Posted on 02/26/2015 2:44:28 PM PST by rickmichaels
The Stegosaurus disappeared more than 100 million years ago, doomed by its tiny brain and a changing world. Then we come to the carburetor, a crude fuel-mixing device that once ruled the automotive universe.
Today, the carburetor is largely extinct, kicked aside by the modern fuel-injection system. Yet millions of drivers still seem to be stuck in the Jurassic Period. I thought of this recently when I watched a man spend 10 minutes warming up a fuel-injected Toyota that could have been driven seconds after it was started.
Few processes are as poorly understood as the cold-weather start. Back in the days of carburetion, a car couldn’t be driven until it was warmed up. Today, warming-up is a counterproductive exercise that wastes fuel, harms the environment and damages your car. Let’s have a look at the science, history and flawed folklore behind the automotive warm-up:
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
Yeah well,that’s all very nice, but around these parts the latest craze, especially during this twenty degrees below average cold spell, is remote start for your car - which allows people to start their cars from within the house and let them run and warm up for several minutes so that they can go hop in and drive away in comfort - behavior can be multi-determined....
Correct, it will not damage the car NOR the environment.
It does affect the oil.
Controlled and even thermal expansion of the engine metal is the key.
Piston driven airplanes need what might seem excessive warmups, but they will be driven at maximum power at take off. Hopefully you don’t need full acceleration out of the driveway.
I warm up my American Made V-8 fossile fuel guzzling Beast to fight this Globull Cooling we are in the midst of.
For Gods Sake man, think of the women and children that are affected the most.
If it gets any worse I am going to start my lawnmowers and weed wackers too!
Don’t forget to come to idle for a period after hard use on any turbo. After cook will kill turbo bearings fast.
My Buick 3.8L V6’s rpms tell me it’s ready to roll.
I don’t think my heated seats turn in until I have been seated in the car. Is this correct?
That is correct for my vehicles, they are self heating, you heat them yourself.
Depends on your manufacturer. Ones I have had started to heat when you turned them on and heated to the setting you set it at. Some might have a switch that over rides and activates only when you sit.
My JD lawnmower won’t start if my grandson wants to mow because of his weight.
Does anyone out there know if this has any effect whatsoever on the operation of a vehicle?
That’s why I got in the habit of using synthetic motor oil during the winter months when I lived in Canada. Its viscosity isn’t affected by the cold the way traditional motor oil is.
Actually the carb had something to do with a warm engine. I’ll admit I no longer work on cars but I once replaced my cast iron intake manifold with a performance aluminum Edelbrock.
Part of the channeling of the manifold carried hot exhaust gas under the plenum to insure gasoline droplet vaporization. There was a thermostatic control valve which regulated the hot gas.
I have a fuel injected Subaru wagon that runs like crap unless it warms up for 10+ minutes. On real cold days of course not in general.
Yep.
I hear it’s a liability thing.
My JD lawnmower won’t start if my grandson wants to mow because of his weight.
It really is a good idea to allow the oil to reach a reasonable viscosity and the cylinders to get round before you rev the engine hard. (Not so much for the synthetics, which are great.)
OTOH, seat heaters get me into the car a lot faster. ;-)
Watched our liberal down the street every morning going to work at a college theater....1.start car and 2. let out clutch and speed engine to take off up the hill. All in about 3 or 4 seconds tops. EVERYDAY. -5 temps or 75... Was about 3 yrs and he had to get rid of the car. No Joke.
People warm up the car now so they aren’t driving inside a freezing car. Duh.
Some people might like the sound frozen testicles make when they klink together, but I for one, do not.
It’s always good to start right out when it’s zero and the oil is the consistency of Jello and your breath fogs the windshield
Back in the 50’s, my dad had a trick to help start the 52 chev. He would put an electric heater on the intake manifold so the fuel would be preheated. It was -20F at the time. Worked like a charm. Never had a fire, although I worried that it might happen. Fuel leaks were common back in those days.
All this speculation about cold engine oil is absolutely correct. Todays engines are tighter tolerance and some have roller bearing valve trains that require more cold start oiling. Engineers have determined 40% of normal engine wear is the result of dry starts, hence their requirements of thinner and thinner oil.
Indy car engines are not started without pre-heating the oil as well as the coolant and even after startup they are carefully taken to operating temperature. They use 0-5wt. oils and there is talk of using 0-0 wt oil.
I have a small motorhome with a Ford v-10 that the factory says use 5-20 oil and the previous owner had 10-30 Pennzoil put in it. Hydraulic lifter tick on start up for 10-15 seconds. I had the oil changed to Valvoline 5-20 and by the 8th or 10th start up the tick was gone and pressures were normal. I just gotta get the 10-40, 20-50 mentality flushed outta my brain. Lawdy, lawdy, help me with the straight 50wt in my Cessna!!!! Thick oil equals wear.
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