How many people here give their Max an engine warmup in the morning? For me, I always warm up my car but then a couple of my friends told me it's bad. I disagree because I think you shouldn't be driving a cold engine no matter what.

How do you guys see it?

 

Warming up is not too good... getting car up to normal operating temp asap is the best thing to do. You should let you car idle for about 10-15 second to get the oil pressure up and start driving nice and easy till normal operating temp. Letting it idle to "warm up" will just let the car run longer before getting to normal operating temp.

-Shing

 

I always park in a heated garage, I always let the car idle for 15-30 seconds to bring the oil pressure up. Other than that any additional run time idle or otherwise is just a waste of fuel. I also drive moderately(less tha 2000 rpm) until engine temp comes up to one third of normal on the dash gauge. This has worked well for me on other cars my 87 max went 230K before I sold her to a 17 year old kid and she is still going strong.

 

it all happened when I told my friend who drives a BMW M3 that I wanted to get an aftermarket alarm with "remote start" for my auto...cos of the cold winters....well, this is what he had to say "dude, don't do it, what for? In my owner's manual for the M3, they recommend letting the engine idle for like 10 - 30 seconds then drive off slowly (keeping the rpms below 2000rpm)...till the temp gauge turns over to normal operating temp."

I recently talked to some of my other car enthusiast friends and have gained an understanding that an engine functions / runs differently say if it were sitting at idle vs say running / operating or moving...by letting a car idle to warm up would be bad for the car instead of warming it up thru slow driving....don't know why...but I heard its bad!

someone pls correct me if I'm wrong...!

thanks

 

I always let my car "Warm Up" for a few minutes or until my rpm drop to 1000, If I dont IMO it runs worse & shifts really hard & I dont like that.

 

Ditto this.

 

i always start my car in the morning, and go back into my house and get ready for school/work. when i come back outside, my rpms are below 1. when i start her, shes usually at ~1,200. how come i heard you should "warm up" your car?

 

I live in Toronto, Canada and the winters can be extremely cold sometimes. I usually let me car idle for 2-3 minutes before driving it. I find that it shifts much smoother and I've heard that its better for the car. Should I be doing this?

 

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I have heard that letting acehiocle idle too lon especially when cold put add'l strain on the engine since the cam is free floating without drivetrain resistence. According to my source one of the worst things for an engine is idling? I amlways let my vehicle warm up about 10 seconds and also sift below 2000 rpm. As soon as my temp guage reisters, I go up to 3000 rpm and at normal op temp, it's redline baby. My engines always last 150k + without compression loss,but maybe I'm lucky?

 

I've heard that if you sit still too long, like warming up, the engine warms but at different rates. It's beat to keep it moving so the whole engine warms at a more similar rate. Engine components (steel, aluminum,) expand as they get hotter so it is bad for some portion to be hotter than the rest. I've heard that this can cause 'hot spots'.

 

I live in Chicoutimi (N48°25',W71°07') and have owned my 95GXE since new. Ideling is not good for an engine for some of the reasons told above, also the oil pressure is not realy optimal and the engine and transmision and suspension must also be warmed up a bit befor receving any load. Even if youre car is parked out in -42°C and snowed in, by the time you clean of the windows and lights you are ready to take of smoothly, and after the engine is up to normal temp. for a min. you are ready to have a bit of fun in the snow (by the way it's been snowing off and on for the last month). Early morning warmup is un-nessesary (heated seats), the engin and trans warmes faster at slow motion than idle.

And to who it may concern buy winter tires if youre winter is below -5°C. All-season tires compounds are dangerous in winter driving conditions!!!

 

I read this thread a couple days ago and asked my mechanic today when I brought my car in for an inspection and an oil change. I asked the mechanic that was dealing with my car about whether or not its healthy for the car to warm up while its idle. He said that its better to drive it slowly rather than to leave it idling. I don't know anything cars really, so I didn't really understand his explanation. He mentioned something about water and oil running. He also mentioned something about the fuel injection (NOTE: he mentioned the fuel injection for as an example of something, I'm not sure if its regarding warming up the car though). But anyways, he says that newer cars don't really need to be warmed up idling. I used to warm up my car idling, but I guess I'm gonna try driving slowly while warming up now. I'll find out the hard way which is better. =)

 

warmed up. The transmission, wheel bearings and other rotating components of the drive train as well, before really driving hard. After starting the engine and taking time to clean snow/ice off of windows if needed, gently driving off for a few miles after a few seconds of starting the engine is the best way to allow ALL components to come up to operating temperature. Just starting the engine and letting it warm up at idle for a few minutes and then driving off at high speed with the transmission, differential, CV joints and wheel bearings still cold is bad for them.

 

It's bad for your cat converter to sit at idle for extended periods (esp. when it's cold). I start my car up and leave the clutch depressed to warm up the thorw-out bearing. I do this for about 30 seconds and drive for about 1/4 mile shifting under 2500 RPM, then I shift under 3000 until the water temp gets to half way.