The biggest load of bs car advice, fearing for the future of auto knowledge

No need to let it idle for more than a minute.

No reason to fear an article that is correct.
 
Yep, some stupid BS from someone that never picked up a wrench in their life.

I've always said that excessive idling isn't good, and I'll agree that modern cars, without carburetors and chokes will run better in the cold, and therefore don't really need to warm up. Although, back before fuel injection was common, if your carb and choke were set up right, you could drive away on any day that was above 10 degrees without "warming it up".

Warming the car up is more about comfort than anything... and getting the windows defrosted. You can scrape all the ice you want to... I'll hit the remote start and let the car do the work. The older I get, the less tolerant of cold I am. I can dress for working outside and I'm fine.... Dressing for a car ride to the grocery store doesn't involve thermal underwear and a hat lined with rabbit fur, so the first couple of miles in a cold car are just that... Cold... And things hurt when I'm cold. Heated seats and steering wheel help, but I want more than my butt warm. BTW, what about that heated steering wheel? A gift from the gods! My new snow blower has heated hand grips too!
 
The weather in my area is -2 degrees right now. There is no way I am going to drive any of my cars without warming it up first.
 
If you throw the phrase

warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine

into a google search, you'll get a lot of stuff, posted recently, and also this time last year, etc.

Many claim in the title that warming up from a cold start on a cold day is more damaging to the engine vs just starting and driving away, but when you read the article they usually end up just saying that you don't need to let it warm up, the engine is fully lubed in 20-30 seconds so just drive and it will warm up faster.

If letting it idle for 10 minutes actually causes damage, then stopping at every red light is causing damage.

I then found this one, which I can't figure out the physics for:


December 23, 2022

----------
“If you’re one of the many drivers who finds it important to start your car and let it sit for a while before driving in wintry weather, you could be doing more harm than good to your engine,” says Firestone.

In a blog post on its website, Smart Motors Toyota says that letting your car idle in cold temperatures can shorten the life of your engine by removing oil from the engine’s pistons and cylinders — two critical components in your engine Helping the engine run, Stephen Ciatti, Ph.D., senior battery systems engineer at PACCAR, told Business Insider in 2016.

Gas powered cars need oil to keep their engines lubricated. When you start a car, an oil pump circulates the oil in less than a minute. But when you idle your car to warm up the interior, the oil slowly drains from the engine’s key components because the engine isn’t moving the car.

“Less oil means more friction, more wear and less engine life,” says Firestone.

While some people idle their cars to warm up the interior, others may be trying to protect their engine due to outdated guides.
----------
 
I believe that in warmer climates, driving upon startup is ok.
However, if temperatures get below zero, I think that it is best to warm the car up. Oils thicken in cold weather and they would provide less lubrication. I’ve even noticed different shift points in similar situations between warmer and colder than $hit weather.
My unscientific opinion.
 
Drive off in a cold car, in freezing temperatures while your windows frost over, and you can’t see where your going.
That will shorten the life of the car, and possibly the driver.
There’s no shortage of idiots out there.
 
Someone following this priceless advice got a ticket here in this state, State Trooper hands out $533 Neg Driving ticket to numbskull who drove 5 miles "erratically" with just a tiny spot of snow cleared from windshield, none from rest of car, and blamed it on inop wipers.
 
No need to let it idle for more than a minute.

No one in their right mind who hadn't ever read the internet would do this is they were lucky enough to have their car start on a morning like this, and not everyone has a garage, we have none.

P1100460.JPG


Warming the car up is more about comfort than anything... and getting the windows defrosted.

And safety. Comfort, and safety.

At Ryder Truck, they said "Safety is no accident", and they weren't joking. A write up per infraction, a maximum of 3 ever and out the door, for as little as not wearing safety glasses on the shop floor.

Safety really is no accident.

It's not even possible to drive a car this cold without warning it up. On old Mopar with a stick, and the engine has to be idled for a while just to let the clutch out, otherwise the drag from the 90W will kill the engine like if you let the clutch out in gear.

It's sad and ironic that this bunk info has to pass for Gospel "cause it's on the net" while climate extremes are seriously upon us.


Twain said it best 'Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.' so this post is certainly not to argue this point, but just to let people know that yes, you can idle your car, for days if you liked.

If stuck in in, to survive, but

Truckers do idle for days and nights.

A DIESEL MAKES NO POWER COLD. Good luck driving that big Dodge Ram 2500/3500 from dead cold, it ain't happening.

In AK where temps hit -80º (50 state record) north of Fairbanks, they might never shut engines off.

Police and Taxi, lots of idling, DOES NOT "WASH THE OIL" OFF THE CYLINDERS, as claimed in the article.

Lugging is bad, but idling will be ok if you have good oil pressure and a good running in engine in good mechanical condition.

Warming up an engine to operating temp is a must for me.

If you have a noisy lifter, like one of my 318's, do let it quiet down before driving. It might be inconvenient to wait but not nearly as much as a collapsed lifter that pops out its bore after the pushrod falls out.
 
Last edited:
There is no cure for stupid! It is the duty of any adult who possesses even a modest amount of intelligence to think and apply reason and good sense to any information we recieve. Even if the information is offered by someone who believes it, it may be false, misunderstood or misapplied. Then there is "information" that is intended to mislead. We are familiar with the phrase, "Buyer, beware", remember "Listener, beware".
I'll stop now, before this becomes "political"
Merry Christmas! Lindsay
 
No one in their right mind who hadn't ever read the internet would do this is they were lucky enough to have their car start on a morning like this, and not everyone has a garage, we have none.

View attachment 572898










A DIESEL MAKES NO POWER COLD. Good luck driving that big Dodge Ram 2500/3500 from dead cold, it ain't happening.


Warming up an engine to operating temp is a must for me.
I've owned Dodge diesels since they put a Cummins engine in them and can tell you you're wrong.

At the -30 temp. you're showing a vehicle will idle for hours and never get to full operating temp.

Since you brought up diesel trucks they are equipped with a high idle for long term idling.
Wet stacking - Wikipedia
 
Most newer cars have remote start from the factory simply for the warm-up process. I wonder if that Firestone guy sprung that info on the car manufacturers.
My 99 Chrysler LHS had remote start and it got used every morning and evening before I drove it during the winter months in Wisconsin. If it was being damaged you would have thought it would have shown up sometime during the 340000 + miles I put on it before selling it to the neighbor kid. He drove it for about a year before crashing it with no engine troubles. I do however, buy into the theory that idling the 5.7 hemi engines doesn't do them any favors. Mostly because the cam lobes don't get properly oiled from what I've read. For that reason, I don't idle my 05 300C much even when it is warmed up.
 
My 99 Chrysler LHS had remote start and it got used every morning

Now becoming illegal as "puffer crimes" are being blamed for additional hit/run, robbery etc crimes.

So far living in the PNW, never heard of engine damage from warming up cars, people stealing cars idling is the problem, now the person leaving the car running is being charged with a crime.
 
I've owned Dodge diesels since they put a Cummins engine in them and can tell you you're wrong.

I refuse to own any diesels, way in the sticks no way to plug in.

I'm a Diesel/Heavy Equipment Repair program grad (1991), worked in the industry for decades, never heard of anyone driving any diesel trucks from cold, much more so than gas powered.

Right now Diesels are gelled up all over the sides of the highways in Montana from the cold that hit - 50º this week, causing dangerous obstructions in low visibility.

Asking the internet if you should warm up a brand new diesel pickup, I get this, a common sense 7 minutes in cold weather.


Screen Shot 2022-12-25 at 9.59.13 AM.png
 
Trucks stalled because of gelled fuel typically bought fuel in a warm climate and did not put in the proper non-gelling additive and/or were not paying attention to the climate they were heading into.

Operator error, has nothing to do with idling before driving.
 
I do agree w/ @Loadrunner engine warm up does have many benefits. First critical lubrication to the upper valve train specifically the valve guides. To drive off w/o warm up in 30-degree weather or less accelerates scuffing and in the first 10 minutes. It is quite noticeable on engines w/ independent stamped rocker arms w/ ball pivots. They will show heavy grooving of the rocker ball and the rocker arm itself. The same holds true for engine bearing wear at the furthest reaching points of the engine oiling system. Another point of premature wear is the piston skirts. On initial drive off w/o warm up the pistons have not fully expanded in there bore. The center of the piston skirt will wear as result. Modern engines are not exempt from the impact of this either w/ their more complexed VVC systems. As for the topic on oil circulation, properly done oil changes w/ the correct viscosity of oil at correct maintenance intervals. The oil pressure and volume at idle is more than adequate for a properly maintained engines. Cheap oil can skew the findings on engine warm up, simply don't use it. Cheap oil is not up to the task. Lastly all of the above will impact engine durability and performance. Be careful what you believe is true. Speculation w/o facts to back it up only invites failure.
 
Now becoming illegal as "puffer crimes" are being blamed for additional hit/run, robbery etc crimes.

So far living in the PNW, never heard of engine damage from warming up cars, people stealing cars idling is the problem, now the person leaving the car running is being charged with a crime.
Stealing a car that has been started by remote is not as easy as one would think. The doors are locked and the alarm is set just as if it were not running. If someone breaks in, the alarm goes off and the engine shuts down. I agree it is illegal to leave your car idling while you go buy a six pack of beer with the key in the ignition. However the remote start function is not a crime in the USA.
 
I agree it is illegal to leave your car idling while you go buy a six pack of beer with the key in the ignition.
Yet, in your state and mine, you know this happens all the time, no matter the weather, but especially in winter.

I can't shut off my little daily driver, got it back from my stepson, and it was run low on oil so it seizes after you shut it off. So I let it idle wherever I go, and shut it off when I'm home. Or when I'll be busy for the hour plus it takes to cool down so I can start it. I start it and I'm driving within 30 seconds if the windows are clear.
 
Last I heard Colorado was still part of the Union.


"If you are the one out of three Coloradans who leave their vehicle unattended while it warms up, beware because this week is Puffer Week and you might just get busted for the illegal act."

Puffing leading cause of auto theft in Colorado
engine warm up does have many benefits.

Absolutely, and one is engine life and not the reverse.

While in Automotive school many decades ago, before Heavy Equipment Repair, I had an apartment right over the freeway, all downhill, and I've never lost an engine so fast in a car, getting on the freeway every morning still basically cold ruined the engine in just a few months.

My next car was a '66 Monaco wagon 9 passenger 383, triple tanks, the original owner, friend's Dad from my neighborhood, bragged about driving "from here to insert crazy destination here" without gassing up.

That one I warmed up religiously every morning, same freeway route, warm engine only, and like a good C body wagon, it never let me down.
 
I work on calibrating diesels at the OEM level. At -40 it can take 1-2 minutes for oil to make it to all critical components. The warmup from -40 to 20-30F doesn't take long but they absolutely will not make it up to thermostat temperature from idling, they can run for days at a time and it won't happen.

On the modern diesels it isn't recommended to extended idle them as it isn't good for hydrocarbon collection in the aftertreatment system, on the turbo as it will foul the VGT mechanism, and it isn't good for the DPF either. People still do it though. My suggestion is to start it, let it run for ~5 minutes, then drive normally. After 5 minutes it's already warm enough that engine wear isn't a concern.

With the right winter blend fuel they'll typically start unassisted at -30F too, without a block heater. It can happen at -40 but the batteries need to be in tip top shape for it to happen, and you also need the right weight engine oil.
 
Back
Top