Posted on 12/24/2022 4:20:36 PM PST by vespa300
The winter is already brutal on your car because of the conditions, but drivers can make things harder by turning on the vehicle to let it warm up before driving.
One thing some do when the temperatures are cold outside is to start the car and let the engine warm up a few seconds before driving. Several auto experts believe this may not be conducive to preserving the engine.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox10phoenix.com ...
But it’s ok to let your EV warm up. Give me a break..
Being that I don’t give a rats ass about climate change or preserving the environment for future generations, I always make extra sure to hit the accelerator so as extra more carbon monoxide go s into the environment.
This is just article is just crap and written by people that have no idea what they are talking about.
You don’t have to make the car cabin toasty.. but warming the engine and also starting slowly when driving especially in sub-zero is essential to the car. The super low viscosity oils (5W-X) make warming less essential but you don’t want to place the engine under load until lubrication is flowing. IF you are using 10W-30 or higher this becomes even more essential in sub-zero. But every part of the car is more susceptible to damage from shocks and stress at low temperatures so gentle driving for that first half mile is also a good idea.
“The opposite is true. Engines are designed to operate at around 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit for optimum wear and performance. I have rebuilt engines that were run without thermostats for extended periods of time. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Absolutely... Finally someone addressed “minimum operating temperature”. This is imperative for the mechanical tolerances. The bearings, pistons, all moving parts have optimum tigher tolerances and less clearance at operating temperature. Before that they are loose and putting them under load does damage.
Aside from the fact that an engine puts out less emissions driving at proper operating temperature than they do when cold. This is why most newer cars are designed to run at just under boiling temp. The idea is to run hotter and burn the fuel and put out fewer emissions.
So driving it cold uses more fuel and produces more emissions than letting it idle cold. Idling cold will still put out slightly higher emissions but it still much less than driving it cold because it is requiring less fuel idling cold than driving it cold before it is at a tempt to properly and fully burn the fuel.
That is it, in a nutshell. Exactly right!
Same goes for boats in cold weather, except they warm up faster under load. While still at the dock, put it in gear at low rpm until the temperature gauge starts to rise. This assumes you have secured the boat properly with fore and aft spring lines as well as bow and stern lines
In Alaska there are gasoline/diesel engine that idle for hours on end during the Winter. My relatives there have never noticed excessing engine wear from that.
Most mornings, the temperature was -30 to -40F during mornings of the 6 week deep freeze. I could have waited hours for the truck to warm up. Basically the truck got whatever warm up time I needed to brush the snow off before heading out. I could have idled the engine for an hour and it would just bump the temperature gauge up a tiny bit.
The engine would be a bit sluggish pumping the cold oil but the biggest obvious impact was to the transmission. Very sluggish in changing gears. The transmission would warm up enough to start shifting sort of normally about 8 miles into my 12 mile commute. As far as the heater goes, the engine never got hot enough to blow actual hot air for 3 months. On the commute, I would feel a hint of warm air when pulling into the office parking lot. Truck mpg really suffered - it was about 15-20% less than my southeastern US normal.
I did one 100 mile drive and it was an hour into the trip before the cab of my truck was warm enough to take off the parka. It's why bother though, I'd just need to stop for something and have to wiggle back into the parka. Lol..
Most mornings, the temperature was -30 to -40F during mornings of the 6 week deep freeze. I could have waited hours for the truck to warm up. Basically the truck got whatever warm up time I needed to brush the snow off before heading out. I could have idled the engine for an hour and it would just bump the temperature gauge up a tiny bit.
The engine would be a bit sluggish pumping the cold oil but the biggest obvious impact was to the transmission. Very sluggish in changing gears. The transmission would warm up enough to start shifting sort of normally about 8 miles into my 12 mile commute. As far as the heater goes, the engine never got hot enough to blow actual hot air for 3 months. On the commute, I would feel a hint of warm air when pulling into the office parking lot. Truck mpg really suffered - it was about 15-20% less than my southeastern US normal.
I did one 100 mile drive and it was an hour into the trip before the cab of my truck was warm enough to take off the parka. It's why bother though, I'd just need to stop for something and have to wiggle back into the parka. Lol..
I was working up in SE Alaska during the summer. Reasonably warm (60 to 70) but very wet. They left their trucks running all day long with the heat on so the electronics wouldn’t get wet.
IIRC it was more of a problem with their Fords.
Ah yes, Car Talk. That NPR show.
They never get around to describing the “expensive’ damage warming up does to the engine, they just keep repeating the claim. Oil being too thick and cold to do the job is the only danger I know of. In modern engines with modern oils 30 seconds of idle and then driving gently to start probably won’t do any damage to speak of. It will warm the car up faster.
“Hemi 5.7 cam/lifter failure has been laid off on insufficient engine lubrication when idling. Recommendation is to start and drive.“
True as I recall for that particular engine. Design flaw.
I suppose we could always do what the Krauts and the Ruskies did in WWII: Build a fire under the engine before trying to start it.
Most of the wear in an engine occurs during startup when the oil is cold and thick. Aircraft engine manufacturers recommend preheating to make the oil more viscous. This is done either with forced air, heating pads, ring heaters around the cylinder heads or a combination. Aircraft engines cost 5x - 10x what a car engine costs. I preheat the engine in both my airplanes even in the summertime. When they start after preheating it’s as if they’ve been running for hours. Without preheat the oil pressure is slow to come up, the engine runs rough for several minutes, etc. After wrenching on tractors, airplanes, cars, motorcycles and boats for nearly 50 years my experience says this is BS.
As a 50+ year gearhead, I can tell you this article was written for ONE REASON ONLY... to reduce gasoline use.
Carbureted engines will run rich when the choke is on, and that can wash oil from cylinder walls until the choke comes off. The choke often stay on until the accelerator is used.
Modern fuel injected engines (basically every vehicle made in the last 30 years) are programmed to shut off the cold start mode when no longer needed. No excess cylinder wear caused by cylinder wall oil dilution.
Another car care article written solely from a “green” perspective, with all other considerations ignored. I suspect the authors couldn’t differentiate between an oxygen sensor and a spark plug.
So much ignorance - willful or otherwise - in circulation these days.
In real cold weather I start the car with a remote and let that baby warm for ten, maybe even 20 minutes.
If I don’t warm it up, the transmission THUNKS when I put it into reverse.
Is this true?
NO it’s the worst thing to do is drive a cold engine it’s bad for seals the cylinders are true round when cold more oval it hard on the rings and all moving parts belts bearings.
Oil is thicker and won’t lube as well.
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