How long to start car in winter

[Marcy161]

Hi guys, these past few days it has been -20° C. How long should I warm up my car. I usually do about 3 mins, but my buddies say I should warm it up for at least 5 mins in order to get the oil flowing to the moving parts. Just interested in how long you guys warm up for

Sponsored

 

[bembol]

Less than a minute. Any longer than that and you're just wasting gas.

I know most don't follow this rule, I dont. It's not even about being warm I just have patients to take an easy driving off. LOL

 

[darkness975]

Seems like this question comes up all the time.

@Marcy161 I often have to run mine for several minutes in the coldest of Winter for it to defrost the windows so I can see where I am going. It also helps that the cabin warms up in the process.

You're going to get a lot of replies that say something along the lines of "30 seconds, anything more is a waste of gas and we're all going to suffocate under the greenhouse effect from it."

While it is true that the engine warms up faster when it is actually being driven, it is hard to drive it if you can't see where you're going.

 

[Captain]

if is car inside the garage 2-3 min is enough but the outside is change sometimes more than 8-9 min.

 

[thatwhiteSi]

I usually start it and let it sit for a minute or two. Turn the heater off and it will warm up quicker.

 

[DeftSalmon]

Depends, do you have a block heater? if I plug in my block heater, i wait a minute then go. if not plugged in, I wait for revs to start dropping then take off, usually 2 min. Either way i wait for the engine to warm up before pushing it, even i the summer.

 

[dmitri]

This has been posted on another thread but it's worth re-posting IMHO:




With this obvious exception:

While it is true that the engine warms up faster when it is actually being driven, it is hard to drive it if you can't see where you're going.

It's definitely a lot easier to clean the frosted-over windows after warm air had blown on them from the inside for a minute or two. But looks like that should be about the only serious reason to wait for the car to "warm up".

 

[CivicXI]

If you don't have to defrost, 20 sec summer, 30 fall, 45 winter. Just take it easy for the first few minutes.

These are Honda Civic's, not Ferraris.

 

[Alejoviejo]

I just wait for the RPMs to drop to 1k-1.2k which takes less than a minute. The car when you first starts up is at like 1800rpm so I give it time for that initial engine start to die down

 

[CivicXI]

I just wait for the RPMs to drop to 1k-1.2k which takes less than a minute. The car when you first starts up is at like 1800rpm so I give it time for that initial engine start to die down

Weird, even in the winter (20-30F) mine starts at 1500.

 

[tsupersonic]

On a clear winter day, I start it and drive off after the RPM's drop. If I have to clear off frost/snow, I'll start the Civic, turn on defrosters/heated seats, and drive off when clear.

 

[Curtman]

2 - 5 minutes, or once the RPMs drop below 1,500.

 

[Uncle Lumpy]

Start it and go immediately. Go easy (low revs, under 2500) until warm. I'm often on the interstate and rolling at 65 mph before the engine temperature marker even comes on.

 

[TheComebackKid]

I usually warm it up for 5-10 minutes depending on how cold it is if I have my daughter with me if not like a minute and I'm off.

Weird, even in the winter (20-30F) mine starts at 1500.

I wish 20-30F was my "winter" lol.

Mine are at about 1800rpm these days but I'm sure they will be higher went it reaches -20C (-4F).

 

[Alejoviejo]

Weird, even in the winter (20-30F) mine starts at 1500.

I wasn't being super precise. Same difference

Sponsored