Let a car run before driving?

[MidgeD79]

I don't know where most of you live, but I don't have a garage and when it's 20 degrees below zero my car is on for at 30 minutes before we go anywhere!

 

[powellrj]

My car also sits outside, so I let it warm up when its really cold out. It may not need it, but I do!

 

[manning]

Listen to this completely

 

[tvguy]

I don't know where most of you live, but I don't have a garage and when it's 20 degrees below zero my car is on for at 30 minutes before we go anywhere!

Okay, no offense, but 30 minutes is excessive. It should be at full normal operating temperature in less than 10 minutes.

 

[mommasita]

I don't know where most of you live, but I don't have a garage and when it's 20 degrees below zero my car is on for at 30 minutes before we go anywhere!

Wow, you must go through a lot of gas went through my mind..LOL..

Not my business at all, but that was my first thought..

I use my remote starter, and I think it is somewhere between 10-12 minutes, and that is about perfect for me, and trust me it is downright COLD in Montreal this winter.. We set a record for February being the coldest ever, and were this close to January as well.. Today everyone laughed and said it was flip flop weather as it was only -12

 

[ronandannette]

Yes, and mine sits in a garage all night. I want a nice toasty car.

This^. Parking outside is for chumps as we have quickly come to learn since moving into a condo with a heated underground parkade,

I don't know a soul with a block heater,. and have NEVER seen an outlet to plug them in, and it has been artic cold for 2 months.. EVERYONE has the remote starter..

Seriously? You cannot buy a new vehicle in Alberta without one. They are all ordered as standard that way from the factory. Remote start is pretty much a "standard upgrade" on all but the very most base models as well but a remote start won't get you going if your engine is too cold to crank. You'd need a boost to get going then.

...
TVGuy, I wouldn't trust running an electric heater in my car un-supervised, and can honestly say I've never seen anything like it in Mid-Western, and South-Western Ontario. I've also never seen the mirror mittens, but I have seen the other tricks. Both my vehicles have heated mirrors, and I just use the ice scraper for all the other surfaces. I don't use the block heater in either of my vehicles, simply because before last winter, we didn't have enough super cold days a year to go through the bother of hooking it up.

These are extremely uncommon these days (and are frankly considered something only the elderly ever ask for according to a friend who owns a dealership). Remote start has rendered them virtually obsolete.

 

[mommasita]

This^. Parking outside is for chumps as we have quickly come to learn since moving into a condo with a heated underground parkade,

Seriously? You cannot buy a new vehicle in Alberta without one. They are all ordered as standard that way from the factory. Remote start is pretty much a "standard upgrade" on all but the very most base models as well but a remote start won't get you going if your engine is too cold to crank. You'd need a boost to get going then.

These are extremely uncommon these days (and are frankly considered something only the elderly ever ask for according to a friend who owns a dealership). Remote start has rendered them virtually obsolete.

Seriously... I haven't seen one around here.....I bought my new car in June, I agree my starter was a standard upgrade, but for me it is a luxury/necessity.. I can't scrape.. Don't care who cares either
My remote starter has the option to start the car ( I believe it somewhere bewtween 3-5 min) every hour on the nights we know it is going to dip extremely low.. Used it a few times this winter, newer car, so not necessary..

I am a chump, as I have no garage, so I need to do so.. I own a fourplex, in a suburban area, we all park on the street..

 

[teller80]

Growing up in the 60's my parents never had a block heater (probably never heard of them), but my dad would put a low watt light bulb (one of those mechanic ones) under the hood and our car started right up every morning. (We didn't have a garage either.) He only had an eighth grade education, but he was VERY smart - I wonder if it was his idea.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

Growing up in the 60's my parents never had a block heater (probably never heard of them), but my dad would put a low watt light bulb (one of those mechanic ones) under the hood and our car started right up every morning. (We didn't have a garage either.) He only had an eighth grade education, but he was VERY smart - I wonder if it was his idea.

I do that now. I have a shop light with a 40w bulb and I place right next to the battery. Battery is on its 5th winter and will fire the truck right up -20. Before I started doing this, -20 would strain the start of my truck. As for block heaters, they aren't common in the states unless you live in Alaska or one of the very northern states or you have a diesel. Even though, modern diesels will start just fine in zero temps without one. I've thought about getting one for my gas truck since the last two winters have been like the winters of old.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

I live 30 seconds from a state highway. There are hundreds of people that have driveways off that particular highway (and tens of thousands of people around the country that are the same). So don't tell me no one will be running highway speeds immediately after starting.

That number is more like millions of people live very close to highways and interstates in this country and yes firing your car up and getting it up to 55-75 mph in a very quick time is not good when it is very cold outside especially when it is done often. If it only gets sub zero once a winter, no big deal, but many times and you can do some damage over the life of the car.

 

[ronandannette]

Seriously... I haven't seen one around here.....I bought my new car in June, I agree my starter was a standard upgrade, but for me it is a luxury/necessity.. I can't scrape.. Don't care who cares either
My remote starter has the option to start the car ( I believe it somewhere bewtween 3-5 min) every hour on the nights we know it is going to dip extremely low.. Used it a few times this winter, newer car, so not necessary..

I am a chump, as I have no garage, so I need to do so.. I own a fourplex, in a suburban area, we all park on the street..

My DH had this feature on a Honda Ridgeline he owned a few years ago. Using it bothered our next-door neighbours so much it had them ringing our bell after 1:00 a.m. one frigid morning to complain. It was back to plugging in for us!

Growing up in the 60's my parents never had a block heater (probably never heard of them), but my dad would put a low watt light bulb (one of those mechanic ones) under the hood and our car started right up every morning. (We didn't have a garage either.) He only had an eighth grade education, but he was VERY smart - I wonder if it was his idea.

Ah, memories! That's how my DDad kept our farm machinery going during the brutal sub-arctic winters in Northern Alberta during my childhood...

 

[elaine amj]

Overall, this thread has been VERY educational as to what ppl do in different parts of North America and why they do what they do.

My husband always nagged me to run my car for 5-10 mins during very cold weather. I typically run it for 1-2 mins because I am too impatient. I'm glad the experts agree with me!

That said, when there's ice on my car, I run it for 10-15 mins with the defrosters blasting simply so I don't have to scrape the car (I'm short and have a hard time reaching the middle. Besides, I'm lazy and dislike being in the cold).

At the very least, it's good to know why I do what I do and that it's foolishness to sit in my freezing cold car in my office's freezing cold garage for 5-10 mins to "warm the car up". I've been doing that this winter and will be more than glad to quit doing it Plus I will no longer bother to run out and "warm up my car" on the days when there is no ice on the windshield to worry about.

Thanks for saving me from the cold, DIS'ers! By the way, some of the arguments on here sound like what I have been having with my DH at home since he absolutely, positively, completely insists that cars need to be "warmed up" no matter what any experts say.

 

[bcla]

Since I mentioned the Prius, here's a picture of what it is:

The radiator isn't in the diagram. Here's a mechanic (I've had my car serviced at the shop where he works) showing one that was replaced, as well as where it's located.

The concept is really simple. It simply functions by sucking in hot coolant on shutdown into an insulated tank, and then pumps that hot coolant out on startup. This really eliminates any need to warm up the car at all unless it's been more then three days. I think it also helps to provide heat to the battery powering the electric motor. Toyota mainly designed it to reduce startup emissions, although it probably helps with fuel economy.

 

[SkaGoat]

I have a Ford Focus PZEV. To cut pollution PZEV cars are designed to get up to operating temperature quickly. The temperature gauge is at normal warm range by the time I have driven 2 blocks. But, yes, it is California where the record low is like 17 degrees, and that only happens once or twice every 10 years.

Just an FYI, the Focus PZEV is no different than many of the other Focus' sold throughout the USA, it's just got the flashy badge. Any 2.0 L 130 hp I4 equipped Focus is basically the PZEV vehicle, they just stuck the PZEV badge on the Californian ones.

 

[bcla]

Just an FYI, the Focus PZEV is no different than many of the other Focus' sold throughout the USA, it's just got the flashy badge. Any 2.0 L 130 hp I4 equipped Focus is basically the PZEV vehicle, they just stuck the PZEV badge on the Californian ones.

The cooling system capacity is small (maybe 1.25 gallons), so it gets up to higher operating temps faster. It's probably not even as small as the one in my wife's Civic. However, I don't know about the Focus, especially the automatic version with the dual clutch. I've heard it's been really bad.

http://www.wtae.com/investigations/...-complaints-about-ford-transmissions/24333878

 

[SkaGoat]

The cooling system capacity is small (maybe 1.25 gallons), so it gets up to higher operating temps faster. It's probably not even as small as the one in my wife's Civic. However, I don't know about the Focus, especially the automatic version with the dual clutch. I've heard it's been really bad.

http://www.wtae.com/investigations/...-complaints-about-ford-transmissions/24333878

my Nissan Juke has a 1.6 Litre engine, and takes forever to get up to operating temp.

 

[bcla]

my Nissan Juke has a 1.6 Litre engine, and takes forever to get up to operating temp.

2.1 gallon coolant capacity.

Some install larger aftermarket radiators that increase the cooling system capacity. That might be helpful in a desert climate or for racing, but the tradeoff will be longer times to reach full operating temps.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

my Nissan Juke has a 1.6 Litre engine, and takes forever to get up to operating temp.

My Nissan Frontier takes forever too. The wifes CRV warms up in no time. If your Juke in NA then it will take some time, if it is their turbo'd version that will warm it up quicker but you don't want to be running a cold turbo'd engine balls to the walls.

 

[SkaGoat]

My Nissan Frontier takes forever too. The wifes CRV warms up in no time. If your Juke in NA then it will take some time, if it is their turbo'd version that will warm it up quicker but you don't want to be running a cold turbo'd engine balls to the walls.

Mine has the turbocharger, All of the Jukes sold in North America are the turbo 1.6 L. It takes forever to warm up, longer than the 2.5 L in my Rogue.

 

[tvguy]

Just an FYI, the Focus PZEV is no different than many of the other Focus' sold throughout the USA, it's just got the flashy badge. Any 2.0 L 130 hp I4 equipped Focus is basically the PZEV vehicle, they just stuck the PZEV badge on the Californian ones.

It is a WHOLE lot more than a badge. It added $2,500 to the price of the car.
I have a 2.3 140 hp PZEV, and I had a 2.0 110 hp non-PZEV, Focus same year and model. There are several differences between the two cars. In California, the PZEV's smog systems are warrantied for 15 years and 150,000 miles. The PZEV has a permanent sealed air filter. The PZEV has a much larger catalytic converter. The PZEV has a stainless steel fuel tank.

Here is an official site on how a PZEV is different.
http://www.driveclean.ca.gov/Do_Your_Research/Benefits_and_Incentives.php