Hi all

Sorry if there is a topic on this already but i'm rather blind

What are peoples recomendation on warming up your engine in the morning to increase life and not f#$% it over.

I've got an AU series 1 stock standard 6 (auto)

Let it idle for a while?
Drive gently with revs under 2k?
Start up and redline it out the driveway? lol

not sure what oil I am using (semi sinthetic?) but it usually costs an extra $10-$15 ontop of the price of a service, at local mechanic


any help would be good.

mmm for the semi sythentic bieng more $$ i was at supercrap today and teh penriter hpr15 semi synth was the same price as the normal mineral oil!!!

as for warmign car up umm dont really need to in modern cars
basically start it up and let it ilde for a minute or so, basically so the oil pressure is up and flowing. and dont thrash the f**k out of it untill it does warm up

Yep, just keep it under 3k until warm.

dont let it sitting there idling.
just drive it but dont thrash it until its warm.

driving it to warm it up is best as it also allows the oils to move about in the parts not only in the engine but also in the gearbox etc.

as mentioned tho, don't thrash it until u get to normal operating temperature

Hey Drone. Sorry to say something out of topic.
But your aviator is one hot bird!!
I seen a complete slideshow of that chick showing it all.....Damn she is fine.

.....Ohh and yeah just drive your car gently till it warms up, as all have said....

did you ever stop to think that the avatar might be a picture of Drone?

thanks for the quick replies guys

just driving it was what I thought but just wanted to check with people who would know.

thats why I like this site, 6 replies in 12 hours and mostly helpful

umm what happens if you dont adhere to those rules and frash the crap out of it on start up like some Commodore drivers do? I actually let my EL sit for 5 mins at least

On a cold morning I will let my car warm up for a few minutes, infact, I am a Nazi about car warm-up. Seems to help it run well.

@ Drone, can we please have a link to the woman in the pic?

It's best just to drive it straight away and be gentle untill it warms up.
Here are some reasons i learnt in thermodynamics at uni:

Combustion produces water vapor which all the carbon dioxides and nitrous oxides produced from combustion disolve into to form an acidic vapour. When your car is dead cold this acidic vapor condences in your in your exhaust causing it to rust prematurely. Infact it takes about 15minuites for the engine to get hot enough to heat the exhaust to evaporate the water. That's why short trips are bad for yor car. Idling in the driveway just makes it worse since it will take longer for your car to heat up and it will make more vapor.

Before your oil is up to temperature it wont protect your engine as well as when it is hot (despite what any oil company says). it will also absorb more water and at idle will be flowing slower than when the engine is driving. So idling with a cold engine is worse for wear then driving (gently) with a cold engine.

Cars generally drive better with a hot engine because.
1. The fuel can vaporise better
2. The ECU, Choke leans the mixtures out to burn fuel more efficiently.
3. The oil is hot and flowing freeer and the pistons etc should be at their correct tolerances.
4. Oxygen sensors are up to temperature and controlling mixtures

You want to get the engine as up to temperature as fast as possible and the best way to do that is to drive the car. You will get places faster and use less fuel and less wear on your engine/ exhaust.

Hope that settles it.

Sound advice spork. I was always told that cold idle is classed as a stressful time for an engine.

This is the reason why country vehicles' exhausts dont rust out like their city counterparties (ie. it takes them longer than 30 seconds to drive to the local shops). They drive them long enough to evaoprate the water building up in the zorst as a result of the combustion process.

Also worth noting oxy sensors take much longer to heat up when idling, during this time EEC cannot control fuel mixtures in a closed loop (i see this on my HEGO gauge) and can only rely on open loop maps.

I usually just keep it in low revs while starting off untill it warms up, can usually tell when its warm enough when the exhaust get loud and burbles.

hmm... thanks for the info guys, I thought I was doing helping my car. Now I can change my ways and sleep a little sounder tonight.

*thinks to self: See, internet forums are an excellent place to learn random facts

Very handy piece of info there always wanted to know why some cars exhausts were rusted and corruded but some older cars exhaustsa were still in shape.
Cheers