RetroGuy

What is the minimum suggested warm up time for a cold engine, first start of the day in a stock C4? This is assuming your car is not in 32 degree or lower temps, where I'd assume one would let it run a considerable length of time prior driving off. In 40 degree+ weather, I let my LT1 warm up until the air pump whine goes away, approx 3 mins.

PatternDayTrader

I wait for the idle to stabilize, and then for the amount of time it takes to move the shifter from park, to reverse, or drive.

84 4+3

I always wait until the idle comes below 1000... so about a minute?

confab

Like everyone else, I wait for closed loop and the idle to drop.

Kevova

How late am I. Windshield clear seconds. Cant see through windshield going to have to wait. Tap...tap ...tap... Go very fast.

RetroGuy

After researching this riveting subject on the net, the general conclusion is as follows: Newer fuel injected cars in moderate climates only need a max of 30 seconds before driving off. They say the main factor is to NOT race/rev your engine until it reaches normal operating temps. A little longer may be needed for very cold temps (I'm guessing below 32 degrees), but nothing over 2 or 3 minutes in a late model car. I'm still sticking to my "waiting till the RPMs drop and the air pump whine goes away" for my 1996.

Cruisinfanatic

I think most all of you are nuts. There is no reason you can't immediately drive a car (your vette is a car). Just not advisable to be rough when it is cold.

84 4+3

With forged slugs (most of the c4s don't have) there is a reason to wait... but the minute or so is more than ample. Hell it takes around a minute for oil to even reach the rockers anyway. My exact start up is this, start then back out of garage. Set e brake then close garage door and lock house. Leave. So however long that takes? If you want to get super technical idling the thing warm is actually worse then driving it because you need to heat the oil for it to work right. There are thousands upon thousands of tests one can cite and reference but generally once the idle starts coming down after 30 seconds or so you're good to go imo.

So yes I agree with you.

FAUEE

I give it 30 seconds or so. Basically the time it takes for ,y seat belt to get latched and my music to go on. Same for my truck.

confab

This ^


In the extreme, I've seen damage from it.

65Z01

I drive mine year around and pull it into gear soon as I have the seat belt clicked, radio adjusted and heater set.

auburn2

On a normally aspirated car with a broken in engine, no time at all, turn it on and go, I don't even wait for the idle to come down. As far as pushing it, it won't be as fast cold but I won't hesitate to step on it and go. A car is going to wear no matter what you do and in my opinion, idleing to heat up the oil for a minute and then driving like a bat out of heck is no better than turning it on and driving like a bat out of heck. Actually it is slightly worse IMO because you have an extra minute of wear on the car. If your oil does not circulate well cold you need to use a lighter weight oil in my opinion.

In a turbo charged car or an engine that is not broken in it is a different story. In the latter case you shouldn't drive it hard at all and should not allow it to idle.

Paul Workman

While it's true that wear is going to occur "no matter what", there are conditions that result in higher rates of wear than others. Why would anyone disregard the facts by choosing to ignore them?

Think about it. The engine is designed to operate within an acceptable range of temperatures - temperatures where the expansion of the components have reached the dimension tolerances designed into the machine. Aluminum pistons, iron blocks, steel cams and lifters...etc., etc., all have different coefficients of expansion, And, as the engine comes up to operating temperature, it is like an orchestra finally coming together in 'perfect' harmony: all the part dimensions come into the acceptable design 'window of accumulated tolerances'.

Politics gets involved. We're told: "Idling a cold engine creates more pollution and "wastes" fuel!", and "Modern fuel injection motors don't need to warm up. Just start them and drive!". Those common arguments are just "half truths" that conveniently avoid divulging certain consequences in favor of skewing toward a particular agenda..The facts omitted are wear and longevity are significantly accelerated until the motor reaches that window of operating temperatures (where the expansion of the components come into [expansion tolerance] 'harmony'.)

A couple of supporting examples: If you've ever flown a piston engine airplane, you're no doubt aware of the warm up procedure prior to take-off. engine idle speed has long been a tool to bring the motors to operating temp for minimum operating performance - including fuel-injected, computer controlled engine management systems.

I get 250-350k miles out of most of my V8s before the car they're in gets sold. Being mechanically capable, I've long held a kind of "feel" for what's going on under the hood: what 'feels good', and what does NOT. Any of youz developed that; or know what I'm talking about?? Until the motor come up to temp, I cringe at the little rattles and ticking anomalies the motor makes until it reaches operating temperatures - where the little ''tell-tail' sounds go silent.

TravisSchoech

Cliffnotes: no warm up time really needed, just dont drive it like you stole it until there is some heat in the engine.


Regardless of which vehicle I am driving, I always let it warm up a bit before driving. When ambient temps drop, the warm up time increases.

it's about 1/2 mile from our driveway to a 55mph zone, so not a ton of low speed warmup.

1988 vette - rotella 5w40 + HCI + procharger + meth injection, pump gas, carb - 40k miles - fire it up in the garage, say a prayer, back it out and take off. Dont go into boost until I see about 120F coolant temps, dont go WOT until 140F.

2000 Ford f350 7.3 diesel - synthetic oil rotella 5w40 - 310k miles - 4" full exhaust, massive air filter, hot tuner - start and idle for about 30 secs (if above 40F) and then drive away. Dont give it more than about 25% throttle until I see the coolant temp needle move. No more than 50% throttle until the needle touches the "middle range". Hell, the computer wont even shift into OD until its warm enough.


2017 ford expedition 3.5 ecoboost - synthetic oil mobile 1 5w30 - 10k miles - all stock - remote start and let it run long enough to get the kiddos in the car. Dont go more than 50% throttle until fully warm (indicated by coolant temp readout)

GRIS

that sounds about right to me. I try not to push it until the oil temp comes up.

Tom400CFI

I'd add that the "miniram" shouldn't make any diff as to how long you warm up an engine before driving. Should be the same for any/all EFI intakes. Carbed? I might wait for the choke to open. Might.


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RetroGuy

Nobody here is wrong for their startup procedures with fuel injected engines, unless they start their car (first start of the day) in 32 degree (or colder) weather and immediately start driving very fast/hard in less than 10 seconds. Personally, I don't see why anyone would "first start" their engine on a cold morning and drive off before the idle drops. It's usually under a minute, right??? I know the feel of my '96, like "Paul" stated earlier, and find that waiting until the idle drops and adding another minute or so, my Vette drives better. In addition to this minimal startup wait time, everyone should think about keeping up with their oil and coolant changes. Freezing and sub zero weather requires lower number weights with your oil, and good clean anti-freeze coolant, but that's a whole other discussion.

C6_Racer_X

I would treat a C4 like any other car I own. Start it up, and as long as it won't stall when I engage reverse or first (manual) or drive (automatic), I'd start driving. I'm always very gentle* for the first mile or two, until it warms up, the heat is working. But there's no need to "warm up" the engine before you start moving.

If there's frost or snow on the windows, I generally start the engine, then scrape the windows, then get in and drive. That's more of a convenience thing for me (I want the heat closer to working before I drive off) than any worry about the engine running cold.

Even if you've let it sit idling until it's up to thermostat temp (which is a waste of time and fuel), your final drive lube (rear end), your wheel bearing lube, and everything else not exposed to engine heat isn't up to operating temperature, and you should still drive it gently* until everything is up to operating temperature.

* Gentle driving = keeping revs under 2000 RPMs (V8s, 2500 RPMs for smaller engines), longer stops with less than typical braking, lower speeds through turns and cornering.

wadenelson

Yes BUT.... those are mostly air cooled engines. They might never warm the oil up to a satisfactory temperature if you were to take off with the engine cold. In contrast a water-cooled V8 is going to just keep warming up until the thermostat opens regardless of rpm or speed driven.

By warming it up you are also giving an aircraft engine an opportunity to "eat ****" while still sitting on the ground, during that period when lubrication hasn't reached 100% b4 a steady state (every thing at the same temp, etc) has been reached. Hopefully any fuel contamination (water) reaches the engine BEFORE the take-off roll.

I would argue that a faster warm-up, getting the "choke" off sooner rather than later is probably the better longevity choice for a car engine. That excess fuel scrubs the cylinders, dilutes the oil, etc although it has the benefit of getting the cats lit off faster. I wouldn't hot-rod a cold engine but I wouldn't sit in the driveway idling either. Start and go.

ex-x-fire

I remember doing a scan on a chevy van, I looked at the recorded data when the code set. It was something like 72mph, 115* coolant temp, 80% tps. The guy must have lived near a highway.