Warming Up My Is250

[jaycetan]

Ive heard that i shouldnt let the car idle to warm up, but that the same time i was always taught to warm it up or its no good for the car. Which one is it? does anybody have any documentation from lexus? I need proof. Im tired of wives' tales.

[Cherokee_Outlaw]

Ive heard that i shouldnt let the car idle to warm up, but that the same time i was always taught to warm it up or its no good for the car. Which one is it? does anybody have any documentation from lexus? I need proof. Im tired of wives' tales.

Have no clue.. but will take a common sense guess... When you first start it... give it a few secs... 5-10? (depend on the outside temp) to let the oil and fluids go through the engine.. then GO!!!

[07'IS350]

The second post is a good idea, you should wait 5-10 seconds to let all of the fluids circulate. It wont hurt your engine if you start driving when it is cold, just make sure not to mash the gas. The oil that is in your engine is designed to be run at operating temperature. With my car, I wait about 30 seconds before any driving, but usually I like to let it warm up.

[CrunchySkippy]

There's really no harm in waiting for it to warm up 30 seconds (other than idling doesn't do much for the MPG). But the fact is that idling doesn't really use much gas, either.

The theory is correct - to let the oil get from the pan to the moving parts of the engine (valves/crank/etc). I think the old addage of waiting until the car is warm was based on older carburated engines that had less efficient choke mechanisms. Engines would stumble or even stall if the mixture wasn't good. You shouldn't notice any of those symptoms with our engines, even on the coldest of days.

That being said, I find that I actually wait until the "Lexus" screen on my NAV disappears and turns into the "I Accept" screen before I start moving. I'm guessing this is about 5 seconds (which I tell myself is enough time for warming up). Old habbits die hard, I guess.

[Manolo1]

It is common knowledge nowadays that the worst time for any engine is right when starting it. There is a fraction of a second in which the engine runs with no lubrication. That is why you see the increased use of synthetic oils and extremely low viscosity ones: 0, and 5 API viscosity (0 is the same viscosity than water!).

There is no need to warm up the engine before start moving, but there is definitely a HUGE need not to push it until the oil/engine has reached operating temperature. Most manufacturers do not recommend warming the engine at idle as there are many other parts that do not warm until the car is moving, e.g., gear box, differential, etc.

So feel free to start moving just seconds after starting the car but make SURE you wait a good 5 minutes or more (!)(depending on outside temperature) before you exceed 3000 RPMs.