How Bothered Are You About Your Engine?

[x Alex x]

Hey all,

I was wondering how much people care about warming their engines up before going over into the high rev ranges?

with the punto, i let the temp guage get to half and give it another 5 minuites at least before i go over 2.5k i know this is probably way past being obbsesive, wondered how everyone else done it...

I also try to get it to full temp before turning it off.

I'd imagine the car wont be mine way before any of this not being done will cause problems.

Most of my mates laughed when i said you should take it easy for a bit before it warms up.

anyway whats everyones thoughts?

cheers

 

[x Alex x]

oh and i stuck in LL because i couldn't decide where else to put it.. sorry if it's wrong in advance

 

[bludvl_x19]

I tend to take it easy for the first 5-10ks or so, to let not only the engine to warm up, but also the gearbox, and all the other moving parts..after that however, its free rein :devil:

 

[x Alex x]

I tend to take it easy for the first 5-10ks or so, to let not only the engine to warm up, but also the gearbox, and all the other moving parts..after that however, its free rein :devil:

by engine i meant everything else too really, but yeah that sounds okay, diesels take way longer though

 

[5abr3]

My car rarely exceeds 3.5k rpm (petrol 1.2) anyway. In a 30 limit I tend to get through the gears at low revs to try and stop me getting past 30 unintentionally and the only time it does get shoved past 3.5k rpm is on the A50 after it has had about 10 miles to warm up and only if the traffic is bad enough to need that to get on or move from between trucks into the next lane.

 

[craigb244]

i dont think it matters as much with modern oils. I usualy wait till my megasquirt enrichment turns off. so anything from 5mins (in the -5 weather we had) to about 2 is mins on a warmer day.
obviously i dont mean flooring it off the rev limiter but just drive as normal.

just give it enough time to get a good amount of oil around the engine

 

[x Alex x]

i usualy wait till my megasquirt enrichment turns off.

your what?

 

[bludvl_x19]

your what?

I imagine that its like a choke on his FI system

 

[The Beard]

A colleague of mine spent 15 years in the RAF and has an overly (in my opinion) obsessive attitude to warming up his engine. He won't exceed 2000 revs or 50 mph until the gauge is showing normal, but then his Golf diesel has done 150,000 miles. Personally in the Panda MJ, I find there is a self imposed rev limit as for the first couple of miles as it doesn't want to rev cleanly until there is some heat in the engine. Having said that, I don't normally see the high side of 2,500 revs. In the wife's Stilo 1.4 it's pretty much the same. Modern oils don't take anywhere near as long to warm up as they used to do so I suppose, if the car's only been parked up overnight, most of the components will still have a good coating of oil at the top end, which is important. If a car has been standing for maybe a week or more a lot of the oil will have drained back into the sump. Even then it would only take a matter of (a guess) 30 seconds to get oil to the camshaft(s). I first learned to drive at the tail end of an era where many people, with 6,000 mile service intervals would use a thin winter oil and in summer put in a thicker summer oil

 

[craigb244]

I imagine that its like a choke on his FI system

:yeahthat: all cars with fuel injection do it i just have a light on the ecu to say when its on. it just injects a little more fuel just after start up to keep everything smooth.

I would say regular oil changes and good maintenance is FAR more likely to have an good effect on your engine then what you do with your food while the car is cold

 

[punto_matt]

Depends how late i am for work. If im not very late it gets driven softly but if im late its hammered from a nice long burnout after coming off my drive

 

[StevenRB45]

If its not up to temp then I don't like using more than 3/4 throttle or 4000rpm although not in the first minute or so of driving.

 

[Munkul]

below 3k rpm until its warmed right up and and a little more. She gets thrashed, but never ever cold.

 

[PeteyPye]

I always let the GP warm up to so temp gauge needle is in the middle before I even think about going over 2.5k revs, I am very careful - it is FIAT after all!

Maybe I should start being a bit more harsh to the car.

 

[powered_up_pac_man]

I always take it easy until the temp gauge shows the heats built up, especially with this crappy cold weather we've got the now. Had to take ice off my car every day this week
Usually change gear at about 2.5k until its warm enough, thats time for me to get to the Mway anyway.

 

[Ffoxy]

I warm mine up slowly and warm it down slowly too... gotta take care of that blower and its bearings!

 

[Dogspods]

Yes, it's become force of habit, the bike always got warmed up until the needle moved passed the first mark, the car gets warmed up till the idle speed settles and then the revs are kept lowish until it's properly warm.

 

[mehstg]

What ffoxy said....always let it warm up before pushing it too hard. Also, just as important to let the turbo spin down before turning off the ignition.

Hasn't made a difference though as the turbo is still shagged

 

[craigb244]

dogspod has a point bike engines are best warmed up imho as thier more highly tuned.
i idle my bike for about 5mins before even using it. wisco forged pistons slap about a lot untill warm

 

[rallycinq]

My commute involves a nice run at a steady 60mph in 5th gear, If I come across a truck, I won't give it the moo, until fully warmed, which with the MTD can be 20 miles.

Cheers

SPD