Warming up your car in the winter bad for it?

[ol'George]

Seems like another case of the mentality of passing a law, will make all problems go away.
Just like putting a tarp on a gravel truck.
Never saw a rock pick itself up out of a truck box and bust my windshield.
----- Maybe rattle off a frame or flat area or out of a tire tread.
But a passed law will stop all problems because it is passed. ----yea right.
Just like taking guns away but i'll not go there.
pass the law and read it later,
Here ya go boy, just sign this hear contract and we will fill in the blanks.

Just remember these representatives @ election time while sitting inside awaiting
your vehicle windows to defrost/deice so you can safely operate your vehicle.
"Well see judge I just complied with the law by not idling my vehicle,and I couldn't see that school bus full of kids I hit"--------
Will it ever end?

[DoubleO7]

That O.P. article and many like it are all over the net by many authors.

So what is the time difference between idling to 40 degrees versus starting and then driving away at a top speed of 25 or 30 mph?
I am going to guess..............2 or 3 minutes?

[jimbob200521]

Some good responses here (and I knew there would be!). I agree with everyone here; the day I start taking advice from Good Housekeeping is the day I turn in my man card. By virtue of where I work (maybe 5 minutes away) if I didn't let my truck warm up in the morning for 10 minutes or so before I left, it'd never get any real run time. I firmly believe that it'd do (like John said) more damage to jump in and take off in subzero weather than let it warm up a bit. Fluids, tolerances, and more need a few minutes to warm up. But I guess people are going to do what people are going to do. My truck is over 110k miles and still runs like a champ so I plan on continuing to warm up before I pull out of the driveway.

[mortten]

Ohio legislators have nothing better to do.

[Billy-O]

Looks like the Good Housekeeping article was a re-print (copy) from Popular Mechanics.

Either way, I like to get all machines warmed up before GUNNING it. The old carbureted Cub Cadets get warmed up a few minutes before throttle goes to WOT and I start doing doing task. I usually start EFI gas powered truck start and go.... but I go EASILY until engine is warmed up. It's a few minutes till the highway and I go slow on quiet backroads with little traffic to snarl up. In the case it's so cold (remember Polar Vortex?)... I have the remote starter. That truck will sit there in the driveway warming up because I ain't freezing my arse out there.

[cub123]

I have to agree with everything in this thread, I warm my vehicles up too. You just have to be careful with the new diesels like my 14 Ram with the cummins, as excessive idling can clog the stupid DPF filter

[johns cubs]

There is a bill/law in Ohio banning idling in your driveway. I break that law everyday and I doubt it will be enforced. http://akronlegalnews.com/editorial/8899[/QUOTE]

I have a few buddys that drive truck over the road, and one of them, their daughter in law watched my kid for me while I was working, one morning I was dropping him off and DEC pulled in to warn him not to let his truck idle in the trailer park- one of his neighbors turned him in.(NY state law is no more than 5 mins at a time) Squeek slammed the door in his face and told him he wasnt even a real cop so take a hike! I told him DEC has more power than the troopers do and that he could have his truck towed so he had better get out side and kiss his a$$ before he had to go bail his truck out! But the entire time he was at the house his state issued suv ran in the driveway because it was cold out!!! Go figure huh??

[johns cubs]

Originally Posted by ol'George

Seems like another case of the mentality of passing a law, will make all problems go away.
Just like putting a tarp on a gravel truck.
Never saw a rock pick itself up out of a truck box and bust my windshield.
----- Maybe rattle off a frame or flat area or out of a tire tread.
But a passed law will stop all problems because it is passed. ----yea right.
Just like taking guns away but i'll not go there.
pass the law and read it later,
Here ya go boy, just sign this hear contract and we will fill in the blanks.

Just remember these representatives @ election time while sitting inside awaiting
your vehicle windows to defrost/deice so you can safely operate your vehicle.
"Well see judge I just complied with the law by not idling my vehicle,and I couldn't see that school bus full of kids I hit"--------
Will it ever end?

Not until they figure out the only people obeying the rediculous laws they are passing are the law abiding citizens thst usually have enough common sence and respect not to do the dumb sh¡t in the first place!!

[j4c11]

I have a remote car starter on my Outback, and it appears to me that when I use it to warm up the car it runs at higher rpm than at "normal" idle. The normal idle - when I stop at a light for example - is about 800 rpm, whereas when it runs off the starter it's somewhere around 1800. I think it's to get it to warm up faster, and should also address the concerns expressed in the article because it's the same rpm as driving on the freeway, though with no load.

[bill682]

Originally Posted by j4c11

I have a remote car starter on my Outback, and it appears to me that when I use it to warm up the car it runs at higher rpm than at "normal" idle.

I'm sure it has the same idle speed as it would starting it with the key.
The important thing is engine oil. Synthetic or semi-synthetic of the proper viscosity and I like to have it fresh before the cold weather starts.