Sorry if i posted this in the wrong section of the board.............
I am looking to see what people think about letting your j-body warm up before taking off.
Is it good or bad to have your car ideling for a few minutes before you take off, or should you just start up the car and shove her in gear and go.
I always let my car sit there and run for a few minutes to heat the engine up a bit before taking off, even in the summer; my car feels like @!#$ when the engine is totally cold after sitting for 9 hours then just taking off right away.
What do you guys do and suggest?????????
Thanks.





98 j-body sedan

doesn't hurt, let's the oil flow to the top of the engine before driving it.

I always let it idle for a few to make sure the oil pressure is there before just taking off.


Desert Tuners

“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”

My old man tells me he heard that its not good to let the car sit there running; but then again he drives a civic and now swears by honda.......,lol





98 j-body sedan

The only thing its not good for is the enviorment.

On cold days my car idles for 20min-30min in the morning. Mainly because its cold and cold leather on my back sucks....

I never, ever start my car and go. Tons of my coworkers do though, I cringe when I see it! Literally the door slams shut and the reverse lights turn on. Ugh...

Quote:

On cold days my car idles for 20min-30min in the morning. Mainly because its cold and cold leather on my back sucks....

x2 ('cept I don't have leather)... and on the mornings where my heater actually works is another story.

Oh man, I went to a community college. When a class let out, you could sit in the parking lot and watch several people start their cars, put it right in gear, and then chirp the tires all the way through first. I cringe everytime.

Personally I let it warm up for 20-30 seconds, just to let the oil get around.


"The Blue Bullet"

from what i read, if you just hop in and go, it's all right as long as you don't floor it and beat the piss out of it. A short warm up isn't always possible. So pulling out of your driveway and onto the highway, bad. Pulling out of your driveway and calmly bring it to 30mph, s'ok.


Best quarter mile to date - 15.750 @ 85.82
"We ride together, we die together. Bad Boys for life"

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If its Spring/Summer and nice out, I usually start it and let it run for about 10/15 seconds before going. In the Winter I always warm it up for about 10/15 minutes so the engine gets going, battery charges and the heater is already warm.

i had an old 89 Buick Regal, one day after school on a extremly cold day i come out of school jumped in the car and took off like a bat out of h#ll. Next time i started the car i had a tappin and then spun a bearin haha. From then on i always let my car sit and idle for atleast a minute before i take off

I need to let it warm up. If its really cold outside, my shifter is really stiff and it makes it a bitch to shift, lol.

Hey dudes... think about the environment! 1-2 MINUTES in the WINTER is way enough. 'Course you'll freeze your ass a bit but dang....


Cheers,

G

no point at all letting just idle for a few minutes. either get it up to full operating temperature before driving or you may as well just drive away instead of wasting fuel. the only exception to this are very cold days (-20 c degrees and under), in this case you can let it idle for like 10 minutes before you drive. but if you live in an area where the climate at winter is this bad, you may as well use your block heater and plug it in. why waste fuel when you can get the car warmed up as soon as you get inside it (if you read your car manual this is very recommended). plus yes there's also the environmental factor, letting all the exhaust out for such a long time without even moving. bottom line is fall/summer/spring no point letting it idle for minutes. you're just wasting fuel and you're not saving your engine unless you let it reach operating temp and that on a very cold day can take as much as 15 to 20 minutes. by letting it idle for a minute and then driving at moderate speed you'll cut warm up time in half if not more. winter is the exception, for anything above -20 c or so let it idle for a minute or so, anything below use a block heater whenever possible.

If the car has been sitting for a full day (or more ) in the spring / summer / fall, I let it idle for 10-20 sec then head off.

In the winter I do the same except give it 30-60sec and then head off.

I find this way it heats up the car much much faster than letting it idle. Basically as long as you don't beat on the car until it's warmed up it should be fine.

GBro wrote:Hey dudes... think about the environment! 1-2 MINUTES in the WINTER is way enough. 'Course you'll freeze your ass a bit but dang....

Im more concerned about being comfortable when im driving to work and not having my teeth chatter for the first 20 minutes of my drive. @!#$ hippy.

I have never ever let my car sit there and idle. As soon as the door shuts it is in gear.

Oil pressure is achieved within 1 second of starting the engine, it is almost fully built up before the car is started.

It will get to operating temp, way faster when driving then let it sit there and waste gas idling, doing nothing.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

I fire it up and set about a half minute or so on really cold days, then drive conservatively until the temp gauge is on its way up before I think of trying anything agressive. Warmer days only gets a few seconds to allow the oil to get circulating. Comfort aside, the engine will ALWAYS warm up faster under load/use than just setting there idling. Generally not good for diesel engines, you're only wasting fuel in our compression engines. If you want a faster warmup, then use a block heater.

Rob S wrote:It will get to operating temp, way faster when driving then let it sit there and waste gas idling, doing nothing.

If nothing means circulating the cold thick oil to the top of the engine, then I definately would rather let it sit there doing nothing.

It only gets to operating temp WAY FASTER that way, because you're forcing it to.

i just start the car, wait like 5-10 seconds then go. winter or not, doesnt matter to me

I let my car warm up for about 2-3 mins before going anywhere. If you are not running full synthetic your oils a thicker at colder temperature and will need to warm up a little to flow better around the engine. Imagine running the thicker oil and it not lubricating you engine properly. Plus letting it idle for a 1min or two in the sumer allow the oil to circulate before driving. Remember the oil settles to the oil pan when the car is off. That is why you check you oil after you car has been sitting for a while.


2004 Grand Prix GTP (Competition Group)
SOLD-->1999 Z24 5M-#30 to register on JBO
"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people'
all the time

Rob S wrote:I have never ever let my car sit there and idle. As soon as the door shuts it is in gear.

Oil pressure is achieved within 1 second of starting the engine, it is almost fully built up before the car is started.

It will get to operating temp, way faster when driving then let it sit there and waste gas idling, doing nothing.

Your right,. It will heat up faster if your driving. However..

1. Its much more comfortable to Hit a button when I wake up and have my car warm when i get to it, then to go out and let it warm up as i drive

2. Your not wasting much gas, not enough to notice it

3. Its not doing "nothing"

yea I always let my car warm up to operating temp, if not then sometimes I'll sit until its around 115 degrees then I just keep my shifting at low rpms around 3 grand until its at operating temp. Trust me jumping in your car for 5 seconds isnt enough I did that with my old 2200 and that caused all times of problems. 5 seconds your idle hasnt even stabilized yet

theres an artical in this months popular mechanic about 10 car myths, this being one of them, they say it isnt doing anything better for the car

well thats obviously not true. Ever use Lucas Motor Additive or Tranny Additive. See how long it takes those two to warm up in a car. If you have a heavy oil its going to take longer to thin out and travel through the motor. If your car has a specific Operating Temp don't you think its a reason for that? lol