What's the proper way to start up your vehicle in the winter time
 

I was always under the impression that you just turn it on and let it run.. btu someoen in another thread said otherwise and didn't elaborate

before I go to school, I let it warm up for a good 5 mins..your engine needs to warm up in order to perform on a regular level...lets the fluids throughout your engine circulate and warm up maybe 5-7 minutes...does not waste barely any gas...and trust me we both Live in PA so i know how you feel..and plus your car will be nice and warm on the drive where you are trying to reach...let it warm the maxima dosent like cold starts and driving i know from 4 years with mine and the NW PA hard winters..

Just take everything this guy said and throw it out the window. Starting your car and letting it idle is one of the WORST things you can do. "Letting the fluids throughout your engine circulte" is a bad thing to do if it's cold. Just turn on the car and go.

Uhhhh... put the key in the ignition and turn??? :p

Seriously though, there will probably be a few guys that come on here very shortly and say that it's bad for the block to let it warm up for more than a minute or two. They say to let it warm up for 1-2mins max and drive because the oil is not pump through everywhere when it's just idling.

I don't know honestly which is better as I'm not a mechanic or anything, just relaying what I read on here. Personally, I let it warm up till the RPMs drop below 1 grand and then I drive off.

drew

^^^^
***damn beat me to it SOAD*** LOL

Wrong. :007:


The other thread has pages and pages of supporting evidence. Dont worry, thats what i used to think too. But the proper way is to get into your car, start the engine and let it warm for no more than 1-2 mins in the summer, and 2-3 in cold weather (such as our whopping 23 degrees today). Then drive slow, keeping it under 2k until your car starts to gradually warm. Its the fastest, and most efficient way to warm up your car.

Idling=letting your cold fluids run through the system. Teh Crapo.

Start/Idle. This will make the car run in it's cold start mode for much longer. Rich fuel, fast idle, not that good.

Start and maybe wait 10 sec, then go. Will warm up the engine faster and is probably better for the engine. Now this doesn't mean start and gun the engine. I mean start and drive pretty gently until the engine temp comes up.

You will get full oil pressure within seconds of the engine start. That's one of the reasons for the cold start fast idle program.

i just wiat ubntil my sahiter moves easily in my hand then i drive slowly till the temp guage has rose

:shiner: .

I gues im a ****ing idiot compared to all these brains.....

sory for the wrong information thats just what ive been doing for 4 years and never had a problem...... :soapbox:

I guess thats why the sell remote car starters...so you dont have to go outside to turn your car on and then come back inside...but i must reinstate that i am moron....sorry

3 posts in a row

:shiner:

sorry bout that

1.) Nobody ever said it would completely shut down your car if you didn't follow what was said.
2.) They also sell radar detectors too. :reading:
3.) Nobody called you a moron but yourself.
4.) 3 posts in a row= :007:

why does it matter 3 posts....who cares?

Who said Maximas dont like winter? My Maxima has never had a problem starting during the winter, perhaps your battery is weak? Maybe your starter? My starter and battery were both replaced (battery with optima redtop) within the last year, and it starts up effortlessly in the cold.

useless posting, eating up server space, and prolonging a thread that has already been discussed.


get in, start car, wait 30 secs, drive slowly, let car warm up. :reading:

wow, that has nothing to do with anything... :thread:

Umm sorry Wiskey but i just put new battery, new starter, new alternator, new spark plugs...so no my max has no prob its strong as hell...Ive jsut read in many previous posts that many people have problems with there max's when cold weather starts to creep up on them...I didnt mean me its just in general...

That's the right way to do I guess, and that's I've been doing all along. I'll wait for one minute or so, then drive slowly and keep the just running below 2500 rpm and once I see the temp needle going up, I accelerate and reach normal speeds. Anyways, I need to go abt a mile on a 30 mph zone and the car warms up by the time I hit the bigger road :)

i wait 15 seconds then drive, but today was so fawken cold i had to let it run

i give it 30 secconds except today it got about 3 min because it was about -5 WITHOUT the wind chill.............i love rochester

Remote starters are sold, yet cars aren't suppose to idle for that long.


You're not suppose to speed, yet radar detectors are sold.


Products are thrown on the market everyday, but its up to the consumer to determine what is right for his/her car.

kcryan, I feel your pain... yet again.

To add my 0.02, I personally just start and drive, keeping it under 2kRPM until the engine temp rises. I doubt letting it idle for 5 minutes before you drive off will hurt you either. Some one says this, someone says that... likely, none of it makes much of a difference.

*Song* It's your Max, do what ya gonna doooo *Song*

i'll wait at least 5 min or until the needle moves slightly off C

Good, im glad your Maxima works in the cold as well, I just simply stated that as long as your car is in good shape, it should be fine in the cold. . . which you help proved. A 2000 BMW M3 could have trouble starting in the cold if it had a weak battery.

hey i remeber seeing this thing that pressurizes the oil in the engine for when you first start your car to send oil to where it should go... lost the link anybody else heard/seen this before?? does it work?

So my dad has a 91 blazer that he bought new. It's had remote start since 95, and he starts it every single morning and let's it idle for around 5 to 10 minutes. It has 240,000 miles on the original engine. Is this the same for his car? Why hasn't it hurt anything?

i let it warm up for like 10-20 min when its cold out, no problems whats so eva, thank god for remote starters..............

if this is bad please tell me what will happen in the future

There are two sides to the argument. What i like to do is let it run for at least 2-3 minutes and then take off easy until the temp gauge is up. You just waste gas if you let it idle for a long time, but driving it right away when you start it might cause more wear because parts arent lubricated yet. I say let it idle or drive off right away if you want. Either way, just take it easy when you drive ( under 2500k) until the temp gauge begins to creep up.

Waste of gas as well
 

I can't believe some of you let the car idle for more than a minute. Even on the coldest days, (I'm talking -20 C [-5 F] or colder) I never let it idle for more than a minute. How can your engine and all connected parts possibly warm up faster just sitting there as opposed to working under load? I run regularly and the best way to warm up is to start walking, then walk faster, then start jogging, followed eventually by my regular pace. I can go for far longer using this approach.

So, here's what you do: insert key, turn to the on position and wait a few seconds, then crank her over. If it's below zero, let it idle around 30 seconds, if it's above zero, let it idle around 10-15 seconds. Once you start driving, go easy on her for the first few minutes. Then start driving fairly aggresively. Driving like a grandma is not what the car was designed to do. Going easy on the Maxima is actually bad for her. A few years back, when I was shopping around for my Max, I avoided any Maxima's with unusually low mileage. That usually indicates that the car was rarely used, or used for a lot of short little trips. I'd rather buy a car that was driven on the highway on long distances on a regular basis. That car is going to outlast any grocery getter.

If the car has been driven within the last 4 hours, don't even bother idling. This advise was given to me from a friend of mine whose 1995 maxima is approaching the 400,000 KM (250,000 miles) mark. And his Max runs amazingly well, it runs almost as smoothly as mine dones, even though he doesn't do anything more with it other than standard stuff (oil changes, tire rotation)

It's because people do what they *think* is right, not what actually is right. They read once somewhere on a website or heard from a friend/family member and that's what they do, then don't want to change because they're afraid it'll make them look dumb for "doing it wrong" all these years. It's called "ignorance" and "insecurity" and it's the reason for half the problems in the world today.

:soapbox: :laugh:

How about we do what NISSAN recommends?

From the manual, Starting and Driving, page 5-7

4. Warm-up
Allow the engine to idle for at least 30
seconds after starting. Drive at moderate
speed for a short distance first, especially in
cold weather.

If you were supposed to let it idle until the temp needle went above "C" I'm sure they'd say that.

:ben: :reading:

so no one ever heard of that thing that presurizes the oil to flow them to proper place when engoine starts???

Well I don't see where it says at most.... so I will continue to use my remote start with pride.

Not saying your wrong but my dad advises me to let it idle for 3-5 minutes and his 91 blazer has 240,000 miles and runs great. He to has done this for the life of the vechicle. What exactly is damaged by this and if so why is his vehicle fine?

I dont care whats right or wrong, im not letting my but touch those cold leather seats untill theyve been fully warmed. Also gotta get the heat on full blast, cause its cold as hell in chicago!

You can do what you want, that doesn't means it's the best way to do it.

If you're looking for "best way" to warm up a car letting it idle for more than a minute isn't it. Will it 'hurt' the car? Doubt it, but is driving it slowly the best way to warm it up? Yes.

You stupd noob. Going easy is bad for a car? Where did you hear that from? the Maxima is a family sedan not a racer for one thing and driving agressively when the car isnt fully warmed up isnt going to minimize wear. Nissan reccomends at least 30 seconds. Keyword: AT LEAST. Letting it idle for 1-3 minutes should be ok. Letting it idle for 15 seconds is stupid. Sure cars can last long w/out letting it warm up, but how reliable will it be?

Turn the Key....... :nopity: