Cold start question

[bdanisi]

Originally Posted by dem00n

Unless it's Italian, i'll wait for the idle to settle and i'll drive off.

lolwut?

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by bdanisi

lolwut?

Actually, I kind of understand where he's coming from with that one. Ferraris are, shall we say, touchy...

(I don't know about any other brand of Italian car though)

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by chrisl

Actually, I kind of understand where he's coming from with that one. Ferraris are, shall we say, touchy...

(I don't know about any other brand of Italian car though)

Alfas, Fiats, etc.

Theres an old wives tale for those who own Italian cars that when ever you start it up you must let the car heat up to about 1/4th on the temp gauge, drive off and keep it below 3K RPM's in till prime heating is reached.

They mostly argue this because in Italy, the engine oil is always about room temperature due to the hot weather and these said cars are known to have less problem in Italy then they do in America.

And those who have followed this method have noticed less engine problems, so it's a thing to take note. Though this might not apply to cars OBD2 wise.

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by dem00n

Alfas, Fiats, etc.

Well, yes, of course. Maybe I should have said "I don't have any experience with any other brand of Italian car" instead?

(for what it's worth, you missed Lamborghini)

Originally Posted by dem00n

Theres an old wives tale for those who own Italian cars that when ever you start it up you must let the car heat up to about 1/4th on the temp gauge, drive off and keep it below 3K RPM's in till prime heating is reached.

They mostly argue this because in Italy, the engine oil is always about room temperature due to the hot weather and these said cars are known to have less problem in Italy then they do in America.

And those who have followed this method have noticed less engine problems, so it's a thing to take note. Though this might not apply to cars OBD2 wise.

Who knows - they're certainly temperamental cars though, and not known for their reliability, so I'd certainly be tempted to do anything possible to improve their life.

[hmong337]

Takes like 20 seconds for the idle to drop... just wait. I keep revs below 4000rpm before the engine is at optimal tempurature. Once warmed, WOT!

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by fang_gt86

Guys ticks better with hot chicks. Engine ticks better with hot oil.

Guys Ticks?

This what you mean?

[Vincenttam]

Turn on car, buckle seat belts, plug in ipod, select play list, drive away.

[Whitigir]

Oil works best at their operation temperature. The visconsity of it and density will change. Engine and mostly all movable mechanical parts need to be covered with a thin film of oil to last, and efficiently run

Older or newer car are both the same...they are made with metal....use your kids school physic laws here...

For that said. The best thing to do is to let your car warm up to normal operating temp, then give it 1-2 minutes more.

The only thing that newer technology does to modern car is the oil system. It can deliver oil pretty quick to most parts of the engine when turn key, but the property of metal and temperature will never change

[Snowball]

I'll wait until the idle drops under 1K...at the current temperature (0 degrees celsius) it takes about 4 mins, after which the car feels ready and willing to drive normally. I'd wait until the temp needle reads halfway before heavy throttle or turning the heat on

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by Whitigir

Oil works best at their operation temperature. The visconsity of it and density will change. Engine and mostly all movable mechanical parts need to be covered with a thin film of oil to last, and efficiently run

Older or newer car are both the same...they are made with metal....use your kids school physic laws here...

For that said. The best thing to do is to let your car warm up to normal operating temp, then give it 1-2 minutes more.

The only thing that newer technology does to modern car is the oil system. It can deliver oil pretty quick to most parts of the engine when turn key, but the property of metal and temperature will never change

There is more contradictory information in this post then is real.
Oil varies in weight/viscosity so it can be used at different temperatures. So there is no need to wait for normal operating temperature before you start driving. Driving the car will allow the engine and oil to warm up more quickly than just letting it idle. The important part to remember is to allow the engine to come up to operating temperatures before pushing the engine or going WOT.
Letting the car sit there idling to warm is bad and will dilute the oil with fuel from the rich cold start mixture. It will warm up faster and have less adverse effects by driving slowly then if you just let it idle..

[whaap]

I start the car and gently drive away. The key word is gently.

[xtral]

Originally Posted by Trettiosjuan

Hi guys/gals,

I live in Sweden and am an automotive engineer, so perhaps I am qualified to answer. So here is how I do it and why.

- Drive off immediatly if possible (clear windows), you need *some* load and oil pressure to both warm the engine and keep it protected from wear.
- At first use a very light throttle to keep torque and load low, BUT drive in one gear LOWER the you usually would when taking it easy! So roughly 3000rpm instead of 2000rpm. Why? For the same power (torque x revs), you torque and load will be (much) lower (less wear), while at the same time higher oil pressure will give more protection (less wear). Also many imagine it is combustion that warms the oil, when in fact it is primarily friction in the oil itself, especially at startup. The higher revs and higher oil pressure combined with very low load thus make the oil warm much faster in a safe manner than if you would "baby" it (not) by keeping revs very low.
-Roughly, the oil reaches temperature in twice the time of the coolant. Instead of suddenly going WOT because you now think the oil is warm, a safer and quicker strategy is to progressively increase load (thats is, throttle) over 5-10min once you have some temperature in your coolant. Progression is a good thing as progressive more load will introduce more heat and accelerate the warming without any thermal shock that may cause wear. Let the ramp up of load reach its peak at about twice twice the time it took for the coolant to reach its steady operating temperature.

With the above method, you will heat the engine quicker, have less wear and use less fuel once it is warm, than driving along in very low revs and then suddenly pinning it while not being quite sure if the oil is hot enough. In fact, good chance is that the oil never gets really hot that way and you will give your engine a thermal shock by suddenly going WOT to the redline...

How fast this goes of course depends on many factors, data is nice but the good thing with this one is that with this method is fairly foolproof without the need of hard data.

So in summary.
Drive off asap, very light throttle and choose one gear lower than usual, build load progressively once coolant needle gets moving, build progressively so that the time for full load equals twice the time the coolant reached its operating temperature.

The very fact that you care and want to warm the engine will make the biggest difference...

Thanks for the true experience from a cold and well organized country.

If I start the engine and then immediately push the throttle to around 2000 but keeping the gear box in neutral , that should be good way to warm up the engine ?
And that explain also why the brz/86 configured to keep the RPM around 1500 after start up ?

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by xtral

Thanks for the true experience from a cold and well organized country.

If I start the engine and then immediately push the throttle to around 2000 but keeping the gear box in neutral , that should be good way to warm up the engine ?
And that explain also why the brz/86 configured to keep the RPM around 1500 after start up ?

Q: If I start the engine and then immediately push the throttle to around 2000 but keeping the gear box in neutral , that should be good way to warm up the engine ?

That would warm it up a bit quicker like a high idle mode in a diesel, but you wouldn't warm the transmission fluids up to temp, best bet is to set off gently and NEVER go WOT till the engine is warm

Q: And that explain also why the brz/86 configured to keep the RPM around 1500 after start up ?

That 1500 RPM start up also comes with different ignition timing and valve overlap so that the catalytic converters can get to temp quicker for the first 50-60 seconds, then the idle drops.

[V_86]

Just realized this thread was from 2013. In any case, RPM drop is what I do. For some modern cars, the computer won't let you go WOT until the engine is fully warmed.