Warm up engine before driving?

[ThermionicScott]

Originally Posted by Daschicken

The thing about carbureted engines is that sometimes you CAN'T drive off right away. Well behaved carbs will let you drive off right away, but sometimes carbs kill the engine just touching the throttle if it is cold and the choke isn't set right.

Well, anything won't work if it isn't set right. My VW Thing was a champ all winter.

[ASV]

my 63 D200 truck was set to run lean, it needed a little warm-up before it was drivable and it had a heat exchanger between the exhaust manifold and carb
it just didn't have any power until it warmed a little

I always wanted to add an insulated hot water tank to shorten the warm-up

[Grant-53]

A small tarp and some bungee cords keep the ice off the windows. A circulating block heater is what the municipal snow plows use.

[Hersbird]

I question the cost of using a block heater regularly compared to 5 mins of idling. If you put the heater on a timer because you know exactly when you will be leaving and then maybe it's less. Some of those things use some serious watts.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by nemo

Another article confirming what we know. The best way to warm up is by driving

Unless the windows need defogging, I don't idle it.

With heating on full, it hardly warms up anyway during idling.
Needs to be driven to warm up.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I question the cost of using a block heater regularly compared to 5 mins of idling. If you put the heater on a timer because you know exactly when you will be leaving and then maybe it's less. Some of those things use some serious watts.

The degradation to engine oil & ring life is what you’re missing. The amount of acids formed is prohibitive.

Year-round, cutting the total time (not distance) to engine op temp is key. The “winter penalty” is somewhat offset by year-round attention to the problem.

The insulated garage is the answer.

In the meantime it’s making best use of tools: pre-heat, trip plan for initial miles, and recognizing the difference between empty and loaded (wherein not entering a highway from cold start on a cold day be offset by several miles of lower speed warmup).

(Cutting potential vehicle life by objecting to electricity use makes no sense).
.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by slowmover

The degradation to engine oil & ring life is what you’re missing. The amount of acids formed is prohibitive.

Year-round, cutting the total time (not distance) to engine op temp is key. The “winter penalty” is somewhat offset by year-round attention to the problem.

The insulated garage is the answer.

In the meantime it’s making best use of tools: pre-heat, trip plan for initial miles, and recognizing the difference between empty and loaded (wherein not entering a highway from cold start on a cold day be offset by several miles of lower speed warmup).

(Cutting potential vehicle life by objecting to electricity use makes no sense).
.

Maybe, but I have never blown the lubricated part of an engine in any car or truck I have ever had. Even at over 300,000 miles on some of them. Every other part of the drivetrain will fail 3 times or more before you get to that point of worrying about rings and bearings. I did have a flat lobe on a camshaft once at 175,000 miles but it was a known metallurgy issue with a small window of cams manufactured that year.
I agree the garage is best and you don't even have to full on heat it. I have a furnace in the garage but only use it I'd I'm working in there. Most days the process of parking the fully warmed up car in there and closing it up keeps the temperature inside above freezing even when the lows get down in the teens and that's just one car in a detached 24x36 space.

[roosterk0031]

Agree, I'm not talking about short trips where water could be an issue. If your drive is that short I think you'd be better off making a 20 mile run every weekend. I doubt a block heater would ever get hot enough to solve all the issues that short drives can cause. I also haven't had an oil related failure on anything but yard equipment since my 1975 XL175.

[redpoint5]

5 minutes of idling my Acura would have it to full operating temperature. 5 minutes of idling my truck wouldn't move the temp needle. It would take an hour of idle to get to operating temp in my truck.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Maybe, but I have never blown the lubricated part of an engine in any car or truck I have ever had. Even at over 300,000 miles on some of them. Every other part of the drivetrain will fail 3 times or more before you get to that point of worrying about rings and bearings. I did have a flat lobe on a camshaft once at 175,000 miles but it was a known metallurgy issue with a small window of cams manufactured that year.
I agree the garage is best and you don't even have to full on heat it. I have a furnace in the garage but only use it I'd I'm working in there. Most days the process of parking the fully warmed up car in there and closing it up keeps the temperature inside above freezing even when the lows get down in the teens and that's just one car in a detached 24x36 space.

But you’re speaking of empty vehicles when it comes to longevity, aren’t you? Driver-only. Not a vehicle expected to do any work. In which case cylinder pressure is still key.

Extended idling isn’t ever recommended for that reason. One cylinder starts to go south and it quickly drags the others with it. THAT I have seen plenty of times. Vehicle relegated to grocery-getting (needs to be dumped, IOW). Useful service life was diminished by poor operating habits. It’s no longer A FAMILY CAR.

Average annual MPH is still the bellwether

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