How long do you warm up your ctr for?

[boosted180sx]

I'm agreed on letting it warm up completely before going wot on any car. I did this with my focus st the other day and about 10 seconds into my drive, in second at 5k rpm the motor just lost power. let off the throttle right away. Nothing happened, but I won't do that again.

that could be because some cars have a limiter when the temps are cold. For example, the S2000 doesn't let you rev past 6k rpm unless the motor is warm.

I'm a believer of just starting the car, letting it idle for like 20-30 sec and take off and drive normal until its fully up to temp. I've had turbo cars in the past and that's what I do.

Let's say you let it idle for 5 mins and the motor is completely warm so your rdy to go WOT the moment you start driving. But what about the transmission/differential? They have fluids inside also.

I know the CTR is a fwd but in a RWD car, the differential fluid is also much more thicker than the engine oil.

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[17CivicTypeR_Brian]

Does the turbo on this car just use oil-only or is it a dual system like some of the GTX line and many modern turbos? I know in my Si, the turbo I bought (GTX 3071R) used both oil and water cooling which let it cool down sooner and led to shutting off the car much quicker after driving hard.

I'm almost positive there is water cooling on this car but I can't locate any pics.

This is actually my 4th turbo car, 2nd with factory turbo. I fully expect it to run a long time!

 

[Ryden1315]

I would suggest warming up your car a little. I usually watch the tachometer .. when the engine is cold the idle will be higher than the usual idle when the car is warmed up. I watch it until it drops and you can hear the engine run smoother. I had a modded GTi 2012 and there were a few times I didn't warm the car and took it out. I blew 3 of my ignition coils that way. I would like to tell you how the Type R works with the digital Tach but Honda is mentally destroying me by not sending out the CTR's faster. Fingers still crossed for Sept

*** Opps, just saw redfk8's post .. I agree ***

 

[17CivicTypeR_Brian]

One note I thought of - most of you probably know but I'll say it anyway-
If you do a 1-2-3-4(?) pull, put the car at least in 6th gear... don't shift to neutral and coast. The water pump flow rate, and ability to pull heat away from the hot spots, is a function of engine speed. Not saying you should sit there and rev the engine to cool it down, but if the car is moving forward, say, over 10mph, you should be in some gear to get more flow through the cooling system.

 

[gtolio]

One note I thought of - most of you probably know but I'll say it anyway-
If you do a 1-2-3-4(?) pull, put the car at least in 6th gear... don't shift to neutral and coast. The water pump flow rate, and ability to pull heat away from the hot spots, is a function of engine speed. Not saying you should sit there and rev the engine to cool it down, but if the car is moving forward, say, over 10mph, you should be in some gear to get more flow through the cooling system.

I rev match everywhere I go, so I should be good. Hahaha. Yes, I'm THAT guy.

 

[boosted180sx]

There is never a time i'm coasting in neutral anyways. It's just much safer to be in gear. I cringe every single time someone does a pull to like 100 mph and just pops that shit in neutral instead of engine braking it

 

[CVT_Squad]

I did a bunch of research on this when i bought my Dodge 2500 Diesel. Many theories are out there. What i do is for cold starts is, start truck, let idle for 1 min, drive away, keep out of boost and keep revs low until it warms up.

Letting the car sit idling cold could be starving it for oil, driving cold and your driving with low oil pressure. Its a catch 22. So why not both? Baby the car, but drive it.

 

[gtolio]

I did a bunch of research on this when i bought my Dodge 2500 Diesel. Many theories are out there. What i do is for cold starts is, start truck, let idle for 1 min, drive away, keep out of boost and keep revs low until it warms up.

Letting the car sit idling cold could be starving it for oil, driving cold and your driving with low oil pressure. Its a catch 22. So why not both? Baby the car, but drive it.

I think this is a good compromise.

 

[boosted180sx]

imo, the idea is to warm everything up at the same time. When your sitting there waiting for the motor to warm up, your transmission/drivetrain is not moving so those are still cold. Just don't be an idiot and turn the car on and go straight to WoTing it and you'll be fine. Like I said, some cars nowadays has a soft limiter when it's not up to temp yet anyways. Turbo cars are no different than NA cars. Take it easy on the initial start till its up to temp.

Not to mention, you should be more worried about the oil temps over ect. If you let your car idle to warm up and notice that your ECT is up to normal operating temperature, your oil temp are still cold because oil take much longer to warm up compared to coolant. Your oil temps would take FOREVER if your waiting sitting there idling to get it up to correct temps.

 

[chi town brat]

I warm up all my Honda's until their revs drop below 1,000 rpm at idle. I've been told its not necessary but eh, I use the time to get ready for the drive anyway.

 

[Blue Ridge]

I dont have a civic yet but wanted to give my input. As a few others have already said; I think it's best to let the car idle for a minute and then drive slowly and keep the engine speed down until things warm up. This ensures that everything is at the correct operating temperature. Your engine, transmission, differential, and even your tires. Otherwise you will be wearing out other parts of the car. Most manuals say to drive the car slowly after starting it until it reaches operating temperature.

 

[zroger73]

Thanks for the info! So the Honda dealer I got mine from told me theres no break in period and i dont have to worry about warming and cooling the car it sounded faulty. So I called a few other Hondas and they told me there was no break in but don't go wot until about 1000 and don't worry about warming up and cooling the car down. Seems like all these dealers is just giving me their own personal opinion. So I wanted to see what you guys thought about it. Appreciate all the comments. I will definitely let my car cool down before shutting it off.

I don't understand why owners and dealers don't read and follow the owner's manual.

It clearly states the vehicle has a break-in period during which you are to avoid full throttle and sudden acceleration for the first 600 miles and hard braking for the first 200 miles.

Honda has a reputation for building reliable vehicles that last hundreds of thousands of miles. While it's probably not a good to exit the autobahn, race track, or drag strip then immediately park in an air conditioned garage, all manufacturers (not just Honda) put a significant amount of effort into protecting their vehicles from misuse, abuse, and neglect. For example, pushbutton start eliminates starter grind. Rev limiters reduce the possibility of bending valves and rods and causing transmission damage due to neutral drops. Speed governors keep the factory tires from exploding due to excessive speed. Interlocks prevent the driver from accelerating and braking at the same time. Reverse lockouts keep you from shifting into reverse while moving forward. Electronic parking brakes prevent rear wheel lockup and loss of control. Non-defeatable traction control reduces the possibility of exploding tires and destroying differentials. The list goes on and on...

If Honda felt it was necessary to included verbiage in the manuals about cooling the turbo or implementing a turbo timer function in the factory software to maintain their historic levels of reliability, they would have done so. There is nothing in the manual regarding warm-up or cool-down procedures.

 

[boosted180sx]

I 100% don't believe in what the manual says regarding break-in period. It's probably in there more to cover their asses in the event that someone comes back to them claiming the engine/clutch is messed up.
If anything, it's more for the clutch than the engine itself. They just want a reason to deny a warranty procedure and claim its due to "misuse"

Doesn't even specify how it should be driven. Only says 600 miles. 600 miles driving on the freeway at cruising speed isn't really breaking in the engine compared to 600 miles of street use.

Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles? What do you do when you bed in performance pads like porterfields? I put the new pads on and proceed to heat them up by braking hard repeatedly and cooling down off. You're telling me I can't bed in my pads if my car is new? lol.

Most factory cars as far as i know are water cooled so there really no need to add a turbo timer function on the car. Now it's still more wise to let the car run for a little bit if you were literally beating on it right before you parked though but I can bet nothing will happen. If it's such a big issue, other manufacturers would have added that function already.

People will always find a way to blame the manufacturer before themselves which is why things like the above exists to cover their asses.

 

[zroger73]

I 100% don't believe in what the manual says regarding break-in period. It's probably in there more to cover their asses in the event that someone comes back to them claiming the engine/clutch is messed up.
If anything, it's more for the clutch than the engine itself. They just want a reason to deny a warranty procedure and claim its due to "misuse"

Exactly - and, that's my point... Honda publishes information to reduce their exposure to liability. If an engine, transmission, or clutch fails, publishing such conservative break-in procedures gives them a way out, if for no other reason. As such, if there was a possibility of cooking the turbocharger by accelerating at wide-open-throttle on a 1/2-mile long entrance ramp then immediately shutting the engine off, Honda would have implemented a turbo timer or stated in the manual, "CAUTION: Idle the engine for 30 seconds following hard acceleration to avoid damage to the turbocharger" (some owner's manuals do, however). If flooring the accelerator pedal 30 seconds after starting the cold engine to merge onto a freeway from a nearby parking lot would crack engine components, either the PCM would limit acceleration to a "safe" level or the manual would state, "CAUTION: Allow the engine to reach normal operating temperature before fully depressing the accelerator."

Since neither warning is in the owner's manual, Honda has no ground to stand on if I need a new engine and turbocharger every 6 months during the warranty period. In my case, the parking lot to my office is right off a major highway. When I arrive at work in the mornings, I merge onto the highway using heavy acceleration then shut her down only several hundred feet later. When I leave in the evenings, I start the vehicle then liberally apply the throttle only seconds later when pulling out of the parking lot to merge into traffic so I don't get rear-ended. Over the years, some older vehicles would clatter and rebel. Newer vehicles don't complain, although those with automatics shift different until the engine warms up.

 

[gtolio]

I disagree that Honda writes manuals as a "cover your ass" type deal. That may be a side-effect of how they are written, but it is not the intended goal.

The manual is written by Honda engineers. Like any engineering, they know the intended use and projected lifespan of all the components of the vehicle, and the manual is simply a written documentation of that knowledge. There are calculations and simulations done for every system of the car and things like fluid capacities and engine wear and the efficiency of the cooling system are calculated. A safety factor is added to those calculations, as any engineer would do, and then you have the information you see in the manual.

When something fails prematurely before its estimated time, or a system doesn't work, or a car overheats, Honda researches the problem to find out why and they adjust future manuals to reflect what they've learned. There's no dark arts, or overarching conspiracy to screw the customer. It's just engineering - calculations and safety factors and knowledge they've learned through R&D.

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