How long should i let my car warm up in winter time?

[talontsiboy24]

Winter is here in chicago and i dont have a garage for my Automatic 97 gsx and temps are in the low 20s and teens and was wondering how long should i let my car warm up for?

im running mobil 1 15w-50 oil which is real thick for winter but thats what the car has been on ever since the mods and tune...

i usually let it idle for almost 20min and then drive i just wanna be sure that thick oil has went threw everything not just start it up and go as some people do...

what do u guys think?

 

[Nati0nalxCrisis]

I had a old Chevy Luv back in the day, I would run an extension cord out to the truck, and run a little heater out there just keepin the frost off the windows and the dash. I really miss that P.O.S.

I don't know, mine idles around 1200 right when I start her up and then drops down to about a thousand within 15 seconds, and then after a min or two of driving she's at 800 like usual, pretty fast if you ask me, I must have a tiny little #%@! of a thermostat.

 

[tsihottie]

I usually let mine warm up for 10 min each morning in the winter and about 5 min each morning in the summer.

 

[OEM]

Put 5-30 or 10-30 in it. As was already stated more damage could be happening with the heavy oil. I am running 10-30 and see pressure over 100 psi on start up. Not to mention the power your oil is robbing you of. You will not hurt any thing by putting lighter weight oil in. Question: What new car has ever come with or manufacture has recomended higher weight oil than 10-40?

The 20-50 in the mornings never goes above 90psi. Been using 20-50 for the last 100k.

 

[Cmele89]

Look its not hard start your car let it idle for 5 minutes get in wait for the temp gauge to be at least a quarter of the way and thats SAFE to drive it takes my eclipse 5 to 10 minutes to be at fully warmed up at 30 degree weather do the math

 

[talontsiboy24]

So should i switch to 10w-40 higher mileage oil? i think thats the only way mobil 1 carries 10-40 is in higher mileage form? otherwise its 10w-30 but i would like to have 10-40 not 30 just to be safe.

 

[steve]

Mobile1 says to run the 5w-30 if it's below 0F outside and 10w-30 if it's above. You can use the regular or high mileage. Take your pick.

 

[Red4G63]

depends on how cold it is. Usually jus a couple of minutes in fine..jus dont drive it like you stole it first thing.

 

[LiquidX]

Just like everyone else said about the oil, as long as you stay with the same type of oil, you'll be fine. I.e. dino with dino and synth with synth. Synth blend you should be able to go full synth with (correct if wrong). Reason behind that is when you have an engine with high miles that ran dino oil, it could have crudded up inside the block and/or "filled" potential leaks. When you switch over, the synthetic oil basically washes the inside and loosens up all of the muck left behind. Seals and gaskets show their wear and leak, globs of crap start circulating in your engine which isn't good. So going to a lighter weight oil of the same kind you'll be fine.

As for the idling, what I've always done is basically this: open door, sit down, turn car on, close door, seat belt, other misc. stuff, drive away. So basically 10-30 sec. just to get oil circulated and drive like I normally would. If it's real cold out (below freezing) I'll let it sit for at most a minuite to make sure nothing is "frozen".

 

[AndrewD5418]

Well i doubt u guys are using 15w-50 which is very thick for winter time thats why i feel like 10min aint enough time even for that thick oil to get threw everything...if i was using 10w-30 or 5w-30 then id understand. but i do see the tempature stick go right in the middle by about 8-10min.

Its 4f right now in chicago so thats cold!

Do you realize how fast the pump spins?

 

[talontsiboy24]

well i went to start my car today and it would crank but it wont start....even with a jump it didnt help i guess its just to cold and that oil is too thick so what should i do now to get this to start? its suppose to get a lil warmer 30f on sat and 35f sunday u think it will start then with a jump? if it does start im gonna switch that oil asap to lighter weight as soon as i get it to warm up real well.

 

[1990AWD]

well i went to start my car today and it would crank but it wont start....even with a jump it didnt help i guess its just to cold and that oil is too thick so what should i do now to get this to start? its suppose to get a lil warmer 30f on sat and 35f sunday u think it will start then with a jump? if it does start im gonna switch that oil asap to lighter weight as soon as i get it to warm up real well.

try using a block heater or even an oil pan heater. works wonders.

and yes, definately change to some 5W30 oil

 

[AndrewD5418]

More cold cranking amps? New starter?

Mine started right up last year during winter, with 20w50... Every time. Then again I have around 850 cold crank amps.

 

[LiquidX]

I was gonna ask the same question, what's your CCA on the battery?

 

[talontsiboy24]

More cold cranking amps? New starter?

Mine started right up last year during winter, with 20w50... Every time. Then again I have around 850 cold crank amps.

cant be my starter as the car been starting up for me before it dropped below zero over here and like i said i even tried jump starting the car and it just kept cranking but wouldnt start.

 

[mitsuproracer]

I would say anywhere between 20-30 minutes is plenty of time to let it warm up before driving it. Im also used to the cold winters because Im from Pennsylvania and thats about how long I normally will wait.

Are you trying to run out of gas or something? . A car never needs to warm up that long.

 

[falcon8r]

well i went to start my car today and it would crank but it wont start....even with a jump it didnt help i guess its just to cold and that oil is too thick so what should i do now to get this to start? if it does start im gonna switch that oil asap to lighter weight as soon as i get it to warm up real well.

It get's cold here in Montana. Glacier Park is near my house. The Mobil 1 has a very low pour rate compared to petro oils. Much below your latitude temps. I do have experience with cold engines and oil as is was born in the 60's and & ASE tech. There is something else to the no start. It is not the oil . Takes a very short time to make good oil pressure and let everyting settle down < 1min. Then drive with a light load. I would powerbrake it some at the first stoplight to just raise the rpm's some. Never had a problem with any engine. My A-4 states to not warm it up at all in the manual. Figure it get's cold in Germany too. Tres...

 

[twinsnails]

Yah I do not see any reason for the 20 plus minutes. If you really thought you were doing it to get oil everywhere, that happens almost instantly. I agree with everyone here, I live in NH and since it has been colder here I just let my car warm up for about 2 minutes and then go for it. Like mentioned again before I just short-shift around 2.5k, nice and easy until warm. Never had a problem, hell my brothers and dad just jump in their cars, start buckle and drive, they are all automatics but they never have problems and they do not really take great care of their cars. I would say change to a lighter oil I a running Mobil 1 5w-30 for the winter I notice a tiny difference in it for winter times, I run 10 or 15 in the summer does not get real hot here.

 

[Nati0nalxCrisis]

well i went to start my car today and it would crank but it wont start....even with a jump it didnt help i guess its just to cold and that oil is too thick so what should i do now to get this to start? its suppose to get a lil warmer 30f on sat and 35f sunday u think it will start then with a jump? if it does start im gonna switch that oil asap to lighter weight as soon as i get it to warm up real well.

Geeze your oil must be molasses, how long does it take to drain that stuff? like two weeks ?

 

[talontsiboy24]

Forcedperformance told me not to use anything below 10w-40 with the fp green turbo.

well i jumpstarted my car today and it started up right away but i guess what helped is that the temps are in the 20s today before it didnt even wanna start just kept crankin but the temps were below zero.

 

[Nati0nalxCrisis]

I can't see why an FP green would need oil that thick, is it the twin ball bearing one or is it an older one? Cause I know they've come out with twin ball bearing ones or something the lines of that now, but even then, 10w-40 is still kinda thick, but not as bad as what your using right now I suppose.

 

[RedEyeBanDiT]

Honestly I dont think its that good to let your car warm up that much. The best way in my opinion is to drive it easy after its been running for a min or two.

 

[talontsiboy24]

Geeze your oil must be molasses, how long does it take to drain that stuff? like two weeks ?

fp tells me not to use anything lower then 10w-40 but thats what im gonna switch to asap for winter only and go back when it gets warm out.

 

[Cassera]

You guys are crazy ....3 pages on how long should I let my car warm up.
Turn it on, wait 3-4 min and go.
If you dont want to be cold turn it on, wait 10 min and go.

 

[talontsiboy24]

It get's cold here in Montana. Glacier Park is near my house. The Mobil 1 has a very low pour rate compared to petro oils. Much below your latitude temps. I do have experience with cold engines and oil as is was born in the 60's and & ASE tech. There is something else to the no start. It is not the oil . Takes a very short time to make good oil pressure and let everyting settle down < 1min. Then drive with a light load. I would powerbrake it some at the first stoplight to just raise the rpm's some. Never had a problem with any engine. My A-4 states to not warm it up at all in the manual. Figure it get's cold in Germany too. Tres...

Yea i mean i know its 15w-50 but then again its synthetic so it should still be able to flow alot better then a non syn oil would so it cant be the oil...
Mobil 1 15W-50
SAE Grade 15W-50
Viscosity, ASTM D 445
cSt @ 40º C 131.2
cSt @ 100º C 18.1
Viscosity Index, ASTM D 2270 154
Sulfated Ash, wt%, ASTM D 874 1.21
HTHS Viscosity, mPa&#8226;s @ 150ºC ASTM D 4683 4.50
Pour Point, ºC, ASTM D 97 -39
Flash Point, ºC, ASTM D 92 235
Density @15º C kg/l, ASTM D 4052 0.87

i had a shop test my battery and alternator...they said that my alternator wasnt putting out enough amps only 40 so i think its time for a new one.

Yah I do not see any reason for the 20 plus minutes. If you really thought you were doing it to get oil everywhere, that happens almost instantly. I agree with everyone here, I live in NH and since it has been colder here I just let my car warm up for about 2 minutes and then go for it. Like mentioned again before I just short-shift around 2.5k, nice and easy until warm. Never had a problem, hell my brothers and dad just jump in their cars, start buckle and drive, they are all automatics but they never have problems and they do not really take great care of their cars. I would say change to a lighter oil I a running Mobil 1 5w-30 for the winter I notice a tiny difference in it for winter times, I run 10 or 15 in the summer does not get real hot here.

Well like i said the reason i let it warm up for that long is too make sure that thick oil has flown threw everything i mean its 15w-50 and its really cold out so i rather be safe then sorry.

 

[Grimis]

i live in central pa and this is the first winter in 3years and well it hates the cold. i use to let it sit for a min or two and go, but now, if i do that, it hates me . 10mins is what i do, as i take my son to school so at least its starting to warm up so he's not frozen by the time we get there.

10w30 all year for me.