idle for 1 to 2 minutes when starting in freezing cold weather?

A general question. I have a Camry 2000. In cold weather (32F +/- 10
degree), is it necessary to let my car idle for one or two minutes
when I start it in the morning?

"photolistic" <photolistic@notepson.com> wrote in message
news:m90vq1pohpafvscri5e3gqvr9stub6o5u6@4ax.com...[color=blue]
>A general question. I have a Camry 2000. In cold weather (32F +/- 10
> degree), is it necessary to let my car idle for one or two minutes
> when I start it in the morning?[/color]

32F is cold? Where do you live? I have a 1993 Corolla and in 0F, I only
let her warm up until I have got the windows cleared off.

Charles of Kankakee

On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 07:33:27 -0600, "Charles" <n5hsr@comcast.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>"photolistic" <photolistic@notepson.com> wrote in message
>news:m90vq1pohpafvscri5e3gqvr9stub6o5u6@4ax.com...[color=green]
>>A general question. I have a Camry 2000. In cold weather (32F +/- 10
>> degree), is it necessary to let my car idle for one or two minutes
>> when I start it in the morning?[/color]
>
>32F is cold? Where do you live? I have a 1993 Corolla and in 0F, I only
>let her warm up until I have got the windows cleared off.
>
>Charles of Kankakee
>[/color]

But I do hear some different sound from the engine area a few times
when it's somewhat below 32F, which is already freezing point.

"Photolistic" <Photolistic@notepson.com> wrote in message
news:7cb1r1hpedaqqavl6fcn8iur5dqqd4foa2@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 07:33:27 -0600, "Charles" <n5hsr@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>>"photolistic" <photolistic@notepson.com> wrote in message
>>news:m90vq1pohpafvscri5e3gqvr9stub6o5u6@4ax.com...[color=darkred]
>>>A general question. I have a Camry 2000. In cold weather (32F +/- 10
>>> degree), is it necessary to let my car idle for one or two minutes
>>> when I start it in the morning?[/color]
>>
>>32F is cold? Where do you live? I have a 1993 Corolla and in 0F, I only
>>let her warm up until I have got the windows cleared off.
>>
>>Charles of Kankakee
>>[/color]
>
> But I do hear some different sound from the engine area a few times
> when it's somewhat below 32F, which is already freezing point.[/color]

Yeah, it's going to start harder. The oil is cold, the tranny is cold and
the battery is down on voltage because of the cold temps. I guess I have
been driving so many years, I've just gotten used to the sound as normal for
starting in cold weather. The colder it is, the thicker the oil in the
engine is. The colder it is, the less power the battery has, so you've got
two factors making it sound different. Like I said, I usually get in,
start the engine and let her run until I get the windows cleared. That can
take anywhere from a minute to 5 minutes, depending on a lot of factors. If
I have hard ice, it takes longer, but I want the heater to have a chance to
heat the underside a bit, too. Sometimes if the windows are clear, I will
start her up, check the systems and take off. My old 2 and 3T-C's would
sound pretty loud until they got oil up, and it took longer in cold weather,
obviously.

Charles of Kankakee

Hard to believe, but true -- photolistic <photolistic@notepson.com>
typed:
[color=blue]
>A general question. I have a Camry 2000. In cold weather (32F +/- 10
>degree), is it necessary to let my car idle for one or two minutes
>when I start it in the morning?[/color]

No; drive away gently. Gentle driving warms the engine up more quickly
than idling and you want to get to the operating temperature as
quickly as you reasonably can.

It's not a good idea to do any hard acceleration until the engine is
at operating temperature, but that applies no matter what temperature
you're starting from.

BTW, that advice would be the same if it were actually a cold
temperature, like if you were starting it from MINUS 32 . . . .

-Don
--
"What do *you* care what other people think?" --Arline Feynman