Are Cold Starts Bad? Should you Idle or Just Drive to Warm Up? 

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I used to do engine and transmission rebuilds in my younger days. When the engine is cold the piston rings, bushings, and bearings are tight. Does not matter if it is a new type of engine or an older type engine. The thermal co-efficiency of the various metal parts are not exactly the matched and are nearly impossible to be exactly matched, and the cooler oil does not lubricate as well as when it is hot. The worse thing you can do is race an engine when it is cold. This makes for excessive wear, and can promote early failure. When starting in the cold let the engine idle for about 1 minute max. On an extremely cold day you can idle it a bit longer. Remember, when starting on a cold day the transmission is also cold. Start driving but very gently. Don't drive a cold engine hard until it warms up. It will warm up faster when driven. Once the engine and transmission are at normal temperature you can drive the car normally, or if you want to drive it a bit harder. With any engine and transmission, if you drive it easy all the time everything will last longer. Make sure you do your oil changes and maintenance on schedule. Driving hard will make for quicker ware of parts, burn more gasoline, and will shorten the lifespan of the tires. The need for making stops from higher speed and aggressive driving will also wear down the breaks much faster. Hard drivers make the service centers more rich!

I never sit and purposefully wait for the engine to warm up, however I don't just drive off the second the engine is running. Normally, as soon as I get in, the first thing I do is start the car. After that I go on my phone, connect to bluetooth, pick a song on spotify, chuck my vape in the cup holder, take off my coat, just basically do a bunch of boring "getting ready to drive" stuff. Once I'm done with all of that and the seatbelt is fastened, the car had been idling for at least a couple of minutes, which imo is enough to start driving. I still don't rev it high, since I live in the city there aren't many opportunities to red line it anyway. I drive normally, changing gears at 3000 RPM max. By the time I get to the motorway/highway the engine should be warm enough to floor it.

I live in the frozen tundra known as Minnesota. In the winter, i let my vehicle idle for a good 5-10 minues before I take off. During that time, i scrape the windshield and dust off any snow. By that time, I'm ready to go. I still take it slow until I get to the main road. By that time, I'm getting heat.

I don’t care how late I am I’m not moving till the rpms drop.

there's definitely a happy medium. On exceptionally cold mornings I start it up and wait until I start feeling some heat in my heated seat before I get moving, which is usually less than a minute or two. The key is I NEVER rev the car above 2500 or so until the engine is fully up to temperature. Depending on your commute and if you need to get on the highway or not you may want to wait a little longer. My house is a pretty good distance from the highway, about 10 minutes drive to the onramp so no issues there but from work its literally about 30 seconds to the onramp so often I'll wait until the temperature gauge starts to move until I take off. Switching to full synthetic oil is a good idea too since it has better cold flow than regular oil.

Modern cars are so fuel efficient that they will not burn enough fuel at idle to sufficiently warm the engine in any reasonable amount of time. Best to allow them to warm up for a minute or two and then drive off slowly and keep your revs below about 2500 rpm.

Hey man you made a great point about the engine idling with cooler oil and that possibly causing damage over the long run. But, you also don't want to RAPIDLY unleash the volley of combustion (immediately gunning it to the freeway without giving it a minute or two). Not letting your car idle for a minute or two before putting the engine and transmission under strain (transitioning from cold to hot rapidly) puts extra wear the engine metals and materials causing them to expand and contract faster than a gradual temperature increase. I think the answer is in the middle. Give it a minute or two to warm then start driving, not taking off immediately or letting it warm up too slowly and circulating that cold oil.

I think it’s ok either way. Oil changes are more important. Change early and often. Change your coolant early.

Typically, a cold start will start with a slightly higher rpm. Once it’s warm enough, it will lower the rpm’s to the normal idle. It takes a couple minutes depending upon temperature.

I’m a mechanic engineer and a mechanic as a hobby. If the thermostat is working right and depending on the starting temperature I will idol until the auto high ideal drops down to normal plus a minute. Usually for my six at 30 deg that’s about 3 minute. For my 4 cylinder that’s about 2 minutes. Then I stick to easy driving the next 2 or 3 minutes or until the temperature is within rage. Both of my cars are 22+ years old and running fine.

Another factor to warm up or not before driving is if your at the bottom of a steep hill and the only way to go is straight up - might be a good idea in that situation to warm the engine up a bit in the driveway, sit in the cold car for 5 minutes or so and rev up to 2000 after a minute or two and then tackle the steep hill.

The happy place is somewhere in the middle. My argument against just starting up and immediately taking off, is that although you may be minimizing the amount of time that the car's oil is cold, you are adding more wear and tear actually driving it at say 2k-3k rpms vs letting it idle sitting at roughly 800-1200rpms for example. The other issue with cold running is that metals need time to expand and adjust to temperature differences, and sudden high rpm driving(assuming you do this) can put extra stress on all the components and lead to premature failure... My 2 cents.

the main issue is that the oil is still too cold to be at the proper thickness and wont flow as well. this wont ruin your engine anytime soon, but it will wear out bearings in the long run

well here's something they aren't telling you. every engine has an oil pump that circulates the oil when the thing is running, different viscosity oils perform with specified properties at different temps, automatic transmissions also have a oil pump that circulates the fluid when the engine is running, the engine drives the pump for the transmission fluid circulation throughout the hydraulic circuit, coolant also is being circulated when the engine is running via the water pump, to the radiator and heater core, engine temperature is controlled by the thermostat and radiator cooling fan. as long as all the fluids are within specification's and the component hardware is functioning as intended including wise ownership of the vehicle, monitoring levels and component conditions, you can let your car pre-warm for a 10 minutes plus pre-drive conditions without harming anything in the driveline in the cold weather, I myself have idled as long as 15/20 minutes. all this is happening at an idle or 1500rpm and higher, it has nothing to do with a carburetor, in fact I personally recommend it, get some defrosting done while you brush the snow off the thing and refill that travel coffee mug, get the sound tuned in and verify phone connectivity before hitting the road, safety starts with truth of the facts, and now you know. this guy

Most cars have a warm up process that lasts about 30-45 seconds in normal weather, up to 3 minutes in cold weather. You'll notice your rpm will be about 500-800 higher when you first start the car and will drop down after that initial 30-45 seconds.

I used to warm up until the blue light turns off, but it takes sooo long. I also have just atarted and driven off. I do notice the engine drives/feels differently. My solution is to warm up for a few minutes depending how cold it is. At least 5 min. Then i dont drive like a maniac until the light goes off.

Reaching operating temperature is more about proper expansion of all the different metals reaching their full dimensions.

I appreciate your educational video. However, you do need a good five minute idle to defrost the windows a bit before driving 😊

If idling is bad for your car, what is the point for a remote start?

It depends on the age of the vehicle. My Nissan Pathfinder with 305,000 miles needs to warm up before I take off driving. The car runs rough when it’s cold 🥶

It isn't just about cold oil. Fuel itself is a factor. "Experts" say since cold starts run rich until warm and fuel is a solvent, you are essentially "washing" away less available oil with more fuel for a longer periods of time. However..I am still firmly in the warm it up club. 'Friction' is the mechanism that heats the engine up. Friction is also the very thing that wears an engine out. My logic still tells me that keeping an engines load as low as possible, until a normal operating temp is achieved, is producing less unwanted friction than forcing an engine to warm up by driving off easily. Idling still uses less fuel and less load than gentle driving for the goal of achieving a warm engine. I've been driving and personally maintaining my 2000 Lexus LS400 for 19 years currently at 386,000 miles and I've always let it warm up to some degree before driving away.

Spring, summer and fall, I never warm up, but winter here is brutally cold. It’s not the warming up I think about , but I can see out my windshield, side windows or back window. So if I can’t see out of those windows I warm up and if I can see out of those windows, I waited about 30 seconds and leave. But that’s very rare. I would love just to hop in my car and go but when you got an inch of ice on your windshield and can’t see zip, that does not work.

Try the following. Start your car on a rainy day, as soon as you start the car, start driving and red lining your motor while doing skids in the wet. Your engine will need replacing within a year or 2.

Thank you for this opinion about warming car idle, I didn't think that it will actually be worse as its running on cold engine for longer time. Now I think its better to start engine, wait for a few seconds, go slowly at first, let it get some heat and then get it to higher rpm, wait a bit more if you got turbo or smth 😊

If you lease your car then do whatever. If you expect to keep your car for a long time then do your car a favor and warm it up.

Totally agree that it’s best to set off pretty much right after starting up. I’ll always drive the car gently till both coolant and most importantly the oil is up to normal operating temperature. When the car is parked outside on a cold snowy or frosty night, I’ll put a small 900 watt heater in the driver’s foot well. I’lll put it on a timer switch so as to save energy. This works really well. It’s so nice to come out to the car in the morning with a warm interior and clear windows!

4:08 I don't agree with you....sorry ! Modern cars,differrent oil ,etc. And the car it will not warm up in 2-3 minutes drive to normal temperature in special when it is -20 C or more. Need at least a good 10 minutes drive to reach that "normal" temperature. As a mechanic..I suggest to run your car at least 5 minutes before you will drive . Good for you and very healthy for your car :)))

Here in Calgary half the year it’s cold so we usually plug in once it reaches -15 and then let it run for 3-5 minutes

Your engine will WEAR OUT Faster if you start driving right away, actually. The goal here is to warm up your engine with the least possible RPMs. A good rule of thumb is warming up your engine for at least 3-5 minutes.

It doesn't matter what you do,,you have to start your car,,and i agree on waiting and let your vehicle warm up ,,let it get to temperature and let your engine lubricate. Driving away after turning the vehicle on and driving will cause engine wear,,sooo let your car warm up even if brand spanking new !!!!

Metal is weak when it's cold. So if it's 18°, and you start your car up and drive right away, your piston rings won't last long. At idle, your exhaust and combustion isn't as hot as when you're driving. So warm up at idle is better. You will warp and weaken the black and heads if it goes from freezing to extremely hot. Another thing to look at it load. When you put your car in gear it now has load on the engine, this will make more heat than with no load. So, heavier your vehicle, the more load on the engine wile cold. Cars maybe ok to drive cold because of less weight being pulled or pushed. When I use my truck, the exhaust temp is way higher taking off pulling a trailer then not pulling one at normal acceleration. It is definitely not good for your motor to be at -20° then start up and take off where I can see 1,000°+ exhaust temp. Way too much shock on the metal.

My Audi hand manual specifically says to idle and let the car warm up before taking off. It also says to let it idle for a bit before shutting off

Another thing i take into consideration when i was asking myself that question was that IDLE will bring your engine to temperature, but your gearbox will still be cold, and that also can cause wear to the gearbox. Now i simply start it, let it run for 5/10 secondes and then i start driving, while maintaining a low RPM ( Usually around 2.5k )

I have a 2021 Toyota Tacoma and when it"s cold outside especially below freezing, the transmission shifts a little bit rough rough for the first few minutes so this is the reason I choose to warm up my vehicle for about 5 minutes. once it's up to normal operating temp it smooths right out. I think the transmission fluid viscosity gets thicker with colder temps and doesn't flow quite as smooth. Vehicle's are designed to run at their normal operating temperature especially over the next few days it's supposed to be well below zero degrees here in Maine. Not warming up your vehicle in extreme cold does more harm than good in my opinion. I used to drive a Subaru with a manual transmission and when it's really cold outside even that wouldn't shift as smooth until its warmed up a little. cold temps thicken fluid without a doubt. WARM IT UP

It seems weird that no one in cold weather hasn’t mentioned frost build up on inside of windshield when you don’t let defrost air warm up. That’s the main reason I let it idle. So annoying to have to pull over when the windshield frosts over and you’re scraping the inside of the windshield after already having scraped the outside after starting car…

It is common sense to warm up a very cold car , especially in Chicago winter negative temperatures. You can injured your body waking up very cold and running instead of slowly warming up with stretching exercises. It works for me before running long distance marathons. I own a Honda Fit sport i purchased 16 years ago and i always warm up that car for several minutes during Chicago winter zero degrees temperatures without no problems.

I let it idle at least long enough to circulate the oil. Then as I drive off, I drive in such a way that keep the RPMs down for the next few minutes. After that, it's good to go.

In cold weather lets say 32F and any below, I idle run engine for about just a minute or less, to let the oil properly circulate and start drive normally, without reving the engine on high rpm. In summer time or warm weather I do still idle run but only for about 10-15 seconds, again for the sake to make sure oil starts circulating in the engine, better lubrication = longer engine life. Drive Safe ✌️

My Titan owner’s manual says it takes about 30 seconds for the oil to get safely distributed throughout a cold engine, but after that, go ahead and drive it and it will heat up much faster than idling. That also saves fuel. I’d say that’s pretty much in line with your comments.

I worry more about the transmission fluid being warm then the motor oil. sometimes the transmission jerks when I put the car into drive from being in park mode. normally that does not happen when the car is slightly warmed up. Hope this helps everyone!

Very informative vid and I’m with the “get in and go” side because of the same reason. Modern vehicles are made to do this. If I had an old school car with original parts I’d be letting it warm up 😂

Thank you for your opinion. As I see what you are saying. My Mazda 3 2018 petrol, initially, has high revs for about 10 - 15 seconds, then drops. The manufacturers have made it so. So they know what they are doing. Thank you. No more waiting / hanging around. ( an extra few minutes in bed - especially in winter hee hee ).

I hear what you are saying, however as a subaru owner as well, i have to disagree with you on almost everything. A subaru mechanic on youtube said when it comes to warming up subarus it is best to wait til the blue light turns off before putting car in drive. It is a subaru thing. Now on my subaru i do not have that stupid blue light, i listen and watch the temperature gauge. When it gets to 145 degrees F, then I put car in gear. At 145 my subaru switches from the cold enrichment table to the warm, the oil pressures drops from 100 psi to something less, and my oil temperature is over 100 degrees F. My car builds up heat enough at idle, because the themostat is doing its job, by not opening until set temperature. As far as gas is concerned you will burn just as much if not more gas while driving a cold engine, because you are in the cold enrichment table. So saving fuel is out of the question. Also keep in mind with a cold engine the o2 needs to heat up just to smell the exhaust gasses. So your air/fuel mixture will be off, also causing you burn more gas until engine is at temp. At the end of the day, the choice is the drivers preference. Btw sounds lile you have some drive belts that need to be tightened if not replaced.

I think just gentle variation in engine speed for a few mins to build some temperature in the engine then drive it gently. Its faster at warming than idling for sure, but not as fast as driving off straight away. I think the problem with driving off straight away is that it will make the engine warm up to quick; the pistons will expand rapidly due to their smaller thermal mass but the cylinder block would take much more time to warm up and expand, therefore you could possibly increase cylinder bore wear due to the tight expanded pistons in a relatively cold cylinder block. However how measurable any of this really is is up for debate.

Well as a mechanic who rebuilds engines for a living, I can tell you with 100% certainty that jumping in your car when it is cold, as in below 30, and starting it and just driving will do quite a lot of damage in the 5 to 10 miles it takes to warm the oil,water,and transmission fluid to operating temperature ,in both your engine,and especially the transmission's in the newer model cars and trucks..cams, Pistons, especially piston rings, require lots of oil quickly as soon as you vehicle starts, thick oil is not good for those aluminum rings at all..there is a reason that the manufacturers manual states OPERATING TEMPTURE.... Because the new transmission's in everything from 2000 on that do not have dipsticks, have very thin glass tubes inside...and guess what happens when glass doesn't warm up, and then suddenly does???? Yup it busts very quickly....so yes 100% warm your car up slowly in idle, unless of course you want to come see me....or someone like me...

If it’s carburetor let sit otherwise ride or die however I usually wait for the defrost to be effective

A block heater with a timer is great to have. Just set the heater to come on a few hours before you normally go to work and have a warm engine, heat, and windshield defrost that actually works right away.

I just experienced it myself few weeks ago before watching this video. Glad that I came up with the same conclusion as yours.

What I do except maybe when it's hot. -start car -connect phone charger -prep music and/or maps -drive about 700m at or below 20 MPH (speed limit) -drive at least 600m at or below 35 MPH (spees limit) -hope its warm enough after that short idle and light drive Not sure it's right, but based on what I hear from variety of sources, this should be perfect as I'm gently driving.

I've noticed parking my car inside in the winter makes my idle rpm drop extremely fast. but if i leave it outside my car takes longer to get down to a normal rmp idle so i would argue new cars rev themselves up to heat up the oil enough to make idle as safe as start and go

I’ve just noticed with my 430d 3.0 diesel that there’s a significant loss of power if I drive straight away as if the engine is trying to protect itself, which is quite clever. I’m not saying leave your car for 15 mins but maybe up to 5 mins I can’t see what the harm is. It’s impossible to damage your engine this way as they’re meant to run. I have added a remote start feature for the U.K’s cold months, the car stays locked and immobilised while the engine warms up but cuts off after 15 mins if you don’t get there in time.

I just let it sit until it pops out of high idle then drive lightly until it's fully warmed up.

Absolutely right. Letting your gas vehicle to idle for 10-15 minutes not only doesnt "warm up" the vehicle, but its a huge waste of gas. On a cold start, wait for the engine idle speed to get down to normal, about 30-60 seconds. Then youre good to go, just take it easy for a few minutes until it warms up. Im shocked seeing my neighbors and co-workers let their car idel for so long, such a huuuge waste of fuel.

I’ve always warmed all my cars and I live in Florida. All the fluids are at the bottom of the car when you started it’s better to get all the fluid circulating in the car before you start putting pressure on the engine. Basically, you don’t really need to warm it up but you need the fluids to start circulating.

When it’s warm outside I usually let my ‘22 Tacoma run for however long it takes me to put on my seatbelt and connect my Bluetooth. In the dead of winter in NY where it’s commonly below freezing, I’ll start it and let it sit for no more than like 2 minutes before I take off. Even driving, in the dead of winter my truck takes a while to fully warm up, definitely not 1-2 minutes. If I drive around town and it’s below freezing outside, it usually takes a good 5-7 minutes to fully warm up

I do both. I am idling because I am setting up the climate controls, android auto (wired) then headlights before releasing the parking brake and casually leaving my parking spot. When my car is covered in ice and snow. I turn on the car, climate controls and headlights to help melt the ice and snow. Then proceed to unbury my vehicle and scrape off the ice from my front windshield and side windows, front to back. Once my roof, windows, vents, lights and wheel wells are clear of ice and snow. I drive away as soon as I can. I do my best to do as little idling as possible.

I've always been a proponent of driving away right after starting. The RPM is high is the car sits at idle cold. Driving at low speed, the RPM is lower. I drive between 5 MPH and 30 MPH until I reach a freeway. The RPM is quite low during that warmup period. My friend believed in long idle warmups. I would hear the cold engine of his Kawasaki motorcycle surge while it sat there getting 0 miles per gallon.

Cold oil does not cause damage. LACK of oil / oil pressure allows the metal surfaces to touch. THAT causes damage. This is a concern because when oil is cold it is thicker and does not flow as easily. Therefore, you want to minimize the stress you put on the engine until it is warmed up. Many modern engines will even electronically 'de-tune' themselves until the oil reaches operating temperature. And your owner's manual may even have instructions to keep the engine below a certain RPM range until it is warmed up. Mine recommends

The dude is wrong. Check the troubles that Honda 1.5 turbo petrol engine has due to petrol slipping from cylinders to oil when cold, Mercedes petrol engine issues etc. It may only be correct for modern diesels as they really don’t warm up from idling. “Modern engines are able to do it” - modern engines are often due to be replaced at 100k km if you drive with cold starts all the time

I have the same car. Good to know I have been wasting time and fuel thinking I was doing good for my engine.

Like many things in life, there are no absolute answers that apply to every situation. If I plan on doing a short drive and I don’t expect the engine to get fully warmed up, I will pre-warm the engine before I drive just so that it fully reaches operating temperature by the time I shut it back down for several hours or overnight because engines that never reach full operating temperature have a tendency to produce considerable amounts of condensation in the crankcase. Sometimes I even pre-warm my car so that I have a functional defroster, so that I can see out the windshield without fogging it up inside the cabin. For cold starts in the summer, I let the engine idle for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before driving off. All my cars also warm up pretty quickly at idle, I make sure my thermostats are in good shape since a proper coolant temperature is key to longer engine life, fuel efficiency, reduced carbon deposits, improved oil life, improved lubricity and low emissions. Plus you also give your battery a better chance of recharging after the starter motor pulls hundreds of amps out of the battery, also especially critical in cold climates, this is something that nobody seems to address.

We get -40 here. Point well taken though another point, or two. Be gentle with a cold engine/trans... Cars like yours are quite happy to be plugged in overnight. With Subies like yours and mine which have the CVT auto, well, they are susceptible to foreword and reverse clutch wear if you head off when it's very cold. Those trannies are not cheap and that is the major cause of failure. I leave mine plugged in, alternatively you could have it on a timer. I've also heard it recommended that you don't start off until the cold engine light is off. Been thinking of adding an adhesive block heater to the transmission oil pan for those forecasted extreme cold early morning starts. BTW i also shorten the transmission fluid change intervals from 100,000 to 80,000km.

And what about the car owners that live and drive where the temperature gets far below-20°C?

If it takes longer to warm up at slow RPM, but that longer time is causing damage, how is revving your engine reducing wear. If it’s super cold out, start and idle for a short time. It doesn’t need to get up to temp. It just needs to let the oil thin out if it is super cold out. That doesn’t take long. If it is a comfortable day, just drive (but take it easy for a little while. I’m not sure cars are “made to take this”. I don’t think most MFGs care if you damage your motor. Either way, the damage is likely to take years to manifest.

As a mechanical engineering student, I don't buy the "just drive its designed for it" thing. The fact is, an engines tolerances are set up to run when its warm. The piston rings will wear faster when the engine is cold. Now, I wouldn't recommend you wait until it reaches operating temperature. Since that'll take 10-20m if its really cold out. But at least a few minutes will improve your engines longevity.

It's takes only 5 minutes to warm up the oil inside the engine to normal driving temperature! Don't kill your car and wait 5 minutes, specially at winter!

Full time mechanic, I have my own opinions, but here are some facts: modern engines don’t need to be warmed up, but the catalytic converter does, driving as soon as you start the car will reduce the catalysts lifespan the more you do it. Normally idling for just a minute is fine and you’re good to go. Personally on my older cars I let them warm up before I drive them, but they are Hondas, so they are nearly up to temp in under 5mins. Any engine that uses different metals from head to block IE iron block aluminum head will benefit from allowing the engines to warm up because since the metals expand at different rates, putting less initial heat into them actually can extend the life of the head gaskets.

I like how this guy is not trying to be Mr. right, “Is your car do what you think is better”

idle until revs drop (30 sec -1 min) soft driving until light out or coolant at temp moderate driving for the same time again, season dependant thrash thereafter

If you use higher viscosity oil on a cold day it will take a while to circulate, when you do take off just nurse the pedal until it’s warm enough to drive normally . “W stands for winter which is the ambient cold starting temperature it behaves.

Pretty sound advice for the most part. Only thing I want to add is, that just because the engine temp gauge has reached operating temp, that doesn’t mean all the oil has too. You still need to pay attention to how smooth your transmission feels during shifts as a proper gauge of full lubrication, and a sign the whole system is now ready for more throttle and higher rpm.

Fuel is cheaper than a new engine. I don’t care that I “waste” gas by idling for a minute or two. I’d rather play it safe and let the engine come up to temp a little bit than to start driving five seconds after I start the engine. I like to see the temperature gauge start to move before I begin to drive.

Hello Kurt. What you said about modern vehicles [1990's and later] hold truer not to idel long to warm up a vehicle. This advice could be harmful to older vehicles and especially carburetored vehicles. If you are running synthetic oil in winter with recommended oil and levels, not warming up a modern vehicle is acceptable. The Dodge performance 5.7L power plant had wear problems with the valve train resulting from prolonged ideling [police departments especially]. This is a design flaw of the OEM oil pump. A median compromise from a reputable mechanic suggests a warm up of 30 seconds will allow for the oil to flow around engine parts sufficiently to reduce wear while saving on fuel. I don't believe 30 seconds is too long a wait...correct? Wonderful video Kurt. Drive safe, lawfully and Shalom.

The best way is to drive away but don't immediately go to high revs. It will warm up faster if it's working harder than if you sit there and let it idle. This video is merely teaching what we in Britain used to be taught years ago.

Oftentimes if I scrape frost off the windshield and then attempt to drive, the frost re-forms. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to idle for several minutes to get the blower to the point that this won't happen.

Let the car idle for 1-2 minutes if it's negative. Don't floor the gas for the first 5 minutes you drive the car. If it's a diesel, it takes even longer, so wait 10 minutes before you floor it. Also, it depends on the engine size. Smaller engines take longer to warm up. If you drive a 2 L turbo petrol, the car will start to warm up in 3-4 mins of driving cause they get power from the battery to warm the engine up. Many modern day cars are using the battery to add extra heat, so your oil is getting hotter faster than you think.

Normally I never really warm up the car, moreso I wait for the oil to circulate. I drive a 2019 Sedan. On cold starts, the engine will be idling higher, at 1000rpm for 15-20 seconds, and I hear the valves clacking away. After about 20 seconds, the engine will rev itself and spike to maybe 1200 for a second and then settle to its slower operating idle speed of maybe 800. The valves will also stop clacking at the same moment. I believe that signal means the oil have fully circulated the engine. That’s my signal the car is ready. I don’t even shift out of park until I hear the signal On cold days (below 35F) I will actually wait for the car to warm up because the transmission doesn’t seem to like shifting on cold oil. I get stuck in first gear until the car gets warmed up. I might idle in park or drive around on idle thrust

I believe that you should if you want to is simply start up your car and just give it a few minute to get the oil moving around don't rev up your engine let it just Idle calmly 2 or 3 Minutes is really all you need and then drive off but do it smooth and easy until you car come up to temperature Sometimes it's even good if you own a diesel car or petrol car to get it out onto the motorway and give it an Italian tuneup. Yeah, yeah, that means get the car up to at least 60 or 70 miles an hour, which is good for your engine.and Exhaust and your DPF filters to burn off those carbons. And if you're gone short journeys, then take a longer route, get your car up to temperature. This helps to keep your engine fit and healthy. With regular oil changes every six to seven months months don't go a very long period of time without changing the oill and filters it's better to keep the car fit and carbon free I would recommend No, and then JLM into your petrol or diesel tank to help look up on the RU-vid channel JLM DIESEL INJECTOR CLEANER AND JLM DPF FILTERS CLEANER very good quality Product

I usually start driving about 20-30 seconds after turning on the engine, and i just let it idle down the street. The reason i don't like sitting when the engine first turns on is because i read that idle fuel consumption when the engine first starts is temporarily 5 times more than when warmed up.

I have a turbo-diesel SUV that takes 15-20 minutes to get up to operating temperature under normal conditions. So what I do is I start it, get ready (put seatbelt on, etc.) usually around 10-15 seconds, then drive off. I make sure to keep the RPMs under 1500 (it usually shifts at 1300rpm) until it reaches operating temp (takes around 10 minutes of driving). Then I make sure to ease in the turbo so I don't hit it with max boost immediately.

I usually use remote start as I approach the vehicle. Or I get in, start it up, and plug my phone in, adjust everything, and then take off. It probably takes a minute at the most. In the summer I just get in and go. FYI: The only reason most people "warm up" isn't to protect the engine. It's because they want to get into a warm vehicle. lol

I find mostly this rivalry is within the Subaru community

In my opinion, It’s a preference. A normal car atleast warm up for a min or 2, so the oil properly warms up to be more fluid. For me, I wait up to 5-10mins because I have forged internals, and the pistons and metals need to expand.

In a warm running engine, the metal actually "gives" a little in responss to the tremendous forces it's subjected to. If it's subjected to those forces while cold, the metal will wear.

A modern engine doesn't need to idle for several minutes to warm up. What you don't want to do is start a cold engine and start flooring it. If it is really cold, start your engine and let it idle for maybe 30 seconds max, then drive it normally (not really aggressively at least until it is actually at the proper temperature). If you don't want to sit still in your cold car, you can go right away, just drive it gently for the first few minutes until it warms up. Needless idling is harder on your car than simply driving it. An engine that isn't under load will take a long time to heat up. It won't take that long for it warm up when it is under load (driving it). Idling is also harder on your oil and your emissions system as the car runs rich during cold starts.

On especially cold days (NYC, so relative), I'll start up the car and just let it fast-idle naturally to get the oil circulating and up to pressure. Might take a minute or two. After that, I'll just drive verrrrrrry easily. If I can get away with just letting it fast-idle in drive with a gentle few taps on the accelerator when needed, I'll do that. I'll even pull over and let go any cars coming up behind me so they don't have to wait. By the time I'm at the on-ramp to the expressway, I can do a sort of reduced-power takeoff up the ramp and on, get up to speed with constant throttle, then just keep it moving. No revving, no flooring it, nothing. Once it's warm, then I can drive normally. Also, when it's especially cold out, I'll also partially/mostly block off my radiator to speed up warmup and to reduce air-cooling at highway speeds.

Rule I follow is, if the car is cold is stay below 2k rpm. Until the engine is up to temp. When it's -20C the car idles at 1500 to 2k rpm anyway. Other issue which people don't pay attention to is transmission oil temp. This is important mainly for cvts.

You pretty much said it right. Iv been working on cars for a while now and i used to let it warm up but then an older mechanic explained to me why it was not good too do that. On top of that the modern cars are built different to handle these kind of things but I agree with you man 👍👍.

Whether or no my my current car is newer, I still warming up the car before driving it. The oil will slowly warming up and warming up the rest of the engine as well. Quick surges of temperatures don't seem right. With a lot of plastic, you don't want to crack them all with temperature differences so rapidly. At least I don't.

The worst part of this question is the answer is a bit long. Engines are thermal machines, they are designed to run at specific tolerances, and these are obtained once the engine is in the operative temperature range. In an ideal world, let it warm-up all you want with a obd scanner to read the temp accurately, just then, start to drive. No one has that amount of time, but let it idle 5 mins is not a bad idea, you get your oil warmed a bit and the engine will reach op temp sooner. The most critical wear condition in an engine is the cold start-up. Start and drive it is just a bad idea, thinking that while you are driving the engine will get hotter sooner is right, but partially, because you are applying load to a cold engine, and as i mentioned before, the engine needs an specific temp range to work. Cars are designed that way? Well, they have a thermostat to allow the engine get hotter sooner, but that doesn't occur in 2 minutes, and you can apply a lot of load in a 5 min span. Subaru recommends to "do not drive hard" until the blue temp light is gone. Manufacturers won't care if don't know how to use your car, if it breaks sooner, it will be better for them, because they will still be making more money out of that sell. IMO, do what you want, just don't sell it as a "well cared car". You keep people like me in bussiness with this practices (im a mechanic).

The old English cars took about 20 minutes of driving (winter) for the engine to heat up properly and for the heaters to blow warm air. Noticed the later 16 valve engines blew warm air through virtually straight away.

It's good that no one is holding a gun to your head saying that you should do it one way or another. So do what your common sense tells you is best.

OK, well I'm in the middle of this discussion. Letting the car sit there for ten minutes idling doesn't warm it up as quickly as driving it... But, probably good to let it idle for a few minutes in this cold weather before trying to drive it. Once you are driving, remember to drive as if there was an egg between your foot and the gas pedal, so it warms up gently. "Redlining the engine after running for just a minute" is asking for trouble, probably not today or tomorrow, but premature wear down the road for sure. It's not just the engine that has to warm up, but the transmission fluid, power steering fluid as well. There is so much to this discussion that only an engineer could explain, but the expansion rates of the different metals has to be considered. So, if you can drive the car "gently" for several miles, then "warming it up" for just a few minutes in this cold weather is fine. But, if you are heavy footed, or need to get up to highway speeds quickly once driving, then it is probably better to let it warm up more idling in the driveway. Like Kurt says, it will take the engine much longer to warm up just sitting idling in the driveway, then driving it gently. Needless to say, it might be best to let it warm up more in these super cold temps to help the defroster get going, so you can clear the windows properly before driving. Again, no one clear sided answer here, many variables to consider.

Reading the coments made me think. Caring and having genuine interest in your car is what leads to being able to hear and even feel when your car engine and components are at great operating temp, after having rode long time and being familiar with it. I personally also feel when the car wants or doesn't want to run, given outside temp or other factors. Also there is more behind this, so idling and caring is a way for car enthusiast to show other and themselves that enthusiasm, and car indifferent people don't want to be considered as less knowing their vehicle just for not caring so much.

I just let idle for 10-20 seconds max. The reason is just the let the oil circulate and get it's chance to soak the cams. Then just granny drive it until i see coolant temp move 2-3 lines and drive normally after that. I'd only redline it if I was driving in the highway for 15 minutes or 30 minutes in the city. Atleast then I'm sure the oil is also warmed up.

Depending how cold it is the amount of time I wait to let engine warm up. My car idles at 675 rpm, stock was too low in my opinion at 525. I never shift from park into gear at idle speed of more than 700 rpm, with stock converter that would be a bad thing to do for engine and transmission. Know your car, learn some things about physics, enjoy life. Or just drive and be happy!

Depending on the temperature. When it's winter, I never just get in the car and drive. I don't feel comfortable until I know the oil has been somewhat warmed up. So it will idle at least probably 2-4 minutes. Now in any other climate where the temperatures are warm at least, I'll get in the car but I'm probably going to let it idle for at least 30 to 60 seconds before taking off. Usually in that time, it will idle down and once it idles down, that's when I go

If my windows are frosted up, I just start my car and idle it the amount of time it takes me to scrape my windows off. By then it's warm enough to take care of any residual fogging as well. If there's no frosting, I just let it idle long enough to let the fluids circulate...about 30 seconds or so.

one other thing to consider is that when most cars start, new or old, the rpms are higher then they are when run for a bit or the carb sets and or computer says ok, its good. you should never jump in your car cold or warm out and jamb it in drive, allow the rpms to settle a bit closer to normal range then proceed. this allows the computer if so has one, to check conditions, and such, you will notice on cold days it takes a little longer to come down, then warm days. as ols school cars with a choke you pulled full, then gradually moved it in so that the butterfly was closing to get things right, then it was good to go. computers work the same way. stress is not good on engines hot or cold. just my opinions and thoughts.