Cold start question

[Migero86]

wow... shit just got all sheldon cooper in here..... Kudos for spending the time to log and graph that!

[bdanisi]

Now that someone started it I'll go with it so consider this a friendly thread jacking haha. What's the suggested obd2 scanner for torque app on Android. I use a galaxy nexus and I just don't understand why there is so much cost variance. I want a basic scanner for engine temps tach and mph. Nothing crazy I have only bolt ons for performance. Shud I just get the 10$ one mentioned above? The scanner plugs into the USB port under the climate control buttons right? Thanks a lot!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

[monkeyslide17]

I drive mine after start but don't rev to high, letting it sit waste gas letting it warm up.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Migero86

wow... shit just got all sheldon cooper in here..... Kudos for spending the time to log and graph that!

That analogy makes my soul hurt a little bit... But for someone to regularly log those stats on daily driving does question where they land on the autism spectrum (I'm probably on there somewhere myself).

[getbent]

Nice graphs. In my experience once the coolant temperature gets to normal (90C) the oil is about twice as thick as it should be (~15 cSt) or about the equivalent of 40 weight oil. I think that its acceptable to start driving the car like normal at this point.

Just food for thought for the folks without oil pressure gauges ... anything over 2000 rpm when the engine is cold (relative of course 70-80f) results in the oil pump going into full bypass (>=125 psi). I typically keep the revs to where the oil pressure is <120 psi while warming up.

Edit: I start the car, back out of the garage and start driving all while trying to keep the oil pressure below 120 psi until it gets to about 75C.

[Demandred7]

I just wait until the RPMs drop, but, depending on how much of a hurry I am in, I will then drive according to that. Ideally, I will drive normally until the engine is at its nominal temperature, but, occasionally I need to accelerate out of my neighborhood quickly up to 90 kph (56 mph) and then maintain that speed. For continuous spirited driving, I usually allow a proper warm up unless I am really late for work.

[mitosis]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

...regularly log those stats...

Nah, those just happened to be days that I remembered to connect up my phone and run Torque when I got into the car in the morning. I have Torque set up to just always log everything if it's running but I almost never actually look at the logs unless I was out for a fun drive and I want to check what my peak temps were at.

Back in August when there were all those logs on almost every morning for a few days there it was because I had just picked up the OBD II dongle and I was trying to answer the exact same question that was brought up in this thread of how long it takes to warm up and I was looking for a baseline. After that I only logged once in September and then again this morning because it was for SCIENCE!!!

I guess I am a bit strange though...

Originally Posted by getbent

Just food for thought for the folks without oil pressure gauges ... anything over 2000 rpm when the engine is cold (relative of course 70-80f) results in the oil pump going into full bypass (>=125 psi). I typically keep the revs to where the oil pressure is <120 psi while warming up.

Oh man I gotta get me one of those!

[stugray]

Originally Posted by bdanisi

The scanner plugs into the USB port under the climate control buttons right?

No, into the OBDII connector directly above your right shin under the dash.
Same place you plug in to flash the ECU

[ProTekk]

Originally Posted by bdanisi

I turn the car on and I drive immediately. I just shift under 3k until I hear that my engine is warn via my exhaust. Sitting in the car waiting for fluid to warm up is a waste because most of the fluid doesn't fully warm up unless it is under load anyhow.

This.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by retrosmiths

I just do what most of you guys are doing: wait for the idle drop, drive gently until the temp needle is 1/4 of the way from C, then WOT.

Oil temps do not match water temps. It takes oil temps longer to reach a "safe" temp
for WOT. On my other cars, I always waited for 160F oil temp before I went WOT.
That usually occurred a good 5 minutes or so after water temps hit 190.

[fstlane]

Originally Posted by bdanisi

Now that someone started it I'll go with it so consider this a friendly thread jacking haha. What's the suggested obd2 scanner for torque app on Android. I use a galaxy nexus and I just don't understand why there is so much cost variance. I want a basic scanner for engine temps tach and mph. Nothing crazy I have only bolt ons for performance. Shud I just get the 10$ one mentioned above? The scanner plugs into the USB port under the climate control buttons right? Thanks a lot!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

The $10 eBay ELM327 mini Bluetooth OBD2 scanner is what I use with my Galaxy Nexus and it works fine. There are a lot of nice plugins available for the TorquePro app to do what you are wanting. Here's one I was messing around with earlier.

[Obja]

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZA

[boredom.is.me]

a bit late, but I don't get on it until I know my tranny is warmed up.

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by mitosis

OK, now on to logs!

First, THANK YOU, Mitosis.

This was more than I dared ask for. It is truly useful. And interesting, too.

It's all very nice to speculate, but I'll take hard data over opinion and speculation any day. Data is vastly more useful than the unsupported opinions of strangers.

Your graphs support my decision to set my "oil temperature timer" to 10 minutes; when that time elapses and it beeps, I believe it's safe to begin driving my car harder, employing progressively higher revs and more throttle. (It's a credit-card-sized $6 timer from Walmart.)

It's interesting to examine your graphs. I note that the coolant temperature typically begins far higher than ambient temperature. I assume that's not residual heat remaining from the previous drive, so I'm guessing it's because the engine has been on and idling before you drive off. The graphs seem to begin when you drive off, not(?) when you first start the engine.

Do I guess correctly that you live within about 2 minutes drive of the Interstate?

On these graphs, you're accelerating briskly up to 75 mph within less than 3 minutes from first driving off. I wonder if the time to bring the oil to proper operating temperature would be extended were one to spend the first 10-15 minutes just gently driving around town at no more than, say, 40 mph? My guess is that it would not take significantly longer to bring the oil up to temp. But, I don't know.

Perhaps you'd care to log that and share that, too. (It is interesting what you can do with that tool.)

As you noted, the Engine Load % is interesting. I wonder what parameters they're measuring? Do you suppose the software may regard very low rpm + large throttle opening as lugging and show that as high load percent? Just guessing, trying to account for what you've seen as odd graph lines for that measure.

It is generous of you to share the fruits of your labor so that others may benefit from your purchase and from your work with your fascinating new tools.

Again, thank you for sharing this, Mitosis.

Finally, is there anything I might do for you in return for your kindness? Anything about our wonderful cars or about driving, perhaps, that I could share with you? Any questions at all about, oh, handbrake starts on hills, or heel-and-toe, etc? (I don't know your age or experience. Me? I'm old and may have learned a useful thing or two over the years. )