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Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

businessinsider.com

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Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#31

Post by michaelteter »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #23
michaelteter wrote: post #8

Yet another closed access post on HN. My last complaint about this got flagged, but I really don't care. The HN community needs to stand behind open internet, not contribute to an increasingly closed one. "Access Denied You don't have permission to access " http://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/weather-verify... " on this server. Reference #18.6dc31302.1671993353.baa1f4a "

The site is free to access. There's no paywall. I was able to reproduce the error you got by accessing it through a browser in the UK. I guess the site blocks access from countries that require compliance with GDPR. I don't think people should be required to test that the site is available in every country, before posting or upvoting.

No, it's not a paywall. But yes, it is still "closed". Blocking EU visitors using GDPR as an excuse is a cop-out. All they have to do is _not collect data_ on visitors. Then there is no worry. And realistically, they don't need to worry anyway. They could simply add a statement at the footer saying EU visitors do so in agreement of US-based rules regarding data collection.

I do agree that submitters should not be required to test the site from origins they do not live in. But once it is known that the content is region limited, we should be able to mark it as such so HN can indicate that.

If we take this to the logical conclusion, the current state left unmanaged will become a HackerNews which most of us abandon like we abandoned Digg and Slashdot because of their missteps in the past. Of course, HN doesn't derive any revenue (as far as I know?), so maybe they do not care if their readership drops way off.

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#32

Post by dang »

amluto wrote: post #21

Wow. This is unreal. The OP says: > In a blog post on its website, Smart Motors Toyota says letting your car idle in cold temperatures can shorten the life of your engine by stripping away oil from the engine’s pistons and cylinders — two critical components that help your engine run. > via VERIFY Great, they got some kind of content from somewhere else. Let’s follow the link to verifythis.com: > Yes, warming up your…

If someone can suggest the best URL for this topic, we can change it again. (It was even worse before.)

Edit: we changed the URL from https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/weather-verif... now, to the article suggested by timmaxw and semi-extrinsic.

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#33

Post by dang »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #14
dang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, we've changed the url https://www.fleetmanagementweekly.com/yes-warming-up-your-ca... to the thing it points to, which is longer if not better. Edit: ok, that one ( https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/weather-verif... ) didn't work. Switching to the URL suggested in the comments below. Thanks!

This, from 2016, seems to be the original post and seems to be fairly well written, if surprising and controversial https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-idling-your-car-i...

Ok, we'll try that one - thanks!

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#34

Post by dang »

timmaxw wrote: post #13
dang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, we've changed the url https://www.fleetmanagementweekly.com/yes-warming-up-your-ca... to the thing it points to, which is longer if not better. Edit: ok, that one ( https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/weather-verif... ) didn't work. Switching to the URL suggested in the comments below. Thanks!

Following the chain of links, I think this article is the original source: https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-idling-your-car-i... It's a much more detailed article, including some specific claims about the science.

Changed to that one now. Thanks!

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#35

Post by dang »

aidos wrote: post #7

This feels a bit shallow. According to this website, another website says that warming your car in cold weather before driving can cause damage due to stripping oil from the piston. I’m willing to believe it but I’d like to hear some details. Surely the engine is going to warm to the same temperature soon enough?

We've since changed the URL. I don't know if the current article is still shallow but hopefully it is less annoying.

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#36

Post by rahimnathwani »

michaelteter wrote: post #31
rahimnathwani wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The site is free to access. There's no paywall. I was able to reproduce the error you got by accessing it through a browser in the UK. I guess the site blocks access from countries that require compliance with GDPR. I don't think people should be required to test that the site is available in every country, before posting or upvoting.

No, it's not a paywall. But yes, it is still "closed". Blocking EU visitors using GDPR as an excuse is a cop-out. All they have to do is _not collect data_ on visitors. Then there is no worry. And realistically, they don't need to worry anyway. They could simply add a statement at the footer saying EU visitors do so in agreement of US-based rules regarding data collection. I do agree that submitters should not be req…

"They could simply add a statement at the footer saying EU visitors do so in agreement of US-based rules regarding data collection."

They could, but are you 100% sure this would comply with the law and eliminate the risk of penalties?

I don't know which entity runs the site, whether it has assets or operations in EU countries etc.

I'm also not a lawyer.

I can't say for sure what is the right business decision for them.

I'm curious (as I'm not in the EU and don't notice) roughly what proportion of HN front page stories are unavailable in the EU?

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#37

Post by doubled112 »

psychphysic wrote: post #9

For me the benefits far outweigh the increased wear on the engine. I don't really need my engine to last 400k miles like it can in perfect circumstances. I need fog free windows, be comfortable driving the car without gloves on making the steering slip. To be able to focus on getting around and not shivering. I don't drive these days but back when I did those were all issues I had for my 5am start getting to work. An…

Agreed. Crashing because windows fogged up again is also detrimental to the engine's lifespan.

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#38

Post by barbazoo »

rolph wrote: post #5

here in alaska we use block heaters as a must have. Cold oil doesnt recirculate very well, of course a chronicaly cold engine, with cold oil, is going to display excessive wear. so, why "warmup" a vehicle? two parts... 1] old model vehicles dont have digital engine control its electromechanical. cold carburetors run out of tune, unless you have auto choke and idle tuning. so the block needs to be warm for efficiency…

I love how the examples are always Alaskan winters but you see people idling their car to warm up everywhere and often in moderate temperatures.

For most, it's a comfort thing and not necessary.

Re: Warming up your car before driving in cold weather can damage the engine (2016)

#39

Post by sokoloff »

sschueller wrote: post #6

"peratures can shorten the life of your engine by stripping away oil from the engine’s pistons and cylinders — two critical components that help your engine run." Nonsense, if the oil pump and engine are built correctly and working as intended this does not cause librication not to work correctly. How many cabs would die early because they are idling in traffic all day? Your personal cars engine is not a formula one…

Note that, for cost reasons, F1 teams are limited to 3 engines per driver for the season, with penalties for starting grid positions for exceeding this figure.
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