My parents said they will get me a remote car starter for x-mass. However, I have read that you should drive your car to warm it up opposed to letting it sit and idle. I only have a 15 min drive to and from work.


Any input welcome.

 

I've never considered remote starters a good thing personally. Starting a cold car in cold weather and letting it sit there is one of the worst things you can do. The engine runs so rich, gasoline will seap, washing away the oil barrier, as well as contaminating the engine oil. The best thing to do is drive under low load.

If you are concerned your drive may be too short, simply drive a little longer on some small roads. That way you warm up the engine properly as well as getting the large majority of moisture out of your exhaust.

 

I let my car idle for about 30 seconds (thats longer than you think) and then drive it. I don't take the RPM's above 3,000 until betsy's sittin in the warm.

 

Are you stupid?

 

you're work is 15 min away.... but how many miles is it? a 15 min drive for me = 20 miles at least which gets the car warmed up pretty quick on the way to the highway ramp... and then onto the highway to school.

btw- you shouldn't stress out ure engine at 5kRPM... i've always kept it under 3k until i hit the highway and by then, the engine is already warmed up. Running your engine that fast won't get u "warmed up" properly, driving it under 3k is alright because the tranny heats up the engine as well.

 

WTF is hata? If you rev your engine to 5k when it is cold you will kill it very fast.

 

**** you

 

Sell me your car when your done with it please.

 

Why do you want my car? And what is hata you stupid d*ck?

 

Had a remote starter...Removed it after a malfunction caused it not to release and burned out the starter.

Thought I was doing her a favor and was letting my Max warm up before I hit the road. Went from 26 mpg (summer months) to 23 mpg now. Will be warming it up per your recommendation to see if mileage improves.

 

I'd love to see prof of this via a Blackstone lab report or other fine source of information please!

Idling your car for 10 min to warm it up doesn't do any noticable harm to your vehicle. You should still drive it gently for the first mile or two so the drive-trane can get up to snub.

I'd like to see the prof that starting your car in the cold and letting it idle can shorten it's life because mechanically, I don't buy that!

EDIT:
As a matter of fact, I remote start my car just about every morning and warm it up in the winter. Look at my oil analysis from Blackstone Labs. It's on the spread sheet. Bill can back me up on this. I HAVE/MAY STILL HAVE ONE OF THE CLEANEST VQ ENGINES ON THE BOARD!

There's your prof that idling your car doesn't cause any noticable damage to it. I should have had unusually high contaminants if my engine was suffering from this. However, just the opposite is true.

 

not you sonicdust - I was talking to "Mr. Rev-that-**** till it's warm"

j/k yo

 

Do you use the remote starter more in the winter? If so, do you notice any noteworthy difference in gas mileage?

 

You get better gas milage in the summer as compared to winter. I believe that gas expands in the heat (summer) and contrasts in the winter(cold) - you will always have better gas milage in the summer.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rickalodeon

Do you use the remote starter more in the winter? [/quote
Yes
Not at all.

 

15 minutes =20 miles? That's an average speed of 80 mph - so unless he lives on the interstate, I'd say his daily commute is more like 5-10 miles. My commute is about as long to school (15 mins) and I usually let it sit for a second (usually to find good music ) then start driving w/o goin above 3k. It's usually warm by at least halfway there.

 

During winter MPG will always drop because gas companies add alcohol to the mixture.

 

i remote-start my car every day for the last 2yrs. i let it **** 4 to 6mins before i move it.

when it gets into the 20's i let it sit for about 6 to 10mins and then before moving the car i TAP the gas once very quikly to about 1,200rmps and let it sit for another min.

 

on 1 post i read that you shouldn`t warm up the engine because oil doesn`t flow to the top of the motor because of the low idle.
think about it, if this is true when you are sitting in a traffic jam you motor doesn`t circulate the oil..this is not correct.
i was a mechanic for 9 yrs. i have adjusted many valves on cars and ran motors without valve covers on. at idle an imported cars motor pumps plenty of oil through-out the motor. foreign car motor oil crculation is based on less oil and more pressure. american motors are more oil less pressure. warm up your motors do you like to get out of bed in the winter and go outside and start doing things ...hell no you got get warmed up first...

 

heh

enuff time to cycle your oil through the engine is enuff, then u can go.

 

when you start up the car it goes into high-idle, let it sit until at least the idle lowers.

 

That said...1 to 2 minutes is plenty. I think I'll try an experiment. Instead of me telling my Max what to do, I'll listen to what she has to say. She goes high idle when cold. When she drops down below 1K RPMs, I'll take that as a sign that she's ready to go...I'll have to see how long that will take.

 

im just going by what my dad told me (mechanic for nissan)

i also read an article about this, and mario andretti said the same thing

 

Does the oil pressure build to a maximum/optimal level when it's sitting there idling, or does it take a fully-warm engine to reach that point? Because it always seemed to me, when I used to warm up my other cars in the winter, that it would still take a little driving to bring the engine to an optimal temperature. A little less than if I didnt' let it idle for a while, but...

I think idling at a stop light is a little different. You're not going from completely cold -> warm. But I don't know how oil pressure coincides with this. I mean, I figure oil pressure is at a constant level when you're idling at a stop light, but don't know how long it takes to get there when you're going from cold->warm.

I've heard the debate before, and decided that if it takes two minutes of me being a little cold, that's fine with me. So I don't warm mine up by idling. Then again, I never use my A/C in the summer, so I'm really less concerned with comfort than most people.

 

Well I think all you have to do is apply a little logic to this. Both sides are correct, to warm up the oil you have to drive the car and to get the oil circulating you have to let it idle for a little bit. This is what I've been doing for the last 10 years, I start the car and let it idle for about 30 seconds to a minute and then I just drive off. Its enough time to get the oil flowing and by driving it, it will warm up and flow even easier. As far as I can see no damage is being done if you follow this process and this was a Nissan Pathfinder in the DAMN cold Ottawa winters. This wussy stuff we get in Toronto is nothing. If your car is parked in a garage and its semi heated then hell you don't have to worry about any of these arguements.

I personally believe that excessive idling (more than 2 mins) is crazy and just adds to the pollution problem we now suffer. Heck there is even a law in Toronto against excessive idling and you can be fined.

Anyways thats my 2 cents.


Dennis

 

I think you have the right idea, but for the wrong reason.

In many states, including New Jersey, gas stations are required to switch to oxygenated fuels in the winter months (a small ethanol or mathanol mixture, I think). These fuels are not as good as regular gasoline. Gas milage generally decreases, as performance also generally decreases. Gasoline in a liquid state, like all liquids, has a fixed volume but can take the shape of any container. It doesn't expand and contract, at least not significantly. It can however, evaporate in the fuel tank and escape, as I think fuel systems are required to have a vent of some kind.

 

Yeah, you're on the right track. IF the gas we used was the same composition in winter as it is in summer, the winter gas mileage would be better because:

a) The combustion process gets more efficient the greater the difference is with outside/inside temps. The radiator works more effciently etc.

b) The air is denser in winter, so the car will get a more powerful feul/air charge at the same rpm in winter, thereby feeling more powerful at lower rpms, thereby reducing the driver's urge to rev up.

BUT, the oxygenated gas throws everything out of whack. Ironically, oxygenated gas was designed to make car run more economically, but today's electronically controlled, feul injected cars can compensate for the bogus gas and wind up running less efficiently. Not to mention that oxygenated feuls also pose an environmental risk. They can contaminate ground water.

It may take while because of beauracracy, but oxygenated gas is on it's way out.


Oh and lastly, today's car have completely sealed gas tanks, by law. Even the gas fumes cannot escape. Today's cars have a system of venting those gas fumes to the combustion chamber, so your car uses all your gas, even the fumes. That's why you usually hear a big whoosh sound when filling the tank because you are opening up the sealed system. Cool stuff.

I like powerful, environmentally friendly cars

DW

 

In terms of starting the car ever, you should always let the car sit at least 30 seconds to give the oil a chance to circulate. All modern engines (within the last 30-40 years at least) provide adequate circualation to all engine components at idle. Driving the car or revving the engine directly after startup is the worst thing you can do to your engine in terms of daily driving. As far as getting the coolant up to temp, after the first 30 second wait, driving the car for about a mile normally will sufficiently warm the coolant enough to use the heat and expand all the engine parts to working temperature. If you decide to wait a minute or two, the engine components will have absorbed enough heat to expand normally unless you have an old and worn engine.

If you let your car warm up in the morning for 5 to 10 minutes and you complain about lower gas mileage, I just have to say, "duh". If you're not moving anywhere and burning fuel, your mileage will decrease. I agree with those that talk about the oxygenated gas... the stuff is junk.

 

idling does warm up the oil. Nissan ECU's are programmed for a warm up starting sequence. Notice the higher rpm's during cold starts? The ecu senses temps and as it warms up to operating temperature the idle will drop down to...aprox 700-800 range once warmed up. How is running rich going to destroy your motor? Would nissan have programmed the ECU to destroy your motor..I don't think so. What they did is program it to save it and that's exactly what some of you are trying to undo although you might not realize it. Revving your motor when first started will damage bearing and blow out the filtering medium in oil filters. Most people say they never see damage, well that's because the damage is on the micron size level, something you can't see. Beside it's inside the motor and unless you got microscopic x-ray vision it ain't happenin. Taking off without warming up during cold winters is probably one of the most damaging things you can do to the life expectancy of your motor. Oils like Mobil1 and other good synthetics help fight the cold start damage, but could never defend against someone racing the engine when first started. Now if you drove off first thing in the morning w/o warming up and kept it under 2K you MIGHT get away with it. I would guess 99% of people in the world don't let their vehicle properly warm up but most people don't even take care of their own bodies much less their own vehicles. Shoot down falso info as soon as you can and don't let hear say spread.

 

Man, I think Maxima owners are the smartest around, by far! Nowonder rocket scientists and NASA employees drive maximas.

 

Absolutely True!
1990+ and especially anything after 96 cars became more environmentally friendly. The winter oxygenated fuels creat less carbon monoxide on most older vehicles where the electronic tech wasn't normally available like it is on our cars now. You might and might not notice a difference when the fuels switch for the winter...some people actually begin to experience knocking! and don't know why.

 

Who would have guessed that there would be so many strong arguments lined up on either side of a simple question like "Should I let my car warm up in the morning"?

The more I read this thread, the more I like my approach. Instead of listening to forum members on this one, I'm going straight to the horse's mouth...I'm going to listen to my Max. When her cold idle gets down below say 1K RPMs, I'll put her in Drive.

 

For those that care for more .org-based literature on the topic...

https://maxima.org/forums/showthread...hlight=warm+up

http://<br /> <a href="https://maxi...m+up</a><br />

 

OK THAN, now what?
New poll
1) drive the maxima to warm the tires up for traction
-or-
2) do a neutral drop/brakestand/burnout to smoke the tires up to temp

 

i personally think lettin it sit and idle to warm it up is better, once the car rpm goes under 1 then its good to go

if my car doesnt warm up it feels like its either going to stall or it doesnt have power when i accelerate

 

30 seconds and its good to go

 

All you guys worry about "hurting your engine" if you warm it up wrong.

I have one question:

How many poeple out there have had a VQ engine wear out or FAIL at all?????? None that I know of (besides boosted and nitrous guy who run lean and detonate)

Stop whining about your car and enjoy owning it. Thousands of hours were spent to make your car and engine as "idiot proof" as possible. Change your oil...do your regular maitenence....and DRIVE.

 

I remote start my car before my shower in the morning, sometimes 30-45 minutes she's warming up for, when I get in there, its nice and warm.

With the strides we've made in automotive technology, if a 25+ minute warmup sequence is going to cause problems in my Nissan motor, then guess what, I'll get another car, however I highly doubt that, since the VQ is one gem of a great motor.

As for the environment, hmm, never thought about that one, someone was nice enough to post that, I should be more conscious about that and probably reduce my warmup times to 15 mins :-).

 

I warm mine up cause, it's freezing ***** outside and I can't see till my windows have defrosted. Can't drive anyways if I can't see. Might as well get into a nice warm car I can see out of.

 

Don't forget about the other type of gas you're engine uses, O2. The air molecules are also more compact during the winter thus your MAF reads that there is more air coming to your engine, thus more fuel is shot out of your injectors.