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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)

#91

Post by jimmaswell »

Brian_K_White wrote: post #47

I'm sure the cited expert really is an expert, but this article fails miserably at conveying any cohesive understanding from them to you. It's full of conclusions that don't follow from their leading statements. My understanding about warming up an engine before putting load on it had nothing to do with fuel or power steering fluid, it was about thermal expansion of all the machined parts that suffer wear if they are…

Anecdotally, my transmission doesn't shift as well if I drive it right away in the cold.

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

#92

Post by pshirshov »

Glawen wrote: post #84
pshirshov wrote: post #72

You won't be able to drive at all without warming up in Siberia at -42. In fact it's very hard to start the engine from cold state. So everyone who was able to afford a pre-start heater were installing them. And those who were not were hooking up auto start timers (usualy paired with a crappy aftermarket alarm) so the cars were constantly starting in low temperatures (-30 and lower).

During my trip in northern Siberia, while sipping my morning coffee, I saw a guy start up his lada niva by -40 the old fashioned way. He opened the engine bay, put a rug on his engine, took a blowtorch and lit it under the engine. He heated the engine oil pan and gearbox for 10 min, and then started his engine with a battery he brought with him.

That's the unsafe and a very inconvenient way. So lot less frequent than various heaters (autonomous pre-start ones, electric ones and the timers).

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

#93

Post by kosherhurricane »

I claim no expertise, as this is the internet and my credentials are entirely virtual and imaginary.

* Business insider is often a click bait.

* Taxis and Police cars idle all day. That's fine because their engine is warm. We're talking about damage being done at cold start and idle.

* The only time the engine is without much lubricant is when it is cranked.

* When the engine has started and running, oil is forced into different places that need it. Viscosity is not optimal, but it's good enough, as long as it's been changed appropriately, and not already a sludge.

* At idle, the oil pump is at its lowest output. The fast idle at cold start mitigates that. Fast idle also warms up the engine faster than normal idle. Driving it will give it good output.

* Engines do warm up slower when idling (Taken all this together, it's fine to start the engine when cold, let it idle for 30 seconds, and start driving.

It's also fine to start the engine cold, and let it idle and warm up while you scrape the windshield and make a cup of coffee.

Millions of people do both of the above, and their cars are fine. Ignore Business Insider, and maintain your cars as per its manual.

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

#94

Post by bluedino »

bombcar wrote: post #71
MadScott wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil pressure seems to be left out of the conversation - oil-starved journal bearings can be bad news if loaded immediately. SOP in piston-engine aircraft is to get the oil temperature and pressure "in the green" before doing run-ups. There's a pretty good description here: https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/779/journal-bearin...

Some vehicles have oil heaters to get the oil to operating temperature before even cranking. These engines are often large enough to park a car inside, however.

Engine block heaters and oil pan heaters are the norm in the north. Plugs into an electrical outlet.

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

#95

Post by FooBarWidget »

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…

Interesting that you think about it that way. My primary goals are the opposite:

1. To save as much money as possible. Meaning to make my car last as long as possible, postponing the need for repairs or a new car as long as possible

2. To reduce energy usage as much as possible. Not only to save money but also because it's good for the environment.

Which means I do exactly the opposite of yours. I'll to go great lengths to avoid turning on the car's heater. So I put on thicker clothes, I dry foggy windows with a towel, within the city I drive electric as much as possible (I have a hybrid), etc. I brake as little and as smoothly as possible to avoid kinectic energy being lost to braking (or if I do need to brake, at least have renegerative breaking recover 60%). All of this much to the chagrin of my wife who doesn't value such things at all. Or the guy behind me who's annoyed at the fact that I stop maintaining speed 100 meters away from the red light, instead of maintaining speed until 20 meters away and then braking in 2s.

I have the feeling that people like me are rare. It seems that when it comes to cars, nobody around me cares about saving money or saving the environment, they mainly care about comfort.

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

#96

Post by bluedino »

willis936 wrote: post #74
bombcar wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some vehicles have oil heaters to get the oil to operating temperature before even cranking. These engines are often large enough to park a car inside, however.

My 2018 car (gasoline, turbocharged, direct injection) has coolant and oil temp readouts. The increase in coolant temp from a cold start leads the oil temp by a few minutes (exact time is dependent on ambient temperature and load profile). Once the oil temp starts to get above 150F it very quickly gets to the operating temp (220F), so I view that as the point that it's okay to go above 3000 RPM. If there are oil heat…

Most engines will have a lower redline until the engine has reached a certain temp

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

#97

Post by cuu508 »

Gigachad wrote: post #66
foepys wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While true, how long can the car heat the batteries before it's practically unusable because the battery has depleted so much you need to charge it again before driving to work? Not everybody has a charging port at home, especially in Europe.

Since you likely have it plugged in while it’s at home. Perpetually.

What is the approx. power draw when the car is plugged in, fully charged, and the ambient temperature is around freezing?

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

#99

Post by tzs »

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…

> How many cabs would die early because they are idling in traffic all day?

Isn't the article just talking about idling immediately after starting an engine on a cold day?

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

#100

Post by Glawen »

pshirshov wrote: post #92
Glawen wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During my trip in northern Siberia, while sipping my morning coffee, I saw a guy start up his lada niva by -40 the old fashioned way. He opened the engine bay, put a rug on his engine, took a blowtorch and lit it under the engine. He heated the engine oil pan and gearbox for 10 min, and then started his engine with a battery he brought with him.

That's the unsafe and a very inconvenient way. So lot less frequent than various heaters (autonomous pre-start ones, electric ones and the timers).

Indeed but the aftermarket webasto cost quite some money. The guy was a pensioner who probably used his car once a month
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