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?

 

[XtremEvolution]

I usually let my car warm up for 10-15 minutes. Usually up to running temp by then

 

[LiquidX]

All of you guys are wasting gas except the people in the extreme climates that need block heaters and warm oil to even start/run properly.

 

[BigBeans]

Start it, drive it, keep the revs low for the first 15 min.

It's that simple IMO.

I heard somewhere that the 4 bolt viscous diff in the back is horrible to run cold. better to warm up, any commens?

Heat from the engine is going to heat the diff, eh?

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[stackpoole13]

Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption. There are exceptions though. For instance in the winter My duramax work truck with allison trans needs to warm up for atleast 15 minutes. Ive gone through a couple front seals in the trans by starting and leaving immediately. This however does not apply to us

 

[91stocker]

I'll just keep warming ALL of my cars up for my own psychological well being.
And I'll just have to waste all that gas idling for 10 minutes while you zip down the road at higher rpm's all in open loop with warmup enrichment on a cold engine.

This. All my dd's have had the motors far outlast the bodies they are in. Ive had quite a few 400k+ cars. Must be doing something right.

Btw, how does fuel injection have anything to do with oil warm up? or engine temps for that matter.

 

[BigBeans]

Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption. There are exceptions though. For instance in the winter My duramax work truck with allison trans needs to warm up for atleast 15 minutes. Ive gone through a couple front seals in the trans by starting and leaving immediately. This however does not apply to us

I'm not buying a word of this. The car is going to run rich in open loop during the warmup whether you drive it or let it idle.

It's designed with warmup enrichment for a reason. I can't think of a single thing that would be damaged by running richer while idling during warmup, and if there is something, it would also be damaged by running richer while warming up while driving.

It runs a bit richer, it's not going to foul plugs and damage the cat. You don't run into those issues until you get below 9:1 AFR and maintain it for a long time.

 

[ChiTownHussla]

Ya the diff heats up with the engine heat and driving slow, but doesnt "grip" well until warmed up. thats what my guy told me. Ill call him later to ask why

 

[Dsm4lyfe12]

Well its been on that thick oil for 5yrs now so i dont wanna switch and have problems. my motor has almost 129k miles so thicker is better i think to make it last longer.

did you just buy that car? Or is it still for sale? i'd let it warm up for atleast 5 minutes.

 

[aPOS]

Start it, drive it, keep the revs low for the first 15 min.

It's that simple IMO.




Heat from the engine is going to heat the diff, eh?

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For most climates, logic makes this sound acceptable, idling for 30 seconds or so (LiQUiDx), then driving at low RPMs for several minutes. Using an electric block warmer, in extremely cold climates, also seems more logical than idling for long periods of time. Is there such a device as an electric differential (transfer case, etc.) warmer/blanket? It does not seem feasible.

 

[Billiam]

I heard somewhere that the 4 bolt viscous diff in the back is horrible to run cold. better to warm up, any commens?

The diff needs to be moving to warm up not by engine heat The friction of the moving parts warms it up, the diff cold when launched won't grab as much and there will be more slipping, but the dif warm the clutches inside will grab better. The visous is a good LSD when its warm but if you compare it to LSDs like quafe, the quafe will grab just as good cold as it would hot, if your wondering where I got this info I read it on Red Line when they had the LSD tech, I will quote the artical on here when I get back to Chicago.

 

[BigBeans]

Ya the diff heats up with the engine heat and driving slow, but doesnt "grip" well until warmed up. thats what my guy told me. Ill call him later to ask why

Gentle driving is different than idle warmup, which is what the convo was about. At idle, nothing is warming the diff.

Gentle driving will warm it up. The whole driveline should be warmed up gently before you beat on the car.

 

[donniekak]

This thread is so dumb, we have electronic fuel injection, we need 5 seconds for the oil to get circulated and then we go. If you are waiting for any other reason than you are too chicken to get into a cold car, you are displaying a fundamental lack of car knowledge.

If you have a built engine, like many of us here, you don't want your pistons slapping around as you drive down the street with a cold engine. Also, 20w-50 oil, can break your oil pump gears at very cold temps, and high rpm's, it has to heat up, and thin out. Now, a bone stock engine, with 5w-30 oil doesn't really need much of a warm up to drive, but most of us here aren't stock anymore.