Is it possible to get the engine to operating temperature without driving it?

[4gfun]

I am doing some testing for warm oil pressure and can't drive the car right now.

Is there any way to get the vehicle up to true operating temperature so that I can check the oil pressure at warm idle without moving it?

Many thanks!!

 

[boostedjay32]

I dont see why not. Just let your temp gauge move up to where it always does. 10 minutes of idling should get it there.

 

[born2tune]

yeah, you should crank it and let it reach its circulating tempeture, maybe if you want it to reach it quicker you can rev it a couple times.

you can also change the thermostat to a lower temp. so it will reach it sooner and also keep your engine cooler.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

That's probably not going to do it. Ever notice how your oil presure goes lowest after some high speed summer driving? How is idling going to simulate that?

Try some dyno pulls, that should do it.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

You really can't. If you let it idle for too long, you can wash down the cylinder walls.

 

[4gfun]

Alright.....I got off my lazy behind and took it for a spin.

Thanks all!

 

[97gst_spyder]

You really can't. If you let it idle for too long, you can wash down the cylinder walls.

What do you mean by 'wash the cyl walls'?

 

[tkelly27]

You really can't. If you let it idle for too long, you can wash down the cylinder walls.

Not true.

Just let it sit in the driveway and idle and warm up.

 

[redyute1]

Not true.

Just let it sit in the driveway and idle and warm up.

+1 definately

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel does not undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residue that can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate the oil and damage parts such as scoring the cylinder walls. Don't listen to noobs who have no idea what they are talking about.

 

[Code504]

You did the right thing by driving it. How'd you make out anyways?

 

[oneslowwdsm]

An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel does not undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residue that can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate the oil and damage parts such as scoring the cylinder walls. Don't listen to noobs who have no idea what they are talking about.




You're an idiot. Be quiet.

That doesn't really make sense. It might if you were to let it idle for like an hour or more or something but 10 minutes? I don't think so.

 

[4gfun]

You did the right thing by driving it. How'd you make out anyways?

Made out beautiful with the oil pressure issue. Turns out that this particular GVR4 seems to need synthetic at warm idle to keep the pressure up due to lack of oil cooler. Works for me!

 

[jrohner]

Unless you're extremely rich for some reason, just idling won't 'wash' the cylinders. You'll be running at 14.7:1 (stoich) AFR within a couple minutes unless you have a lazy o2 sensor.

 

[IgotBoost91]

if a car runs to rich the oil will get thin then the cy walls will get messed up. its a bad time all around especially if you run the car a lot and dont know its rich

 

[housegsx]

My car idles in traffic every day without problems. And yes, the car will get to temp idling, it will just take a bit longer.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

There's a big difference between idling in traffic after you've driven it and letting it idle in your driveway for half an hour.

Idling for 5 minutes? Perfectly fine. Idling for 30 minutes only to shut it off while it's being "stored"? Not fine.

 

[Cmele89]

An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel does not undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residue that can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate the oil and damage parts such as scoring the cylinder walls. Don't listen to noobs who have no idea what they are talking about.

Where did you learn this from?

 

[viprez586]

I would also like a thorough explanation of how running in open loop at around stoich ~14.7:1 AFR is going to wash my cylinder walls with fuel?

Last time I checked 14.7 was on the stoich side, at idle there is no load. The amount of unburnt fuel at idle would more then likely turn into hydrocarbon(rather then raw fuel saturating the oil) and in such a case of extended idling (ie: hours upon hours) the carbon would coat the combustion chamber. This would have to undergo an extended period of time.

But please, correct me if there is something I'm misinformed of.

OP: Running the engine idling will be fine unless you are looking to conduct test under load. Typically oil pressure should increase 10psi per 1k rpm.

 

[4gfun]

Just an observation and not taking sides...(OP hates arguing since he has done it for years on forums)

I checked my oil pressure at idle and then warming it up down the road multiple times. The oil pressure didn't go any lower than it did when idling which to me seems indicative of the oil temperature being the same. I don't have an oil temperature gauge and probably never will because I am cheap and just want to maximize what this car came with.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

The oil cooler is going to keep the oil temperature relatively the same. This thread is way off course and needs to stay on subject. Stoich is 14.7:1, our cars run around 15.3:1 at idle. You aren't going to wash down the cylinder walls. This isn't a SBC with a Holley on it.

 

[4gfun]

The oil cooler is going to keep the oil temperature relatively the same. This thread is way off course and needs to stay on subject. Stoich is 14.7:1, our cars run around 15.3:1 at idle. You aren't going to wash down the cylinder walls. This isn't a SBC with a Holley on it.

This car doesn't have an oil cooler at all. It has a Mighty Max Oil filter housing and I am using Synthetic oil...but that seems to further support the idea that at least the oil temperature remained the same.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

People need to reread the first question. It is NOT good to let a motor idle for very long periods of time to warm up (for us northerners, that could be 20 minutes of idling considering it's usually in the negatives when we start it up). Stoich or not, all of the fuel will not be burned in the cylinder. Excessive amounts of idling will leave excessive amounts of fuel in the cylinder. OP did the correct thing by driving it.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

People need to reread the first question. It is NOT good to let a motor idle for very long periods of time to warm up (for us northerners, that could be 20 minutes of idling considering it's usually in the negatives when we start it up). Stoich or not, all of the fuel will not be burned in the cylinder. Excessive amounts of idling will leave excessive amounts of fuel in the cylinder. OP did the correct thing by driving it.

All the fuel is never burned. It burns a lot more at idle that it does at WOT. Running ~15.3:1 is going to burn fuel a lot better than 11:1. I have worked for dealerships where they would jump start cars and let them idle for 6-7 HOURS at a time because they would forget to shut them off. Never had any problems with them. Occasionally one would have a little black smoke during a good throttle romp but other than that zero problems. Same with cop cars. I have a friend who works for the city and those cars idle for hours at a time while cops sit around and talk or are clocking people. No related problems there. You probably get a more complete burn at idle than driving because there is no load on the engine so its runs a much leaner mixture.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Yeah, that black smoke was because the excess gas washed down the walls which killed the lubrication and the rings scratched up the walls. Engines in cop cars are usually beat hard enough to reseal the rings. I don't think someone from arizona will quite understand the temperature difference and how it affects engine wear.