Corvette Forum Editor

There are some folks that believe warming up your car longer than a few minutes can actually damage it.

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Zappa

I noticed not one word about tolerances being achieved,I always thought THAT was the most important aspect.....10 minutes folks.....it's better to give the time it takes for operating temperature to be achieved .....COZ....everything fits better. Zappa

CCRed

mwmanley

I wonder why GM started selling a remote start systems on these vehicles? I will always run my vehicles 5 to 10 min, before operating. I have been turning a wrench since I was 15 or so.

mschuyler

Do you have to warm up the wrench before you use it?

Zaphod B

CCRed

Steve_R

Pretty much.

mhatton222

mhatton222

I don't idle the engine for warm up but I also don't get on the throttle too hard till the oil temp reaches about 140 degrees. with that being said my Vette lives in a garage in Florida so maybe I am not the target audience. not much snow and icy conditions to worry about.

Babaron

So here's the thing: warming up an engine is a good thing. But, the best way to warm up an engine is to drive it; gently until your oil/engine temp comes close to specs. Then drive it as you like. Letting a cold engine idle to warm up doesn't really warm it up. Only driving it warms it up. All that idling a cold engine does is let the cold engine run longer before warming up. That's not good.

Of course, this is JMO, YMMV.

obxchartercaptain

It's been accepted practice to drive off slowly while your engine is cold and let it warm up under a load for many years now....As a Boat owner for over 48 yrs I can tell you that Idling a engine without a load on it is BAD...especially in cold weather.....And pray tell how do you put a load on it at the dock....glad you asked....you make sure your mooring lines are in good shape and you put your boat in gear at the dock while in idle.

Foosh

Because we've become very soft, and for many, the thought of having to endure a hot or cold vehicle cabin for 5-10 minutes is too much for many to bear.

It's best thing for today's modern engines is to be started and immediately driven away slowly.

Greg Gore

Sealed Power tested this many years ago and reported most internal engine wear occurs during the warm up period and tapers off to near zero at operating temperature. They recommended getting up to operating temp as quickly as possible by driving the car though with some moderation for the first few minutes.

speedlink

Totally agree

speedlink

Yup! Always have, always will.

ersatz928

I don't think there is any hard evidence to support any opinion on this........but being green does encourage you to not idle your engine.......but being green might ignore whats best for the longevity of your engine.......

Foosh

No, I think there is hard evidence, but I'm not interested in arguing about it or starting a research project to prove you wrong.

Bill Dearborn

Experts have agreed on this for 5 or 6 decades now.

Bill

Steve_R

Yup, lots of good objective evidence of what's best. Unfortunately, like oil change intervals, E10 and a few other topics some will never accept evidence or facts and continue to rely on gut feelings and bad info.