Engine off/on while cold
 

Hi, on my daily commute there is a light that is very rarely green and usually stays red for upwards of 45 seconds.

My problem is that i encounter this light only about 1.5 miles from my house and the engine is still cold. I would usually turn off the car at a light this long,but i don't want to cause harm to the cold engine. I have been wondering if it would actually be ok for it because the oil will have started circulating already.

Thanks in advance for any responses and sorry if this should be in a different forum, i couldn't decide which one to put it in.

This is mearly speculation, but I'd say that as long as your engine temp needle has moved (this usually happens around 120-130F in most cars ive seen) then you're ok.

I think you've already answered this one yourself.

I used to wonder about engine off coasting while my car was still cold, but I've been doing it for some time now, with the only negative being that it takes longer for the car to get to operating temp.

Thanks for the quick answers guys, looks like ill be turning it off:D