Let a car run before driving?

[hsmamato2]

yes absolutely if it is near 0 like it has been here for a while..... all the parts of the engibe need to be warmer to run properly,and it will cause wear and tear on the engine if you drive it cold- yesterday I gave mine 10-15 minutes, it was cold in the a.m. on a regular temp day at least a minute or 2, in summer, less than a minute usually

 

[xlxo]

Remote start!!! Best thing ever. I would give it a minute or 3, what is the harm.

Best investment when the car is parked outdoors. Remote starting means you don't expose the car interior to cold air, which takes longer to clear. Yes 3 minutes is enough to defrost for me, but longer for colder climates or with a carburated engine. If significant longer... it may mean a defective thermostat.

So sad when it takes 15 minutes to warm up for a 20 minute commute. High gas prices don't help. I hear electric vehicles don't have these limitations.... just less range. I believe hybrids just run the engine longer.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Hey Dis Mechanics - in this cold, cold weather, should I let my car run for a minute or so before I start driving to get the oil and stuff moving, or is it ok to just start her up and go?

Unless you're running a vintage car with a carburetor or operating in -30 degrees or so and running 20-50 oil or something heavy like that, there is no need wear and tear wise to letting a car sit idle. If an engine is running, it's wearing whether the car is moving or not. All you're doing by letting the car sit and idle for X minutes before moving is running your engine X minutes longer and creating X minutes more wear and tear on the engine. As long as you're not flooring it before it warms up, you'll be just fine driving it gently while it warms up.

 

[marmalade]

I have no choice but to let my car run a while before I drive it in the winter. If I don't, my windshield would be a frozen icicle with the wipers in a frozen death grip on the windshield, plus it would be 0 degrees inside my car and no one wants to drive in that.

 

[cfriend416]

The idea that modern cars need to idle in cold weather for the sake of the engine is completely false. As another poster said, modern means 1990ish or newer. This is a great article that explains it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...hat-you-need-to-idle-your-car-before-driving/

Some people idle for comfort, but I personally don't think the waste of gas and unnecessary emissions are worth it. It only takes a car a few minutes to warm up when driving.

 

[maxiesmom]

They have actually been telling people here to let your cars warm up. It has been sub zero a lot, and apparently people are having their cars break down. I do, it is simple enough if it helps, and who wants to get into a freezing cold car anyway?

 

[nkereina]

I have a 2013 vehicle but with no remote start, so when I'm leaving work at night I just start it up and go. In the morning before work, I will usually start my car up and let it run for a few minutes while I finish getting ready. But I do this moreso to have the heat in my car warm up so it's somewhat warmer when I get in!

A side note, on my last car I had a remote start installed by a local company and had nothing but issues with it. I've since been told that you should get a vehicle with remote start installed direct from the factory, or just go without one. I guess it's more risky when installed after the fact.

Another thing that's important this time of year is not letting your gas tank go below the halfway mark. Not only will it add weight to the car which is helpful when it's icy, but it also prevents gas line freeze up from all the excess water, snow, and ice that inevitably seeps into our gas tanks this time of year. I also use a dry gas about once a month in my tank to aid in this as well. My dad had gas line freeze up one winter and it was not fun!

 

[Disnydad]

Start it up, put your seatbelt on and drive away.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Start it up, put your seatbelt on and drive away.

I turn my key to "on" to start the fuel pump, then seatbelt, then start & go

 

[SkaGoat]

I have no choice but to let my car run a while before I drive it in the winter. If I don't, my windshield would be a frozen icicle with the wipers in a frozen death grip on the windshield, plus it would be 0 degrees inside my car and no one wants to drive in that.

Isn't that what an ice scraper is for?

You only need to let it idle for 30 secs before driving, generally I'll start it, then clean the ice and snow off the car, then drive off, It warms up much fast under the load of driving, vs. idling in the driveway.

 

[marmalade]

Isn't that what an ice scraper is for?

You only need to let it idle for 30 secs before driving, generally I'll start it, then clean the ice and snow off the car, then drive off, It warms up much fast under the load of driving, vs. idling in the driveway.

It takes a lot longer than 30 seconds to clear the ice and snow off my car. I don't park in a garage either, that would make a difference of the start and thaw approach vs. the start and go approach.

 

[nkereina]

my windshield would be a frozen icicle with the wipers in a frozen death grip on the windshield

Fellow Buffalonian here! One tip I've learned about this - pull out your wipers so they stick out from your car before you go in your house, into work, etc. Push them back down when you go out to your car, and no frozen wipers! Sometimes I have the problem that my wipers aren't touching the windshield when in use, leaving a streak across my windshield. I've found the way to combat that is also by either pulling them out or turning the car off when them in the "on position" while they're up on my windshield. If I do the latter, I just pull them up when I come out to make sure they aren't stuck to my windshield before getting in the car.

 

[marmalade]

Fellow Buffalonian here! One tip I've learned about this - pull out your wipers so they stick out from your car before you go in your house, into work, etc. Push them back down when you go out to your car, and no frozen wipers! Sometimes I have the problem that my wipers aren't touching the windshield when in use, leaving a streak across my windshield. I've found the way to combat that is also by either pulling them out or turning the car off when them in the "on position" while they're up on my windshield. If I do the latter, I just pull them up when I come out to make sure they aren't stuck to my windshield before getting in the car.

Yes, you would think I would do that but I am to dang cold and I just want to get in the house as quickly as I can. I'd rather send my husband out in the morning to start it a few minutes before I have to leave.

 

[goofyernmost]

If you are not going to be running it up to 70 MPH within the first couple of minutes, there is no real need to "let it run" on any car. The cylinders are firing at hugely high temperatures and very high RPM's, so it really doesn't take very long to warm up all the moving parts. It is helpful to go real easy until the engine at least starts to warm up so that the oil can warm up and thin out and get through all the tiny ports in a cars engine. But that doesn't mean you have to stand still. Just slower speeds will do the same thing, but, just a little quicker. Most people let them run to warm them up, inside or melt ice off windshields. The later being a very wise thing to do. Do not drive when your vision is compromised by ice or snow.

 

[bcla]

It's not like it really makes that much of a difference either way. I know some say that excessive idling might damage engines, but that's not really the case with modern electronically controlled engines. It mostly just uses up fuel.

However, my car has an issue with the belts (that I'm too lazy to get fixed) and I like to warm it up a bit so that I have reasonably working power steering.

 

[SkaGoat]

It's not like it really makes that much of a difference either way. I know some say that excessive idling might damage engines, but that's not really the case with modern electronically controlled engines. It mostly just uses up fuel.

However, my car has an issue with the belts (that I'm too lazy to get fixed) and I like to warm it up a bit so that I have reasonably working power steering.

I would argue it's adding excessive air pollution, while the vehicle is just burning fuel for nothing.

It takes a lot longer than 30 seconds to clear the ice and snow off my car. I don't park in a garage either, that would make a difference of the start and thaw approach vs. the start and go approach.

Sure it takes longer than 30 seconds to clear your car of ice and snow properly (having grown up in the snow belt of Mid-Western Ontario I have a lot of first hand experience). That's why you start your car, clear it off, then drive away, if wipers are frozen, you leave wind shield to last, use your ice scraper, and bang the ice off of them.

People who let their cars idle long enough in sub zero temps to melt all of the ice off their windows are wasteful and anti-environmental.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I wait until it idles down before I shift into gear. It only takes 30 - 120 seconds, depending on the temperature.

 

[bcla]

I would argue it's adding excessive air pollution, while the vehicle is just burning fuel for nothing.

I was primarily thinking of wear on the engine. Excessive air pollution is a tricky thing however to determine. Partly it's that cold engines mean cold catalytic converters. You can tell them working by the smell of unburned fuel from the tailpipe when cold, but then becoming more or less odorless once warmed up.

When one drives a cold engine with a cold catalytic converter, that means short periods where there's a higher amount of unburned fuel that isn't catalyzed. I'm thinking it's a wash.

However, plugging in a block heater (possibly timed) takes care of a lot of these issues, although not stuff like the frozen windshields and other things mentioned. The heat is available almost immediately, the oil will circulate faster, and it gets up to operating temperature faster. There should be less fuel used as a result and less unburned fuel in the exhaust.

 

[FofMM]

A short warm up doesn't hurt. Long idles will ruin gas mpg. A modern, properly running auto, should not need more than 60-90 seconds to get fluids stirred up and idle to start dropping. The cars computer sets the correct idle speed to do a rapid, efficient driveable start. In colder months (like now here in Massachsetts) I will drive away a bit slower so as to not damage internals before they warm/lube properly. We keep our cars for 10+ years usually, always keeping fluids changed. So far no motor or transmission issues.

 

[eyehartdisney]

It takes a lot longer than 30 seconds to clear the ice and snow off my car. I don't park in a garage either, that would make a difference of the start and thaw approach vs. the start and go approach.

As a minnesotan, this is the best thing since sliced bread.