letting your vehicle warm up?

[clarkgrizwald]

is it hard on your camry to not let it warm up and just hop in it and drive? is it a good idea to let it warm up? if so is this only the case in pretty cold weather?

[JSM1284]

It is good practice. However some people believe it is not good to let it warm up by just idling, they say to keep the RPM's up. The reason it is better to let it warm up is because when cold, your pistons are not perfectly round, think egg shaped but not as drastic. This creates a not so perfect fit in the cylinder, so if you were to drive immediately while the car is very cold, it puts a little more stress on the rings to try and hold back the combustion pressure. However once the engine warms up, the pistons expand to fit the cylinder better and relieves the stress on the rings.

[CamryRoadsterSE]

From what I've heard on other forums, the way cars are designed today, warming up does NOTHING for the car. So warming your car for 10 mins vs. hoping in and driving away immediately, has the exact same outcome.

[clarkgrizwald]

interesting..

[streetxdreamer]

I usually let it sit for a min til my rpm's drops down to idle, more so that i know oil has moved around a lil bit

[wiccanferret]

Originally Posted by streetxdreamer

I usually let it sit for a min til my rpm's drops down to idle, more so that i know oil has moved around a lil bit

That's what I do. I let it sit until the RPMs are at a fairly normal rate, then I drive with a light foot until the temp gauge reads normal temp.

[Punks_Not_Dead5]

a mechanic once told me..start it..wait 30 seconds to a min and then you're fine. Most cold days i let it warm up for 5-10mins..more so my heated seats are nice and toasty..driver comfort

[CamryRoadsterSE]

Originally Posted by Punks_Not_Dead5

a mechanic once told me..start it..wait 30 seconds to a min and then you're fine. Most cold days i let it warm up for 5-10mins..more so my heated seats are nice and toasty..driver comfort

But isn't that a lot of wasted gas? Just letting your car sit there idling? Plus its illegal in my area to let your car sit and idle unattended due to car thefts. You can get a serious fine if the cops catch you and during the winter months, cops usually do neighborhood sweeps to catch people who leave their cars to warm up.

[MrSo0h0o]

Originally Posted by CamryRoadsterSE

But isn't that a lot of wasted gas? Just letting your car sit there idling? Plus its illegal in my area to let your car sit and idle unattended due to car thefts. You can get a serious fine if the cops catch you and during the winter months, cops usually do neighborhood sweeps to catch people who leave their cars to warm up.

i think he meant let it warm up while hes in the car

[kenny1773]

I go with the 30 seconds to 1 minute theory, then I drive it 'gently' for the first 10 minutes, keeping the RPMs lower and gentle on the gas. It works for me

Letting the car idle for 10 minutes does more damage IMO - carbon buildup

[MrSo0h0o]

i wait until the RPM's drop down to normal level and then go. if i do it before that, the car usually jumps when you put it in drive and that feeling is very unsettling

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by JSM1284

It is good practice. However some people believe it is not good to let it warm up by just idling, they say to keep the RPM's up. The reason it is better to let it warm up is because when cold, your pistons are not perfectly round, think egg shaped but not as drastic. This creates a not so perfect fit in the cylinder, so if you were to drive immediately while the car is very cold, it puts a little more stress on the rings to try and hold back the combustion pressure. However once the engine warms up, the pistons expand to fit the cylinder better and relieves the stress on the rings.

i found the way you described how the piston ring not perfectly round at cold interesting,
but given that the engine is running at 2k or 2.5k to warm up at idle speed,
i always thought warming up give the transmission fluid to warm up, not engine, because engine is running either way, moving or idle.

[JSM1284]

Originally Posted by bronzemaxell

i found the way you described how the piston ring not perfectly round at cold interesting,
but given that the engine is running at 2k or 2.5k to warm up at idle speed,
i always thought warming up give the transmission fluid to warm up, not engine, because engine is running either way, moving or idle.

Yes, the engine is running at higher RPM's during a cold start up, However it is not running under heavy load as it would be if you started taking off down the street while cold.

[Yazovets]

Originally Posted by streetxdreamer

I usually let it sit for a min til my rpm's drops down to idle, more so that i know oil has moved around a lil bit

That's also what I do. Seems to work good on both the Camry and our ML500.

By the way, I once asked a technician (not service rep) at a Benz dealership about warming up the ML. I was told to let the needle drop down to idle levels. He said no sense in waiting for the temp gauge to reach middle, and that driving off easy will achieve the same effect faster.

[lammydi]

Originally Posted by wiccanferret

That's what I do. I let it sit until the RPMs are at a fairly normal rate, then I drive with a light foot until the temp gauge reads normal temp.

+1 That is exactly how I do it.