I usually drive moderately the first few miles while the temp comes up.