Question about stick shift cars....

[weirdichi]

My friend seems to think that letting the car warm up from a cold start (not driving it overnight or for a couple of days) is bad for the car. I think that letting the car warm up before driving is better. Usually it's at 2k RPM, but I let it idle and warm up till around 1200 RPM. He said his car was spittin out flames when he let it warm up. He has a 1981 VW Soroccio and I have a 1991 Integra. Who is right?

 

[amnesiac]

In most cases, It's better for the car if you let it warm up for a few minutes.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

What does this have to do with stick shifts?

 

[Kenji4861]

HAI!

 

[weirdichi]

Apparently my friend says this only affects stick shift cars.

 

[MiataGirl]

driving around moderately is just as effective as letting it sit idle..plus you save time and gas.

 

[cremator]

Most older vehicles will act crappy during the winter if not warmed up.... for example, my dad's 1969 chevy truck....it acts really crappy...its kinda like a person playing a game, you suck when you just wake up and start playing , but after a while you get warmed up and ready to go.... And its for both, manual and automatic.

 

[dethman]

people like to warm up their cars, but i read somewhere this isn't actually bad for the car, it's better to warm it up via easy driving the first few minutes.

now take anything i say with a grain of salt i can't remember the source or why it's bad...*shrug*

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Apparently my friend says this only affects stick shift cars.

Ask him what damage it does, and why the damage is only done to a car with a stick shift.

This should be quite entertaining.

 

[Chadder007]

In my BMW manual I think it says to not let it sit idling to warm up....its a stick. Ill have to check to find it again though.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Apparently my friend says this only affects stick shift cars.

Maybe it's good to give it at least a good 20 secs to let the oil flow before you take off, and at least a couple minutes before you push the engine above 3.

 

[goodoptics]

Originally posted by: MiataGirl
driving around moderately is just as effective as letting it sit idle..plus you save time and gas.

What she said.
Since your integra is fuel injection, there is no need for it to really warm up from a cold start. Start the car and let it idle for few secs, get it in gear and drive it modestly until it reaches normal operating temperature. That way, you save both time and gas.

 

[KokomoGST]

I honestly don't see how it can be BAD for the car to warm it up at idle in terms of the engine... especially with today's synthetic motor oils.
For manuals, a cold tranny means the gear oil makes it harder to shift usually... probably why BMW suggests light driving to warm the car up?

 

[bolido2000]

Older cars with carburators need a warm up. Newer cars usually no more than 30sec to 1 min. In any case just read the owners manual.

 

[bolido2000]

Originally posted by: Ultima

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Apparently my friend says this only affects stick shift cars.

Maybe it's good to give it at least a good 20 secs to let the oil flow before you take off, and at least a couple minutes before you push the engine above 3.

It takes around 5 seconds for the oil to circulate the engine. Otherwise engines wouldn't last more than 15K miles

 

[d33pt]

i dont think spitting out flames is normal...warming up or not.. tell him that

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: d33pt
i dont think spitting out flames is normal...warming up or not.. tell him that

agreed. I also don't know why he thinks it is tranmission specific. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

my manual tranny 84 civic, needed about 2 minutes to drop from 2.5k RPMs to 1K rpms. If I didn't let it warm up, I would stall out at the next stop sign, and get crappy mileage.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Apparently my friend says this only affects stick shift cars.

apparently your friend is an idiot.

 

[Thegonagle]

Your car has the Honda PGM-FI, in general, an exceedingly reliable fuel system. It properly compensates for a cold engine and the car is immediately drivable.

If you care about the car and feel that it has a long life ahead of it, just drive gently until the gauge shows that the engine is warm. It's not good to drive hard before you've reached operating temperature, but driving gently for the first few minutes won't hurt a thing, and you won't be late.

Apparently, his car, a really old VW with the notoriously finicky mechanical fuel injection, needs to be warmed up, or it will be spitting flames, or whatever he said it does. If I had that car and it didn't need to warm up to be drivable, I wouldn't even care. That's the kind of car I would just drive the snot out of to see how much it could take, like I do with my '94 Saturn SL2 (209,000 miles, runs great, no check engine light on, burns a little oil, only paid $250). I mean, his car is an '81 Sirocco. Unless it's in cherry condition with exceedingly low miles, it's just another sub-$1000 beater.

 

[kherman]

New car today doesn't need to be warmed up. Often, they shouldn't be warmed up.

Older cars need to be warmed up.

I have a'96 GMC truck and I just start and go. have had no prolbems ever. I've owned it since '96. Oh, ya...it's an auotmatic?!?!? I usually start it and go, driving it with low RPMs until it gets maybe halfway warm.

I think it's just due to better metalurgy(sp?) today compared to 30 years ago. Much more pure metals can be created along with longer lasting alloys(sp?). This is just opinion though.

 

[morkinva]

two words: modern lubricants

 

[ThisIsMatt]

I like to let my car (automatic) warm up because the auto-choke keeps it at 2k rpm until it does, and this makes the takeoff a bit jerky (I like to be nice to my slushbox)

 

[dcdomain]

I used to let my cars warm up, but recently just adopted the practice of letting the RPM's go down and then driving it moderately.