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Warming Up Your Car

Do you warm up your car in the Morning?

  • 2 minutes tops

    Votes: 94 90.4%
  • at least 5 minutes

    Votes: 5 4.8%
  • til the temperature rises

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • get in and drive

    Votes: 5 4.8%

  • Total voters
    104

SICKWIDIT

Full Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Messages
169
i always warmed up my car for at least 5 minutes in the morning..just wondering if the rest of you do too
 
The remote starter keeps it running for 11 minutes. On cold mornings that's enough to warm it up and defrost the windows. :B: I set the parking brake and turn up the fan and heat settings before getting out at night.
 
I let my truck run for 30 seconds when it is cold or two minutes when it is very cold. In the summer, I let it run for 15 seconds. I was reading an article two years ago that claimed that anything more didn't accomplish much, apart from warming up the interior and defrosting the windshield. (Obviously, if things are frosted over, I wait longer for things to clear.)

When I first purchased my truck, I let it warm up for 10 - 15 minutes or until the engine temperature was 100C. The dealership recommended I do this until I put on the first 2,500 km. It may be why my fuel economy is higher than most others, I do not know. Everytime the fuel economy issue comes up, I think back to how I broke in the engine and if one thing comes to mind ahead of anything else, it is the warmup time.

Just my two cents.
 
Since it has gotten no higher than 20F the past 2-3 weeks, I've been warming it up every day.

I could really tell at my last fill-up... 14.2MPG with the mods I've done :6:
 
It is best to start it.....let it run for a bit....and then start driving at slow speeds and easy on throttle.....

This allows tranny and rear end to warm up as well as engine.........keep the HP demand down and everything should be fine......
 
ygmn said:
It is best to start it.....let it run for a bit....and then start driving at slow speeds and easy on throttle.....

This allows tranny and rear end to warm up as well as engine.........keep the HP demand down and everything should be fine......
Whether I let the vehicle warm up for 15 seconds or 15 minutes, I usually keep the RPM below 1,750 for the first five minutes of driving. I think that should be good.
 
ZimmsAv said:
I could really tell at my last fill-up... 14.2MPG with the mods I've done :6:
I have not checked my fuel economy lately but am certain it is not pretty. It is the price we pay for owning such a great truck.
 
When it's cold :eek: I let it warm up a Third of the way. Half way between the first mark and the half mark on the temp indicator. (If this makes any sense. Half's third's etc.)


Geez I hated fractions in school...

:8: :8:
 
I warm up my AV about 2 minutes and then take off.
 
With the temps below 10 lately and the remote start its been warming up for around 5 minutes.
 
i usually wait until it is at operating temp. sometimes when in a hurry i just let it move one tick mark. my wife leaves for work at o-dark-thirty. so this will help her out. now she will not have to sit outside for so long be herself. i worry about that sometimes. thanx guys.
we will now wait two minutes and go. judging from the general concensus this should suffice. :B:
 
Course bein from Texas - I just start it and take on off. If it is real cold and I have ice on the windshield (which happans maybe 3 or 4 times a year I will let it run for a few minutes.
 
It has been advised by most automobile manufacturers to let a car idle for at least 15 seconds even when the temperature is warm so that things circulate properly. While it may be covered on warranty, any damage that starting and going may create, however minimal, is still a hassle at the least. And worse if trouble arises once the warranty has expired.
 
after i told wife to wait until idle drops below 1000rpm's, approximately 2 minutes, she was very happy. i don't think she liked waiting that long by herself that early in the morning. about 1:30am-200am. :B:
 
I voted for 2 minutes but that not really accurate. In the spring and summer, I let it warm up for 30 seconds. In the fall and winter - maybe 1 minute.

Yesterday night and this morning, the New England area experienced single digit temps. The wind chill factor put it down around -10. The oil must have been pretty thick. I sat in my AV until the temp gauge started to move - that was over 5 minutes and then I drove to keep the RPM low for about three miles.

A good answer is that it depends on the temp.

Cheers!
 
It depends. Because I'm using 5W30 synthetic and because (if you read the owners manual) the Avalanche is designed to do some funky stuff with oil circulation to warm the engine oil and tranny faster if it is above 50 degrees - I just roll. If it's 40 to 50 degrees I'll let it sit for a minute or two. If it's below 40 degrees then I'll give it until there is heat coming out of the vents. I've found on my Av that is only a couple of minutes.

So it's hard for me to answer the poll.
 
Yesterday it was -40 with the windchill and started my truck and waited around 15 seconds then took off. I've been told that it's best to have a block heater on your vehicle anytime the temperature is below 40 degrees (use a timer to start 2 hours before you leave in the morning otherwise waste of electricity) and to run synthetic oil since its viscosity is much less affected by cold and flows better in cold temps. Your truck will warm up faster and lube itself better if you drive it with a light foot and not above 30 mph for the first 3 miles (if you don't live next to the freeway). I recommend Amsoil 5W30 for Canada and the upper 48 all year long.

When is summer again?
 
Inanimate objects are not affected by wind chill other than that due to convection, they will cool to ambient temperature faster. If it is 32 deg/f fahrenheit outside, that's it, irrespective of wind velocity. Wind chill factor is more accurately described as "skin effective temperature".
 
Chasman said:
I get in and drive. ?-32 C this morning, crank it, drive. ?I do open the garage door first (unheated). ?

Pretty much same drill. Open garage door, start it, give it about 30 seconds to 1 minute and pull out. I just like to get the idle down before I leave. I try hard not to "get on it" until she's pretty warmed up though...

Jamie
 
Warm it up? Nooooooo, I get up with just enough time to get dressed, make lunch, and out the door! Get up at 6:45am, out the door at 7:15am....

Low maintenance has its advantages.... ;)

Kim
 
10 minutes warm up time for my AV :love: I start her with my remote start and finish getting dressed, then she and I are ready to hit the rat race on the freeway to down town San Antonio.


Miss Avalanche :B:
 
that's pretty funny but kim and i share the same morning routine times...right now I'm working about 30 mins from home so I have to get up and moving at 645 and out of the house btwn 715-720 depending on how fast i want to drive plus whether it's a weekend or a weekday with slow school buses everywhere. But come feb. i'll have a 5 min drive and will get another 15 mins of sleep everymorning...that's heaven to me...
I let the AV warm up for about 30 secs every morning and go unless I'm late or there's ice on the windshield...
 
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