Oil temp on cold start

[Joker]

I noticed at Mega meet the number of you fools who thought it was a good idea to Idle you damn Boxer motors for 5 mins before driving

whats the general concenceus and can we get an expert opinion from someone credible please

My recommendation just start it and drive, dont fang* till water temp is up.

*fang = sustained high boost/redline gear changes

[funkytown]

 JoKer said:

the number of you fools....

Think you have already made your opinion known..

I would say start, leave for 10-20seconds for oil to spread then drive conservitivly unles it comes up to temperature then "fang it"

Left to warm up from idle (imo) leaves all the parts to cold for way to long.. doing more harm than good, nothing comes up to temp for a long time

[Guest]

+1

Don't see the point of letting the car idle to bring the oil up to 'operating temperature.' What about the gearbox oil? Idling won't really do much for it, lol. It's also funny when some guys in the winter leave their cars running for a good 10 mins so it can ''warm up.'' Why? Just start it up, wait 15-20 secs and drive off, keeping the revs below 3k. Once oil is up to temp (usually takes 7-10 miles) then you can start to hammer it.

Again, people will have differing opinions - just like on what oil is best for your motor. 0w50 or 10w50? Too thin, too thick? ;D

[BC5RA]

Start it, and drive it straight away.

That's the best way, end of story.

[Joker]

if your idling more than 30 seconds you are wasting gas...

[nztintin]

when your only getting 2 laps on the track then it doesn't give much time for warm up does it? my car ran all afternoon pretty much, never let it get cold so don't need to warm it up.

as for normal days, start it, wait for lights to go off on dash, drive it not hitting boost till after the oil temp gauge come up to 80ish.

[Joker]

Dyno however has been known to finish a few cars - possibly due to cold runs (your car is also a slight more powerfull when no heat-soak etc)

[Koom]

The water temp will generally get up to temp before the oil temp, so it pays to give it more time to warm up than just watching the water.

Normal driving I will generally start it up, make sure the oil pressure guage rises and then drive off slowly until it reaches operating temp.

When at the track I'll just about always start it up and leave it to idle till at least the water is up to temp, this way it doesn't take as long on the outlap before the engine is up to temp. The gearbox and diff is another story but I've usually driven to the track so rely on a bit of heat remaining in those.

All the competition vehicles that I run get warmed up to full engine operating temperature before they get driven anywhere. Its just how I've been shown and how everyone else in pit lane does it.

p.s. I do sometimes leave my car idling for 5-10mins in winter to warm up so that the inside of the car is up to "operating temperature" and so I that I can get in it and the heater is firing away at full heat But thats cause I'm a North Islander living in the freezing south and I still haven't gotten used to -10 frosts.

[Joker]

hah yea interior operating temp can be worth sacrificing 5 mins of gas!

[G-unit]

remember reading dads hsv manual and in there it said,letting warm up idling is a waste of gas,if the ozzys know that then we should haha

i never boost when could,other mates kane it straight from 1st start up and theres are still going so who knows

[pl0x]

Mhm always wonder about this, i just start drive straight away, once water temp is up i dont really worry about it anymore,

What about after awhile of driving then turning off for say 5mins then jumping back in? i drive off then wait maybe 1min before id boost

[Guest keltik]

I grew up being told "go start the cars up son" half hour before anyone was leaving to give the snow time to melt off. The smell of two v8's idling on half choke will stay with me forever.

Total waste of time doing that in a temperate climate. Only advantage is of course heating the cabin up. The volvo manuals i read say that idling the car is bad (even in sweden) and your better off just getting in and driving to warm it up.

[Disruptz]

I got a bung piston from not letting it warm up on tuesday morning,. yeh? freezing cold that morning like 2C or sum'n, was late for work,..started it up. Let it run for 10-15secs then left my miss'z place up the drive way, once I got to work noticed a slight "smoggy" haze from the bonnet, took a look with the mechanics nxt to my work.. and boom a bung ring.

*ive always let it warm up for abwt, 3minz, just on the C* on the thermo.

[Guest dynofiend]

Letting the engine idle only warms the engine and does it at very low rpms, which often doesnt allow enough oil into the bearings to float them properly before the oil has warmed up.

Driving the car conservatively (below 3k rpm) will warm all your fluids, engine, tranny, diff, brakes etc, and keeping the engine above idle speed will save excess wear on your bearings.

Your idle speeds are only set where they are in order to save fuel and prevent excess heat building up at a standstill.

Trackdays are something different I guess, but you should still have some residual heat in the oil at most times, so you shouldnt really need to be letting the car idle much. Better would be to do an extra warm up lap.

Same goes for the cool down laps, better to do one extra lap cool down (off the brakes!) than letting the car sit on a turbotimer in the pits.

[Glen]

Well my drive to work only takes four minutes so I like to let the damn thing warm up a bit before I leave. Otherwise it only just reaches water temp by the time I get there!

[Guest dynofiend]

Doesnt matter if its warm by the time it gets there. If you just get in and drive to work, the engine will turn (rpms) less times than if you let it sit for 5 mins. So letting it warm up at idle before you set off, causes more wear (low rpms means bearings dont get floated by oil the same way as they do at 2-3k rpm), uses more fuel, and takes longer!

PS - Four minute drive!? Can you not walk or cycle the 3 or 4kms that relates to?

[Glen]

No. It's too cold. And I can't be arsed.

[Swindog]

 Glen said:

No. It's too cold. And I can't be arsed.

I guess you didnt vote for the greens then lol :-*

[Glen]

Vote for who?

[log1call]

Don't try and confuse the issue with good practical reason Dynofiend. That's not what we got subarus for.

[Guest dynofiend]

Haha fair point ;D

[Old Skool Subbie]

 dynofiend said:

Doesnt matter if its warm by the time it gets there. If you just get in and drive to work, the engine will turn (rpms) less times than if you let it sit for 5 mins. So letting it warm up at idle before you set off, causes more wear (low rpms means bearings dont get floated by oil the same way as they do at 2-3k rpm), uses more fuel, and takes longer!

PS - Four minute drive!? Can you not walk or cycle the 3 or 4kms that relates to?

I got told that for diesel truck/bus engines. Idling causes more wear. apprantly if you let it idal for it to warm up it does as much wear as if driving from chch to ashburton lol

[Old Skool Subbie]

But on a very cold winters day etc...

I always let my old carbed subarus time to warm up.

They get carby freeze badly in the cold. Since the carb/carbs are quite a distance away from the block.

If I jump straight in and take off it can stall at a intersection etc and take a bit to get it started :

If I warm it up then I dont seem to stall, and if I do I can get it started right away

[Swindog]

Thats why auto chokes were designed. Start and drive away.

Most mechanics will say leave it for 30 sec to a min but other than that theres no harm unless you have forged or undersized pistons. BUt even then only need a couple of minutes.

[Guest dynofiend]

 Old Skool Subbie said:

But on a very cold winters day etc...

I always let my old carbed subarus time to warm up.

They get carby freeze badly in the cold. Since the carb/carbs are quite a distance away from the block.

If I jump straight in and take off it can stall at a intersection etc and take a bit to get it started :

If I warm it up then I dont seem to stall, and if I do I can get it started right away

Carbies are a different matter if you are getting carb freeze. Can make things tricky if you get a stuck plate! I think most people here are talking about oil temps though

Your oil (unless you are running some horrible old mineral grade) will be quite happy to operate in pretty cold temps, and again, the best way to warm cold oil, is to drive, not let the engine idle, no matter what. If you are getting super low temps (below -10C), best to use a different grade of oil in winter than leave the car idling on its 'summer' oil to warm it.

As for leaving it for a short while to allow oil pressure to build and for oil to get to everywhere it needs to get before driving off. This will occur within about 3 seconds of the engine being started.