Warming up the car before driving

[RandallNeighbour]

Perfectlap, do not forget you are reading a manual written by a large company in Germany who is working very hard to be politically correct and ecologically sensitive.

Germans are sticklers on clean air nowadays (didn't use to be like this, but the damage caused to the black forest by automobile fumes changed everything) and I would not be surprised they put this in the manual just to cut down on the amount of exhaust fumes in the air.

Read any greenie's list of things to do to save our planet and you'll see right up on the top of the list:

"Do not warm your car before driving it. This causes unneeded pollution."

That's my read on this... we could toss around mechanical and performance and long wear comments all day long, but in my opinion, it's all about keeping the conservationists happy.

(Note: Conserving natural resources and protecting our environment is important to me! I'm just stating why I think that line is in the manual.)

[Porschekid]

^That is true. I don't think I've read any car manual that recommends letting your car warm up first. It definately isn't harmful to your engine though, the slower your engine warms up the better. The danger isnt in having it operate at low temperatures but having the temperature rise at a high rate because all of your seals, etc. haven't had time to adjust.

[Adam]

^ I have to disagree with you PorscheKid. You want the engine to warm up as quickly as possible like john said. I think your logic is flawed no offense.

[aKiNa2]

when the car is started for the first time on a day it is good to let it idle for mebbe 5 minutes. In doing this it allows to heat up and lubricate the parts properly. Then drive off taking it easy until the temperature comes up. When driving straight form a cold engine, taking it easy will reduce damage but warming it up a little bit own't hurt. The most damage to an engine is during start up - and that is because the oil does not sufficiently lubricate right away. Hence the invention of oils such as Castrol Magnetic which claims to "stick" to parts to avoid this initial wear.

[Porschekid]

Warming up too fast = hot fluids in a cold engine with cold seals which is not good. It's the same principle as keeping the rpm's low when starting out. The cooling system in a car is sufficient to warm it up when you start out. Only disadvantage to warming up is that a cold engine burns more fuel (wasteful and worse for the environment.) Even when warming up you want to take it easy when starting out because your tranmission fluids also need to warm up while driving. I'm not saying to let the car sit for 10+ minutes but 2 minutes or so (especially when cold out) is good for your car. Older cars benefit more but the principle remains the same.

[donv]

Where does that "hot fluid in a cold engine" come from? You don't mean the oil or "coolant" do you?

The worst time for the engine is the microseconds while you're cranking it but it hasn't started yet - because oil pressure is low and the rings are scraping what little oil is left on the cylinder walls off. Everything after that is a breeze in comparison, so long as the oil pump is working OK. I pause just long enough for the top to lower or the attractive chimes to stop and then I'm off...

[Brucelee]

In the extreme cold, I see widom in allowing the engine oil to circulate a bit. By that I mean, a minute or two seems prudent. Driving easily until full engine temps is also prudent.

Lastly, in very cold weather, a clean quality synthetic is a must. Personally, if I lived again in NE, I would use 0W-30 syn in winer. Then again, if I lived there again, I would start drinking heavily again!