Question; Cold Starts

[19Cutlass94]

I dont know if you guys down south will know this but well give it a shot. But I know up north here it can get pretty damn cold, especially with the wnd chill. When you car has been sitting in an open parking lot for a while, with the wind chill, so its roughly -25 degrees F or colder, now when you start your car, is it better to let it idle for a little bit to warm up, or when you start it up is it better to just drive it right away?

[DiscoStudd]

When it's that cold, you want to warm your fluids up a bit before you drive away. Although it wouldn't hurt to let it idle for longer, 5 minutes should be plenty to get 'er ready...

[Guest Anonymous]

One day last winter, when it was like negative 10 degrees, the only car we had that started was the RPE! and everything else was newer GM's.

 

But yes, its best to let it idle, and besides, if you do, the heat will be working by then

[Turbo231]

Hello,

 

You pretty much have both sides of the story. I think Click and Clack say to start driving right away, but keep it easy, like under 35 MPH...well, that sucks for two reasons...first because the speed limit on my road is 45 and some "winner" will be on my butt in no time driving that slow, and second, it's COLD and probably the windows are frozen up.

 

I personally let her warm up a bit, if anything, to allow the oil to get all over the engine. While the car idles, the transmission is pushing fluid around too, which heats up pretty quick. If I'm a hurry and the windshield is already clear, I wait about 2 minutes, but a majority of the time, it's frozen over and it takes about 5 minutes to warm up. By then, the temp gauge has started to move, the defrost is warm to help with the windshield, and I can leave at a decent speed....I just speed up slowly as to not pound on the transmission.

 

Ben

[joey b]

I start it, and warm it up as long as it takes to wipe the car off. I clear the entire car as to not endanger other drivers- I wish more drivers were as considerate. After it is cleared I drive at a slow rate to warm both the engine and tranny up. The auto setting on my HVAC keeps my windows clear of fog or else I use the defog option. Sometimes I'll let the windows down after the interior is warmed to let all the moisture out.

[93CutlassSupreme]

i wish there was something the 5 speed guys could do, 282's grind the first couple of cold shifts

[pitzel]

I run 0W-30 motor oil, start it up, give it 2 or 3 seconds, and drive off. In temperatures getting down to -40C.

 

Car warms up the quickest once you put some load on it. Just drive gently for the first few km's.

 

Extended cold idling can be a cause of accelerated wear itself.

[19Cutlass94]

yeah normally when its that cold, I just start it up, let it run and I clean off my car. I always have to wait until the windshield is clear. Tried driving before when it was still all icey, had to sick my head out the window to see, and with a -20 degree F wind chill and driving about 30MPH. Daamnnnnnnn its cold.

[1990lumina]

I get in, start her up and let it run till the temp guage starts to move (doesn't have to move much for me) and I drive off, driving gentle for the first mile or so, then back to normal driving.

When it is really cold, I let it run longer then that.

 

When I'm at home she is plugged in most of the time on a timer for my batt. blanket/interior warmer/block heater and it usually warms up pretty fast at home so I'll drive it off after a couple minutes, or if it has snowed alot, I drive off after brushing the snow off.

 

When I'm at school, I have a timer on my command start, so when it is like -45 or more plus a wind chill I have it start every 3 hours and run for 10minutes.

 

I know what I do is over kill, but personally, I don't feel like getting into an icebox every day in the mornign and afterschool. I'm gonna buy a new battery this year though...this piece of shit ac delco which is 2 years old barely turns her over in the cold.

 

- Jeff L.

[Guest Anonymous]

I've always let the car warm up first becuase it gets the heat going in the car, so when i come back out it is nice and toasty! This will be my first winter with leather, and i'm a bit suspicious about that.

[19Cutlass94]

yeah I duno how thats gonna turn out, just try not to have the heat blowing right now the leather, can you even do that or no? But basically, is letting it warm up for too long of a time actually hurting the engine?

[joey b]

Is sitting at idle speed in rush hour bad for the engine?

[pitzel]

Well 19Cutlass94, most wear on an engine happens when the engine is cold. The quicker it can warm up, the better. If the engine is just idling, it will take a long time to warm up, and hence, will wear at a higher rate for longer. Furthermore, when the engine does not have much load, the piston rings do not seal very well, and fuel is more likely to ingress into the motor oil which isn't good for it and will cause accelerated wear elsewhere (ie: bearings, valvetrain, etc.).

 

With fuel being so expensive.....

[1990lumina]

My car has always been driven like this, and is shows minimal signs of wear...and in winter, I worry about the car, but I also don't feel like being uncomfortable the whole timee I'm driving, so if there is a little wear to the engine, etc. so be it. My engine burns absolutely no oil, the oil is always clean, always seems to start fine, etc.

[Chuck]

When you car has been sitting in an open parking lot for a while, with the wind chill, so its roughly -25 degrees F or colder,

 

Dude, I hate to tell you this, but your car does not feel the windchill! Windchill is measured on bare HUMAN skin only. :shock:

 

Serioulsy, I lived in northern Wisconsin for several years, & have had to start my car at -40 several times after it sat outside all night. Get it started, & don't touch the pedal for a few min until it has a chance to get the fluids circulated.

 

Chuck

[pitzel]

Its usually not even necessary to touch the pedal after a -40C start. The ECU keeps the revs up (through the IAC) quite nicely, enough so to keep the car going a fair good speed.