Warming your car up in cold weather

[star_deceiver]

1) Start car.
1A) (If needed scrape windshield and brush snow off)
2) Seatbelt.
3) Turn off traction/stability control.
4) Drive away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHRq...JZyJVUFc16tWXg

[ksa8907]

i think it depends on what you consider "cold". if its below freezing, ill start the car shift straight to neutral(won't circulate trans fluid otherwise), wait 10-20 seconds depending, then go. below 15 or 20? ill let the car idle in neutral for 20 seconds to a minute. my car acts really funny if i don't let the rpms come down a bit first. no matter how cold, 2 minutes is my maximum of idling and only if i have to clear snow off. it will occasionally get below 0 here(-18c), i know last year it got cold enough my fresh 720cca battery barely cranked the engine over.

above freezing there's no need to let the engine idle.

[LeanBurn]

I have a non heated garage....so my -15C and up warm-up procedure consists of:

1) open the garage door
2) start the car wait for needle sweep to finish
3) immediately back out without touching the accelerator
4) once on the road proceed down the road for ~1 km still without touching the accelerator going upwards of 20km/hr.
5) merge onto the main highway proceed to 90km/hr (55mph)

If its below -15C insert: disconnect block heater plug that is on a timer as step#1.

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Oil pressure is produced virtually instantly, long before the gauge reads oil pressure. in probably twenty revolutions of the engine, maybe less...

regards
Mech

This reminds my of my ex-father-in-law... not mechanical in any way, shape, or form, and had very bad luck with vehicles.

One morning, I watched him leave for work, and I better understood his bad fortune, his love-hate relationship with all-things automotive.

The scene: Chilly morning, the type-A personality guy, who was always late to everything, hit the doorway almost in a jog. He hopped into his 'daily donkey' commuter car. As if leaving the starting line at LeMans, in one swift, almost singular motion, he hit the key to start and put the transmission into reverse. His foot already depressing the accelerator before the key went into it's slot, the engine roareds to life while the rear tires 'barked', as the poor thing lurched out of the driveway. I don't think the oil pressure light was out before the car had moved 5 feet!!!

I latter asked him about this... "What? That's what I always do..."

[undata]

You have to understand how your particular vehicle works. Instantaneous "start and go" would fail to be optimal for almost any car, and here's why:

1) All modern cars have many sensors and a computer interacting with them. The correct procedure (THIS COSTS NO FUEL) is to pause for about a second after turning the ignition to the on position. Imagine you are a programmer and had to write the software to take in the results from all the sensors and make the corresponding adjustments. Would you be willing to say you could do all of this in less than a second? Half a second? Quarter of a second. No.

2) Bearing in mind that step 1 required no fuel whatsoever, let's look at starting. How does your car start in summer time? Mine starts at a high idle and then drops down almost exactly 20 seconds later, from a cold start. So for my vehicle, in winter, I'm going to give it at least that long and keep my eye on tachometer for any change. I will probably see a change within 30 seconds.

3) A combination of getting the best possible entry condition from step 1, and a sensible brief chance to get a little distribution of fluids and pressures from 2, and we are off. I'm still not taking my vehicle out on the interstate right off if the temperature gauge has not budged yet. But that is a matter of my personal preference.

[2000neon]

When it is below freezing, I will let the motor for a run for a few seconds (maybe 10-15) and then I drive off. I always back into the driveway so I can just start and go, I try to keep it at relatively low load until the car smooths out a little bit.

[Miller88]

I drive a Ford, which means I have to wait until it warms the cats up (gets off of high idle).

On a -20F day, trying to shift a manual transmission with molasses in it connected to an engine that refuses to idle below 2,000 RPM makes for some interesting situations.

I love Ford and their stupid high cold idle.

I am lucky that for the last 2 years I've been able to live on top of a hill (the last one was larger) and usually while it's racing at 2000RPM, I can coast to the interstate on-ramp. Usually by then, it's calmed down to the point that it is reasonable to drive

My Jeep doesn't have high idle ... or doesn't rev up to 2000 RPM like the fords do. I usually let it run for a minute to get the oil flowing around (it's a flat tappet cam engine). Then I just drive easy.

[brucepick]

Engine lock heater. I hope to install mine today.

And get on the Focus message boards to look into options for thinner tranny lube. If thinner not possible, try synthetic of specified weight. It should be thinner at cold temperatures than conventional lube of same spec.

But no changes of lube will help as much as a good block heater.

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Engine lock heater. I hope to install mine today.

And get on the Focus message boards to look into options for thinner tranny lube. If thinner not possible, try synthetic of specified weight. It should be thinner at cold temperatures than conventional lube of same spec.

But no changes of lube will help as much as a good block heater.

The fluid that comes with it is about the thinnest you can safely run in it and is pretty well regarded. I think the problem just comes from everything being cold - I usually upshift to 2nd around 1500RPM and as soon as I push in the clutch, the engine goes right to 2000RPM.

All of our Fords seem to do this They have all gone back to the dealer for it and Ford just says it's normal to heat up the cats quicker.

I'd love to be able to do a block heater, but I'm an apartment dweller and it's not an option at this point. I have been looking into alternate methods of doing a battery powered heater ... but the intiial investment of a few deep-cycle batteries and a high powered inverter would negate any fule savings (and run up my electric bill).

[Frank Lee]

A Tempo is my winter car. It'll start no problem at -40F, not plugged in, provided I didn't put E85 in it. At -40 I'll let it idle while I scrape the windows then get in and go. It's about 1/2 mile down my residential street to any roads so when it's that bitter cold I'll put it in 1st or maybe 2nd and just idle down the street. Once I get on the road and I see the temp gauge needle starting to come alive, I get going.