Warming up... [Merged 10-6]

2GeNTSi · Apr 20, 2003

This is probably a super n00b question but I never had a real solid answer to when and how long you should let your car warm up. My routine in the morning is to let it warm up until the needle is at 1/4, rpms below 1k, and oil pressure is at mid. Thing is I'm still in high school and I don't usually drive to lunch so it stays parked for the whole day and when I leave I'm not sure if I have to go through the whole process of waiting or just drive off right away.

I RARELY drive my car hard, i.e. rpms usually stay around 2-4k. I have no reason to drive fast anyways unless I'm in a hurry but even then I only speed 10-15 above the speed limit. Also I know that your not supposed to drive your car hard until it is at the normal running temperature. Oh yeah if you don't know already, I have a 95 TSi.

Defiant · Aug 28, 2003

Originally posted by Generation X
I may be a little old school since I'm 34 years old but it's just my personal preference to let mine warm up before I start driving off.

Whippersnapper. I was starting high school when you were born.

I go along with your warmup between storages. Do you use any kind of battery maintainer?

Generation X · Aug 28, 2003

Originally posted by Defiant
Whippersnapper. I was starting high school when you were born.

I go along with your warmup between storages. Do you use any kind of battery maintainer?

You ole' fart you LOL

. You make me feel so much better now, knowing I'm not the "only" oldest fart on here LOL

. That's why I go by Generation X. Anyways... to answer your question, no I don't use any kind of battery maintainer, believe it or not I'm using a cheap battery from advance, and have been for quite sometime now. I need to upgrade though, because it has been awhile. I thought about going with an Optima yellow top, or a lightweight battery from Odyssey, not sure about my spelling, but I like the idea of going with something lighter. Peace!!

Dieselboy · Aug 28, 2003

We're in Generation Z now, X was WAY back in the day

Generation X · Aug 28, 2003

Originally posted by Dieselboy
We're in Generation Z now, X was WAY back in the day

Rub it in why don't cha! LOL

Defiant · Aug 29, 2003

Pff, we had no generations, we were baby exploders or something. It's hard to remember now.

You might look into a nice trickle charger for that battery between runs.

Generation X · Aug 29, 2003

Originally posted by Defiant
Pff, we had no generations, we were baby exploders or something. It's hard to remember now.

You might look into a nice trickle charger for that battery between runs.

That's a great idea, I'll check into that. Thanks for the advice. Regards, Anthony

dalatinromeo · Mar 19, 2005

For those for warm up their car, how long do you usually let your car warm up? One minute, two minutes, three minutes, or until the needle is completely horizontal.

BTW I usually wait until the needle is almost completely horizontal. And I wanted to know do I have to wait that long?

Dan7040 · Mar 19, 2005

You dont really need to wait for the coolant to come to operating temp. The most important thing is that the oil is near temp. I always just wait until my EGT's get to normal temp which is about 800F. By this time the needle on the coolant temp is just moving up to the lowest mark. This is plenty of time for an engine to warm up.

BaddAssGst · Mar 19, 2005

I never let my car start and idle for to long unless I'm in the car. Hell I used to have a remote start on it, let it get warm.. well let's say it overheated and blew a headgasket. I'll never run my car unless I'm in there.

BabyBlue_pimp · Mar 19, 2005

BaddAssGst said:
I never let my car start and idle for to long unless I'm in the car. Hell I used to have a remote start on it, let it get warm.. well let's say it overheated and blew a headgasket. I'll never run my car unless I'm in there.

How long did you have it on for?!?, cuz wow overheating that much just idleing doesnt sound to good. I dont really need to warm mines up because i keep mines in the garage plus i live in SoFl, but none the less i used to leave my car on all night cuz some nights i'd get kicked out n i'd have to crash in my car, and if anyones been in florida it getts EXTREMELY hot, so i kept the car on with the a/c for hours and nothing bad happen jus burned alot of gas..

dalatinromeo · Mar 19, 2005

hey Dan7040 i am about to get an EGT gauge, but do not have one now. Is there any other way to tell if the oil is near temp?

CanadianTSi · Mar 19, 2005

2 mintues is long enough to get your Oil up to temp, but just take it easy until your up to full operating temperature

Dan7040 · Mar 19, 2005

dalatinromeo said:
hey Dan7040 i am about to get an EGT gauge, but do not have one now. Is there any other way to tell if the oil is near temp?

Before my EGT I would just wait until the coolant started to warm up. Once your water temp begins to read on the factory gauge you should be plenty ready to go for a drive.

Defiant · Mar 20, 2005

I'm a proponent of rolling warm-ups. As LJK Setright said, "No more than half throttle, nor half-load on a cold engine."
Driving the car during warm-up also brings the moving chassis and transmission parts up to temperature.

2GeNTSi · Mar 20, 2005

I used to be like most people and warmed it up all the way but then I did some research on it and people said that it's better to just let it go above the last hash mark and take it easy until at operating temperature.

dsmjay · Mar 20, 2005

even if you live in warm climates like sofl or socal you should still let you car warm up. just because its warmer there doesnt mean that your motor starts out at normal engine temps. living in pa in the summer when its 85-90 i still let me car warm up. you just dont have to wait as long. usually i let mine warm up to the cold mark on the temp gauge and then usually by the time im out of my parking lot its in between that and the normal mark. i talked to a guy around here that builds motors and he said one of the worst things you can do to a motor is start it up and drive it around here with all the hills and stuff. he said its bad on the head and can actually warp them from the going to cold to hot real fast if your driving the car hard...

BISHILVR · Mar 20, 2005

just till the oil pressure gauge stops moving, no way i'm sitting in a cold car when it's -10 outside waiting to leave work untill the car is showing coolant temperature that would take 15-20 minutes.

dsmjay · Mar 20, 2005

BISHILVR said:
just till the oil pressure gauge stops moving, no way i'm sitting in a cold car when it's -10 outside waiting to leave work untill the car is showing coolant temperature that would take 15-20 minutes.

maybe you should change your thermostat then my car never takes that long for the coolant gauge to move maybe 3-5 mins tops. and if its -10 outside i would start the car and go back inside and let it warm up...lets not be rediculous here. its your car if you want to rip around in a car thats engine is -10 and then it gets hot real quick...thats your potential problems not mine. :notgood:

FourG63 97GST · Mar 20, 2005

warm up? is this a cold weather thing
didn't think cars needed to be religiously warmed up anymore, its not the 50s and 60s anymore

BISHILVR · Mar 20, 2005

FourG63 97GST said:
warm up? is this a cold weather thing
didn't think cars needed to be religiously warmed up anymore, its not the 50s and 60s anymore

thats what i'm sayin', our cars have aluminum heads for a good reason, i really dont see any problem with driving a car that has full oil pressure, as long as you dont run the ball's off of it until it's up to full temperature.

ShadyTalon · Mar 21, 2005

my car taps rediculously loud until it hits horizontal, then it goes away, i dont think it goes away, i tihnk it just "hides" , i dunno, i dont hear it after it 100% warmed up... but i have been known to slowly drive it when its below the middle.

Defiant · Mar 21, 2005

dsmjay said:
i talked to a guy around here that builds motors and he said one of the worst things you can do to a motor is start it up and drive it around here with all the hills and stuff. he said its bad on the head and can actually warp them from the going to cold to hot real fast if your driving the car hard...

With no reflection on you, your "guy" is an idiot.

dsmjay · Mar 21, 2005

i guess that i figure that if this guy builds motors for a living, and their usually high hp race engines, i guess i figure that he must know what hes talking about. i guess i look at it like this. it cant hurt the car to give it a few minutes to warm up, that cant do any harm.

c5chris · Mar 21, 2005

In my other car, I wait till the coolant temp goes to 100F before I drive the car, then no WOT till its around 180F. In the Eclipse which does not have a good temperature gauge, I idle it for a minute and drive it at 40mph on the surface streets to go to work.

dickerrss · Oct 2, 2006

this is my question is it imperritive to warm your turbo car up before driving, i know if it is 30 degrees or lower you should, and if you plan on whoring the shit out of your car you should, but if im just driving normal in wheather permitting conditions does it really need to be up to normal operating temperatures before i take off?

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Warming up... [Merged 10-6]

2GeNTSi

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Generation X

Defiant

Generation X

dalatinromeo

Dan7040

BaddAssGst

BabyBlue_pimp

dalatinromeo

CanadianTSi

Dan7040

Defiant

2GeNTSi

dsmjay

BISHILVR

dsmjay

FourG63 97GST

BISHILVR

ShadyTalon

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