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Do YOU "warm" your car?

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Old Mar 21, 2004
  #31  
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what about the block heaters that are in the rsx and the EL what do they do. how do they work.
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Old Mar 21, 2004
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Originally posted by v8eaterOKv6
what about the block heaters that are in the rsx and the EL what do they do. how do they work.
block heaters are good for the winter time as they keep the fluids in the block warm for easier starts. But u still need to warm up the motor so the oil pressure and oil temp will come up.
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Old Mar 21, 2004
  #33  
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even if you're not going to keep the car a long time, its just like good maintenance that helps it run smooth. I always leet it run a couple minutes, even longer in the winter.
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Old Mar 21, 2004
  #34  
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you know warming up your car more than 2 minutes is wasting gas and releasing mad baddies into the atmosphere right?

shame on you
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Old Mar 21, 2004
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i warm it up till my idle settle at 500

ps i drive a crx si
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Old Mar 21, 2004
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i never warm up, just cuz i'm late every morning. but i drive REALLY slow, never going above 2000 rpms, until the engine gets warmer.

i should really warm it up for a longer time
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Old Mar 21, 2004
  #37  
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yea...anything above 30 seconds to 1 minute makes you an environmental terrorist.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
  #38  
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Remote start. Its great. 2 minutes before i walk outta the house
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Old Mar 22, 2004
  #39  
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I have cracked a radior once not warming up a car I once owned... not fun. It was my first car and my car pool was rushing me. It was a '94 Topaz with about 78K or so. 900 bucks in damage about.

I have had 2 cars since, trust me... I don't let something as mindless as that slide with my civic. Even though, it's just a civic and the Topaz was an American car.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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I always make sure that the rpm is below 1000 before I drive.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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Originally posted by YUL
yea...anything above 30 seconds to 1 minute makes you an environmental terrorist.
lol... What would you call truck drivers then? Trucks have bigger less efficient engines (that's why they're allowed lower emmisions by EPA)
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Old Mar 22, 2004
  #42  
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i always let it warm up in the winter.....not long in the summer though
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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i'm the worst, never ever let it warm up, usually turn key and release clutch and apply gas all in one maneuver
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Old Mar 22, 2004
  #44  
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Originally posted by jrock2324
I always make sure that the rpm is below 1000 before I drive.
same here, ALWAYS
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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when it's cold out, I let the engine warm up more than a minute (heater OFF)

in the hot weather I just start the car, and leave the doors open to get the heat outta the car. That is usually just30 seconds.


Does leaving the AC/Heat on when you shut down/start the car hurt it? Does it strain the engine more?
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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This topic is funny because I just went over it at school lately. Im currently a student at Universal Technical Insitute. Honestly, it is really bad to let your car sit at idle to "warm" up with Electronic Fuel Injected cars. The reason being that if you let the car sit there for 10-20 mins idling, its taking a lot longer for the engine to come up to standard engine operating temperatures.

While you let your car sit there, the oil is still staying thick because it doesnt have the regular heat temperatures to heat the oil up enough to start to thin it out. And since youre dealing with 0.00X clearances between crank bearings, cam bearings, and other various metal to metal surfaces that create heat due to friction, you really need the oil to be at standard operating temperature which is usually right around 210-220F so it can get into those extremely tight points in the motor and lubricate them.

Now, you dont want to do the opposite of that either. You do not want to go and stand on the throttle right when you start the car up either. That can devastating results too. My instructor at UTI recommends to just start up the car and drive. Now, with the older carbureator motors, you sometimes had to let it the car sit at idle for 10 mins with the choke open because it might stall on yah if you didnt. Now with EFI cars, you dont and shouldnt be doing this.....
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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I rarely let the car warm up, even when I do, I only let it idle for 1 min or less.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
  #48  
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Originally posted by Canadian2k1SI
I never warm it, SOuth Texas is warm already.
you and me both man
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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I always let mine warm up for 5-10 minutes when it is colder out. During the summer, i let it run 2 or 3 and thats it
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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Originally posted by cryption
you and me both man
i never warm my car in Houston, unless its cold ( 30 deg. or below)
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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Originally posted by DC5@EM2
This topic is funny because I just went over it at school lately. Im currently a student at Universal Technical Insitute. Honestly, it is really bad to let your car sit at idle to "warm" up with Electronic Fuel Injected cars. The reason being that if you let the car sit there for 10-20 mins idling, its taking a lot longer for the engine to come up to standard engine operating temperatures.

While you let your car sit there, the oil is still staying thick because it doesnt have the regular heat temperatures to heat the oil up enough to start to thin it out. And since youre dealing with 0.00X clearances between crank bearings, cam bearings, and other various metal to metal surfaces that create heat due to friction, you really need the oil to be at standard operating temperature which is usually right around 210-220F so it can get into those extremely tight points in the motor and lubricate them.

Now, you dont want to do the opposite of that either. You do not want to go and stand on the throttle right when you start the car up either. That can devastating results too. My instructor at UTI recommends to just start up the car and drive. Now, with the older carbureator motors, you sometimes had to let it the car sit at idle for 10 mins with the choke open because it might stall on yah if you didnt. Now with EFI cars, you dont and shouldnt be doing this.....
Good write up!! Hes right though it even states in the manual to only let the car warm up for a minute when it is cold no matter how cold it is out too, because the engine does it for you when you get going. Summer usually 20-30 secs is ok!
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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Manual says 30 seconds for warm up only because the O2 sensors need to be warmed up to operate correctly. I give it about 30 seconds when warm, and a minute or so while cold. I never just take off.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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always warm up..

when the engine is cold, the oil is at the bottom.. so less oil on the moving parts.. warm up is definitely needed.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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Only if it is colder than -10 degrees celcius. Otherwise - about 30 secs.
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Old Mar 22, 2004
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I always let my truck warm up a little .... about 3 min in the winter and 30secs to 1min in the summer.... then until i get to operating temps which on my engine is actually around 150, i dont get on it
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Old Mar 23, 2004
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I usually warm it up for 30-60 seconds and go pretty easy on it for the first 5 minutes or so. After that anything goes.
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Old Mar 23, 2004
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I let my baby warm up, more on some days than others.
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Old Mar 23, 2004
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I give it about a minute or two at the most during the winter, and about 30 secs in the summer... just to get the juices flowing...after that, about 2 or 3 minutes of normal driving and the car is warm...
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Old Mar 23, 2004
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I never warm the engine
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Old Mar 25, 2004
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Originally posted by DC5@EM2
This topic is funny because I just went over it at school lately. Im currently a student at Universal Technical Insitute. Honestly, it is really bad to let your car sit at idle to "warm" up with Electronic Fuel Injected cars. The reason being that if you let the car sit there for 10-20 mins idling, its taking a lot longer for the engine to come up to standard engine operating temperatures.

While you let your car sit there, the oil is still staying thick because it doesnt have the regular heat temperatures to heat the oil up enough to start to thin it out. And since youre dealing with 0.00X clearances between crank bearings, cam bearings, and other various metal to metal surfaces that create heat due to friction, you really need the oil to be at standard operating temperature which is usually right around 210-220F so it can get into those extremely tight points in the motor and lubricate them.

Now, you dont want to do the opposite of that either. You do not want to go and stand on the throttle right when you start the car up either. That can devastating results too. My instructor at UTI recommends to just start up the car and drive. Now, with the older carbureator motors, you sometimes had to let it the car sit at idle for 10 mins with the choke open because it might stall on yah if you didnt. Now with EFI cars, you dont and shouldnt be doing this.....
And how long does it take for the car to get at "standard operating temperature"? Either way when you start the car and just go, your motor is STILL at a higher RPM. So, enlighten me on that.

Besides, I am sure the oil needs peaks at "C" when it reaches that proper temperature... which doesn't take "10-20 minutes" whatsoever.

The manual even says not to let your car sit at idle for long periods of time (ie 10-20min)... I am fully aware of that.

But like I said. When I was 16 I cracked a radiator in my '94 topaz during the winter from not warming it up. I started it, waited like 1 or 2 minutes and left... then half a mile later i didn't have heat, i lost power steering, then she broke down. I know/believe that warming my car overall is much better to do in the long run. Every car I have had since I warm it considerably.
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