I've always let my vehicles run for at least a minute or two before taking off...more time in the winter, but even in the summer I'll let it sit for a minute when I first start in the morning or after it's sat for 8-9hrs while at work.

I have a friend who will start his up and throw it into Reverse before it barely even kicks over, and then he stomps on it right out of the driveway....this is every single day even when it's freezing out, which it has been lately.

His engine is fine, but he just blew up his second tranny in 100K miles......but it's a Ford too, so that could be the reason.

No matter what I say or how many times I say it, the wife does the same thing, and I've given up. Now I just lease her a car every 3 years so I don't have to give a sh*t about it.

Anyway, just crazy stuff that goes through my head when I'm bored in January.


Later.

 

I'm pretty much start it and once the gauges settle I drive off slow.

 

I always let my truck run for at least a minute or two before putting it in gear and taking off. I start the truck, put on my seat belt, maybe adjust the radio, check the gauges, be sure the engine has built up oil pressure and the voltage gauge shows the alternator is charging. If there is water or condensation on the windows and back glass I let the truck idle in neutral while I squeegee the water off so I can see better. I never crank it and take off right away, I have always believed it is best to allow time to get the oil flowing and let the charging system to get up to speed. I always take it easy the first half mile or so, try not to do any jack rabbit starts. When it is real cold out I sometimes will head out and crank the truck so it can run and warm up the heater while I get ready for work. That does not happen much here in Florida though.

Jimmy

 

Its about -25 every day here lately which means I need to let it warm up for atleast 15 mins or my tranny doesn't work haha.

Prior to this I'd let it warm up for 5 mins in the morning. Start the truck, pack the lunch, pour a cup of coffee, give the lady grief and I'm off.

My friend does the same thing as your buddy with is 2012 Sierra - I know its a new truck but jeeze treat that thing like your baby!

 

Its not mandatory to let it warm up but they should at least run for 30sec. Winter time we start them early and at least give them 5 min of warm up time. Now my truck is a totally different animal. Winter time I dont leave the driveway till 100 degree coolant temp then I take it easy at least till 140. Summer time its usually at least 2 min before I take off when its below 60.

 

I crank it, check the gauges, and throw it in reverse.

 

I let it warm up when possible but stay easy on the driving for a few miles. Keep in mind that just because the engine is warm, doesn't mean the transmission or differentials are still good to handle a beating.

 

These two. Crank it, seat belt, check gauges, back out of the driveway, then I'll usually half-throttle to 3500 in first gear then get out of it for a mile or two while it warms up, and resume aggressive driving once water gets over 80-90 degrees.

What I'd rather do is have a 10PSI oil pressure switch that kept the MSD turned off until oil pressure was reached. But the fuel would still be dumping...I'd have to keep the PCM shut off to keep from dumping fuel. On the race motor, we crank until we get 60 PSI of oil pressure before turning ignition on and pulling the fuel pump open.

 

I have two versions, when it is just me needing to get around I am nice. I get in, start it up, buckle up, radio, get warmish and then take a second before I go in reverse (30-60 seconds of warming time). This routine is regardless of weather, warm or cold, when cold I will take a lot more time though. I rarely idle more then two minutes really

Then there is the second version, when my pager goes off for a fire, my truck cranks and the only idling it gets is while I buckle up. Then you can figure out the rest.

 

I start my '97 3.9, watch the oil pressure go up to 40 or so, then back it out of the garage. When I hit the street, I still baby it and short shift until I get out of the development.

But I can go quite a ways before the temp gauge gets to operating temperature. I have been thinking about a lower radiator hose heater for the cold days so it gets a head start on warm up. I think one of those hooked up to a cheap lamp timer would be the ticket.

Anyone out there done this?