Warming-up Car Engine Is It Necessary?

[qewani]

i have lexus LS400 model 2000

Is it really necessary to warm up your car's engine before you drive it? If so, why?

because normally i warm up my car' s engine for ten minutes of idling evey morning before start driving to my work.

Weather temperature in my town is around 30°C

guys share your opinions and advices with me...

[ono8ono]

i have lexus LS400 model 2000

Is it really necessary to warm up your car's engine before you drive it? If so, why?

because normally i warm up my car' s engine for ten minutes of idling evey morning before start driving to my work.

Weather temperature in my town is around 30°C

guys share your opinions and advices with me...

my'98 LS manual said I can drive the car 15 to 20 seconds after starting the car. 10 mintues is too long! you are pouring money down the drain.

[TA in KC]

Waiting 10 minutes is unnecessary...unless you are just waiting for the heater to warm up the car's interior!

Like ono8ono stated, wait 15-20 seconds before moving to let the oil circulate, and then you are ready to drive.

The transmission may act differently than you are used to for the first few minutes, before the engine warms up. It is normal and is no cause for concern.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[eatingupblacktop]

10 min to warm up the car in summer is overkill. 60 sec is more than enough, just stay easy on the throttle until the engine is at normal operating temps. In the winter, I put it in drive as soon as the heater starts blowing.

[qewani]

so i was wasting my money all this time!

[jcrome04]

60 seconds TOPS

10min is like using a nuke to rid your house of spiders :D

[Lash]

so i was wasting my money all this time!

Absolutely, sorry.

[Paul Sherman]

Back when cars had neither electronic ignition nor fuel injection, warming up was often necessary.

I have a '40 chevy street rod that still needs to warm up to ~ 80deg F before I can move it. I converted my '69 Chevy pickup to electronic "points" two years ago; I only need to wait about a minute before a smooth take-off.

I'm converting the rod this winter. Both are built, carbed engines.

[LEXUSA]

It's OK to load a cold engine a little bit. Keep the rpm down as much as possible. If you live right next to the on-ramp you take to get to work I'd give it a minute or two if its cold out. Normally a leisurely drive from your neighborhood to the highway is enough to get it warm. Just take'er easy until some temp starts to show.

[PilotguyPA28]

You only need to warm it up for 15-30 seconds, enough to get the oil circulating and lubricating the cylinder walls. I usually crank up, walk to the street, pick my newspaper up, walk back and get in and back out of the garage. You should not put a strain on the engine until it is warmed for that 15-30 seconds. Same way with my airplane only it warms up until my cylinder head temperature reading is at least 75 degrees F. In the winter that can take several minutes running at low RPMs. With engine replacement costing about $30K, I take care of it. :o)

[LS 0181158]

I remember reading on a Mercedes forum that OIL temperature is more important than COOLANT temperature when it comes to putting stress on the engine--and it takes longer for the oil to warm than the coolant. All older Mercedes' have an oil pressure needle with "1," "2," and "3" marks. When the car is cold, the needle stays at "3" (highest level) even when the car is idling. As the oil warms (becomes less viscous, I suppose), the needle settles down during idle, and its movements become directly sensitive to throttle inputs. This happens somewhat after the coolant temp needle has reached its operating range. I recall someone on that board saying that only after the oil warmed up (evidenced indirectly by the pressure gauge) was it fine to drive the car "more aggressively."

A baseline I've established on my LS 400 is to wait until the climate control fan kicks on (first bar shows on the display). When it's warm out, or the car has just been driven, the fan operates immediately. However, when the car has been sitting overnight and it's colder than, say, 50 degrees, it can take 2-3 minutes for that first bar to show up. Either way, it allows time for the RPM to settle down from the initial 1200 rpm idle, and the transmission doesn't act as stiff as if I were to begin driving the car immediately.

Fortunately, my 30-35 minute commute initially involves low-speed (40 mph) driving in top gear--low rpm--before I get on the highway (75-80 mph) for the final 15 minutes.

[90LS400Lexus]

On my LS I normally let it run until the "fast idle" starts to settle down. If its below 35° in the winter, I let it run for at least 3-5 minutes before taking off.

Back in the mid 1980s, we lived across the street from a OLD lady ( unfortunately, I am sure she is no longer with us now), but she had a mid 70s Plymouth Valiant and a nearly new 1981 Ford Fairmont. Even in the winter, she would start the car, instantly rev the engine to extremely high RPMS, then 15 seconds later, would jerk the car into reverse to the point where the tires would squalk!

BOTH of these cars had a history of bulletproof transmissions, but this lady went through transmissions and u-joints like candy bars. :) I think they both would last about 6 months. They warned her and scolded why the transmissions were failing, but she would not hear of it... the next day, it would be race the engine, slam into reverse and screech the tires all the way!

The last time I remember her blowing a tranmission she was able to reverse out in front of our house. She put into drive and the car would not go- there was tons of fluid pouring out of the tranny where she had blown a seal - then the engine was popping and spluttering too at this point and I will never forget her words....

She had her windows down, I was in the front lawn chuckling and she said "MOVE YOU JUNKYARD FODDER, SHIFT- YOU- NO - NO! Oh well... poor lady.

[jcrome04]

hehe :)

old people are the best

[91LS400vgb]

Agree, a minute tops is all that is necessary in most cases. I usually wait 15-20 secs and then drive moderately. Here's a good common sense article on the subject:

http://www.garage-pak.com/pat-goss-washing...tart-smart.html

[90LS400Lexus]

hehe :)

old people are the best

Yeah, then about 4 years later at our new house there was a old man with a late 70s Mercury Marquis (the really big one before the downsize in 1979). The car was like new, but every morning - he would go out to the car, start it and instantly race the engine at a steady and very high RPM, with smoke blowing out like a smoke machine!

[eatingupblacktop]

hehe :)

old people are the best

Yeah, then about 4 years later at our new house there was a old man with a late 70s Mercury Marquis (the really big one before the downsize in 1979). The car was like new, but every morning - he would go out to the car, start it and instantly race the engine at a steady and very high RPM, with smoke blowing out like a smoke machine!

Yeah, well at least he was going somewhere. I had a neighbour who would rev the hell out of his car for about a minute, right after parking it and just before turning it off. Sometimes he'd be walking away from the car while the engine was still winding down! :chairshot: When I asked him why he did that, he said he just wanted to make sure the battery had a good charge for the car to start up again later!

:chairshot: :chairshot:

[LS 0181158]

Interesting. That article makes sense.

[90LS400Lexus]

Yeah, well at least he was going somewhere. I had a neighbour who would rev the hell out of his car for about a minute, right after parking it and just before turning it off. Sometimes he'd be walking away from the car while the engine was still winding down! :chairshot: When I asked him why he did that, he said he just wanted to make sure the battery had a good charge for the car to start up again later!

:chairshot::chairshot:

OMG, how funny! What a moron! <_<

One time we had another neighbor that would get drunk, go outside, start his car (for no special reason) and race, race, race the engine to severely high RPMS! I remember that he had a (now rare) mid 1970s Subaru sedan. He would literally race that little car to redline. It sounded like a weedeater revved to the max! He would do it for about 45-90 seconds, but it seemed like eternity! He would turn it off, go in and I guess he would pass out. He also had a 87' Toyota truck and a 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass he would do the same way. I think he finally blew the engines in those. Otherwise he and his wife pampered the cars... they were always clean and physically, they looked like new. ALL of them.

[DWNC]

I have only recently joined the Lexus camp. I still know so little about these cars. My past twenty plus years experience in the Mercedes club I heard many say they always wanted to move there car at least until the seat belt reminder stopped in an effort to let the oil pressue stabilize. Many believe oil pressue is the key not so much the engine temp. At the very least warming up can't hurt.

[jcrome04]

Hurts fuel as in wasting it.

And that's how you screw things up. Hot rod a COLD engine..