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What is better for the car, start let warm up or just go?

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
When it's like -40 and what not, what is better for a car, to start it up ahead of time and let it warm up, or to go off with it right away? I've heard both sides. To me it makes more sense to let it run, on the other hand if you drive off right away you heat the oil near instantly so there is less time where it's like jello. (oil turns into a jellowish consistency at the temp we get here)
 
Petroleum oil is like jello at -20 but if you use synthetic oil, it'll flow and you can just drive away. The only reason I might warm up my car first is if I want heat inside when I get into it rather than be driving in a cold car for 5-10 minutes. Usually, I just drive it cold but don't get too crazy on the gas pedal right away.
 
Let me throw my two cents in here because I work in oil systems for turbine engines. Turbine oil is surprisingly similar to most synthetics and we recently did some testing on cold flow for oil. Let me just say that synthetic is much better at cold temps but you don't want to start driving with oil that cold. We don't let aircraft take off with cold oil because even a good synthetic just doesn't flow that well below zero. Your bearings will be getting noticeably less oil than they were designed to. If you're using synthetic I'd at least let it warm up a few minutes and even then be light on the gas until the engine gets nice and warm. For dino oil I'd get a block heater ASAP. Even letting it warm up by running that jello won't flow well for a few minutes and your bearings could be starved.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Let me throw my two cents in here because I work in oil systems for turbine engines. Turbine oil is surprisingly similar to most synthetics and we recently did some testing on cold flow for oil. Let me just say that synthetic is much better at cold temps but you don't want to start driving with oil that cold. We don't let aircraft take off with cold oil because even a good synthetic just doesn't flow that well below zero. Your bearings will be getting noticeably less oil than they were designed to. If you're using synthetic I'd at least let it warm up a few minutes and even then be light on the gas until the engine gets nice and warm. For dino oil I'd get a block heater ASAP. Even letting it warm up by running that jello won't flow well for a few minutes and your bearings could be starved.
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Yeah, if I was driving a car in -20 degree weather I'd definitely get a block heater. I grew up in upstate NY (and by upstate I mean about an hour south of Montreal); we had one for our car and used it many many times every winter.

Thank god I live in SoCal and could ride my motorcycle to work this morning.

It was 80 degrees here today. 😎
 
With a block heater, you can probably let it idle for 30-60 seconds to make extra sure oil has made it to the top end, then just drive.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
With a block heater, you can probably let it idle for 30-60 seconds to make extra sure oil has made it to the top end, then just drive.
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Oh ok good to know. I tend to be lazy and don't feel like starting my car (no autostarter, it's an older car). Though which it's anything colder then -30 I try to start it anyway to help melt the ice/snow on the windows, but it takes a while for the heater to start, I'm usually at work by then.
 
I live in the Smokey Mountains in E. Tennessee. We don't get extreme cold temps here but most winter days start out around 30F or less. I typically let my cars warm up for five to ten minutes in the morning. I do this to let the engine warm up before I put a decent load on it. A nice, warm cabin is a bonus. 🙂
 
Driving in mild (above freezing) weather, letting it idle for 15-30 seconds and then taking it easy until the temperature gauge is up to normal should be fine.

When it's colder, a little bit more time at idle would be a good idea, however, there is enough margin of safety that as long as you're not using much gas or high revs you should be OK to start driving if you have to.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
I've read things that you want to drive it when cold but drive it lightly as to get the oil flowing everywhere.
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Me, too. I think contemporary advice is to not bother warming up at all. That may change in brutal-cold temps, though, as mentioned here. We're getting record cold today and tomorrow, it's down to 6 now. Although my car is in the garage, when I drive home later it will get as much warm up as it takes for me to move my hand to the shifter and put it into gear 🙂
 
A block heater will heat the coolant up but not the oil. If you've ever had an oil temp gauge in a car, you'ld know that it takes a very long time to see oil temp increase compared to coolant temp. Way back when, I use to have an oil dipstick heater and it worked well. I'm not sure they even sell those anymore.
 
Speaking of record temps, not sure if this is record or not but it's -34 this morning. Was showing as -38 in my mom's car when I started it. i started mine but it actually stopped on it's own. 😱 Took a cab, don't want to force the motor too much.
 
It was -37 here this morning
You let it warm up for a couple minutes , the engine might be fine after 30 seconds but all the secondary systems with fluids need to pump a bit before you stress them.
If its warmer than say 0 F then I'd just go
 
I run synthetic in my car and under normal temps, I just drive off in about 1 min or so. By then I have my seatbelt on and other items where they need to be. Now if it is really cold, like tommorrow it is going down to single digits (F) I will let it warm up for 2 - 3 minutes and then drive off, being easy on the rpm's until the temp gauge starts to move up a bit. Much colder we don't get here in NJ, but where you are the block heater and a prestart for 5 minutes would not hurt.
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Speaking of record temps, not sure if this is record or not but it's -34 this morning. Was showing as -38 in my mom's car when I started it. i started mine but it actually stopped on it's own. 😱 Took a cab, don't want to force the motor too much.
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Where the hell do you live, you must live at the most northern tip of Ontario, damn!

 
Besides the oil starvation issue, also your fule mixture is richer until the engine warms up. So waste fuel while idling, or waste more fuel with the accelerator down and driving.
 
Car Talk steadfastly maintains that you can drive any modern fuel injected car from the moment you start it, as long as you keep the revs low until the engine is warm. Otherwise you're just wasting gas.

Personally, I think it would be a happy medium to start the car while you de-ice and de-snow and get yourself situated in your seat, then take off.
 
In sub-zero weather, I can let my car idle for 15+ minutes, and the engine temp gauge will barely break the 100º mark. Alternatively, I can let it idle for ~30 second then drive it very mildly (never even exceeding 2k RPMs), and it'll reach normal operating temps in roughly 5 minutes.

The vast majority of the time, I'm using the second method, but that's mostly because I never give myself enough time to just let the car idle for any length of time.
 
I don't care what CarTalk states. If I can hear the valve-train clicking and ticking when I pull out of my driveway that means it's too cold to put a load on the engine. This is a 2002, I'm pretty sure that's modern.
 
I noticed that the average gas mileage drops off when I'm driving the car cold. I lose a few tenths off the average mpg and when the car is finally warm the average slowly comes back up. The ECU must be throwing more gas in when the engine is cold. I'd like to spend the time warming it up in the mornings, but I just don't like the idea of leaving my car running with the keys in it unattended. Might as well just put a big steal me sign on it. Now if I had a remote starter that'd be a different story.
 
We don't get quite that cold around here but when it is cold here (like friday is supposed to be a deep freeze for ohio, a high of 4 F!) I start the car then let it idle for at least a minute before driving. I have put 5W-30 synthetic in my car, but it was in the shop recently and they had to drain the oil to work on it and I think they probably put 10W-30 dino in it (that is what is on the cap) so I'm going to have to be more careful. That, or I'll just do an oil change again back to 5W-30 synthetic.
 
Do what the owner's manual says to do.

All mfgs do extensive cold weather testing.

If you need to warm the car up for 5 minutes in the cold, it would say so in the manual.

Most manuals I can recall reading say that it's not necessary to warm the engine up, but that you should drive gently until it is warmed up.

And they give a temperature at which they advise the use of a block heater.
 
From the 2008 Taurus manual, for example:

"To avoid potential transmission damage at extremely cold temperatures
(below -20°F [-30°C]), it is recommended that the vehicle be warmed up
to normal operating temperature before driving at highway speeds above
50 mph (80 km/h). Normal operating temperature is normally reached
after 10 minutes of moderate driving or idling."

I wonder how many owners haven't read that little bit?
 
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