Quote:
Originally Posted by Tectoniic
Today I Learned:
I let my car idle way too long when it is cold out before driving....When we have really cold temps I was letting my car idle for 5-7 minutes before driving to let the oil get to at least 50*F before driving and for the RPMs to drop down to 700 on their own.
Turns out the long idle idea is a relic from the era of carburetors where you actually did need to wait a while so the mix of air and gas reached the correct ratio before attempting to drive. Now with direct injection/computer controls the cars are already able to completely compensate for that and most experts/oil companies recommend 30 sec to 1 min for idling in really cold weather but then just driving carefully for the next 5 to 10 minutes.
Idling for those long periods of time is also bad for the car as it is running very rich and the richer mixture of gas to air contributes to premature wear on seals.
I'm sure a lot of people already knew that but I sure feel like an idiot  |
When really covered in ice I will let mine idle for up to 15 minutes. Not to warm up the engine but to get the defroster warmed. I will let it drop to the mid idle on it's own (a minute or so) and then just give it a shot of gas to drop it down to regular idle.