Warming up vehicles in winter

[cnelk]

Im surprised some dont consider warming up a vehicle a 'fad' or even contribute to the 'nation of wimps'

 

[def90]

Warmup was a thing back when cars had cardboard gaskets. There is no need to warm up any modern car.

 

[AZ8]

I warm up my car every morning before work. At 4:30am, the thing I fear is I walk out after grabbing my coffee and the car is gone!

 

[Cameron.25]

I warm up my car every morning before work. At 4:30am, the thing I fear is I walk out after grabbing my coffee and the car is gone!

This actually happened to me years ago, in a very nice suburb too. Felt like am idiot. I suggest using one of those club wheel locks or similar if you are worried about it

 

[Weldor]

I always warm things up, the only one that has me wondering is newer diesels with intact emissions equipment- idling is no bueno. I still let my superduty warm-up though, It was beat into my head from a young age.

Cummins has a recall out for their emissions, youtube has some great info. on it . Idling is for sure no bueno, soot in the egr and turbo is going to cost you. My old 2006 superduty ate itself from soot, turbo egr etc to the tune of $8000. They are not made like the old days .

 

[5MilesBack]

I will say though, my 6.7 starts like gasser in cold weather unlike my old 7.3 that was very grumpy when it got cold ....

Several years ago we spent the night in Sheridan, WY. The next morning it was something like -20. My 7.3L started up, but was NOT happy about it. One of my daughters said "Daddy, the truck doesn't sound very happy". I replied "No it does not, just like me when I'm cold".

 

[Pony Soldier]

Living in the land of ice, all of my vehicles have plug in heaters for the engines. When the temps get below zero, I plug them in the night before and then remote start the next day. Without that plug in the remote start won't function as temps get -20 and below. As we approach -50 its always an unknown as to what you are going to get. My backup is a propane blower and a tarp for a couple hours.

On my heavy equipment, a half hour warmup is important as metal gets brittle below -40. At a number of the mines, other than servicing they never shut down for weeks to months at a time.

 

[packer58]

Several years ago we spent the night in Sheridan, WY. The next morning it was something like -20. My 7.3L started up, but was NOT happy about it. One of my daughters said "Daddy, the truck doesn't sound very happy". I replied "No it does not, just like me when I'm cold".

Yep, mine would "lope" really bad for 10 - 15 seconds then smooth out. The 7.3 is a great motor, I had 350,000 miles on mine when i sold it last Sept.

 

[mt terry d]

Mine lives in the garage at home so even when it's way cold ( minus 20's 30's) it's about 40 at least when I start it. I do back it out and set it on high idle for a bit before going to warm everything up and make it comfortable. And I'll set it on high idle when I go in for essentials like beer and reloading components . I've slept in it for hours while idling also. As long as the oil pressure is up I can't imagine why there'd be any problem. 2005 cummins.

 

[TSAMP]

For extreme cold........of course I have an engine heater and a battery heater but once the engine is started, I then shift the transmission into neutral from park to circulate fluids and continue the warm up period. If you are running stiff tires, you may have to install tubes as you roll off the flat spot, the bead can separate........happened last night at -50F.

I've had factory 2 rims crack on my F150. Both times during sub zero temps and the vehicle was parked for extended periods then driven. Nearly identical hairline splits on the inner lip.

 

[packer58]

On my heavy equipment, a half hour warmup is important as metal gets brittle below -40. At a number of the mines, other than servicing they never shut down for weeks to months at a time.

Good point from the heavy equipment perspective, I spent my career in the heavy construction industry "Operating Engineers", and although not in a severe cold climate area warming up 5 + gallons of engine oil and 25 + gallons of hydraulic oil was a must.

 

[KurtR]

The week it didn’t get above 0 it was nice pulling out of the 65 degree garage

 

[black dawg]

Ok, but the second the engine is turned over it eventually begins heating up, which would progressively mitigate the issue. It’s also unavoidable. The engine by nature cannot run cold.

yes, it slowly progressively becomes less of an issue as the engine slowly warms up, and that is the argument that the people who put out these articles are trying to push, combustion temps get hotter quicker, and engine warms up quicker being worked. No argument there, but I think the negative effects of warming up slowly are overblown, and the these articles leave out the many more positive effects of the engine warming slowly.

 

[CorbLand]

How is a beater core 2k? I got one for my wife’s Xterra, it cost like 140.00, me and my buddy spent a few hours installing it. It’s like a long aluminum pipe thing.

He’s including labor. Some vehicles you have to pull the entire dash to get to it. It’s not an easy or fun job to do.

 

[stanginthe11s]

Because engines running cold can have some incomplete combustion, leaving fuel on the cylinder walls. This fuel washes away oil on the cylinder walls. This is the theory, and for sure does happen on some scale.

not really true. without getting into it, basically if you have oil in your cylinders you have bigger issues.
the fuel that comes in hot or cold is still atomized to some degree and the fuel does not get pushed to the walls. incomplete burn gets pushed out the exhaust.

honestly, in today's world it doesn't really matter much. it doesn't hurt the motor either way. other than lubrication to the bearings, the engine doesn't care.
transmission fluid flows well hot or cold, and yes idling still raises the temp of the trans.
I warm up my car because I have leather seats and a bad back.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Not really. On my ram 1 ton, unless the transmission has been idling for 5 min or so it won't engage. You may want it to go but it ain't going to happen.

 

[ODB]

yes, it slowly progressively becomes less of an issue as the engine slowly warms up, and that is the argument that the people who put out these articles are trying to push, combustion temps get hotter quicker, and engine warms up quicker being worked. No argument there, but I think the negative effects of warming up slowly are overblown, and the these articles leave out the many more positive effects of the engine warming slowly.

It's interesting that when I start my 2021 tundra or 2012 highlander in the dead cold the RPMs stay at 1200 or so until the engine is fully warm - then they drop to 600-700. They must be programming that in based off of oil or exhaust temp - ot maybe something else. Not sure. All I know if when I started my highlander at -13 last year in Ketchum they last thing I wanted to do was stress it in any way until it sounded happier.

 

[highcountrymuley]

Yes ODB I just got used 2012 highlander and started it at -14* a week or so ago and it did not sound happy! Started up okay and was fine in a few minutes.

 

[Elmer J. Fudd]

I warm up my vehicle so I can see out the windshield. 30 degrees it isn’t necessary. 0 degrees and that thing isn’t blowing warm air for a bit. You get into a car that hasn’t been warmed up and your windows are fogging up you become a safety hazard on the road.

 

[justinspicher]

I let my 96 tacoma warm up, mainly so I can see out of the windshield. I am not worried about it being stolen while its warming up, it is a manual transmission.