well I'm glad you guys share my opinion...at work we have 30 cars sitting out there at 10 to 5all running, id like to take a pic of it and ram it up those hippies @sses


thow a block heater duz heat it up somewhat, it only heats up one side of the block, and only heats up the coolant that is near the heater so your oil is still cold, along with your trans (when you start you should idle in neutral to circulate the trans too) all the metal of your motor, oil rad, ect...

i think the ideal setup to warm it up would be a circulating heater (I've been trying for 3 years to get it to work on my truck thow), oil pan heater, and a bat warmer, if i had all that plugged in warming it up then i may start to think of cutting down on my idle time but just think of the power id be using lol

 

I warm mine up about 10 mins before I go, Its only in the teens here (F*) not below zero though. As long as you let the oil circulate a little and warm up some it'll be fine.

 

Well just stay with your vehicle if you choose to let it warm up outside of your driveway. haha, one my best friends got off work after his 8hr shift at a convinence store last winter. Well he went out, started up his firebird and locked the keys in the car in the ignition while running. He had his extra set in his pocket and was planning on letting the car warm up a while so when he was ready to go, everything would be all warmed up. Well after he stared his car up, went in, clocked out, and said good bye to everyone. in the process (maybe 3 min)... this cop came up and gave him a ticket. Aparently it is a liability for the car being stolen or something like that. I laughed so hard at my friend and asked him whats the differenceif Idrove my 66stang with the windows down and keys in the ignition like I usually did during the summer, and just run in and grab something. I mean even if someone did try to take it... I wish them luck trying to get out of the parking lot. She was tempermental to say the least. Just had toknowhow todrive her, haha my dad never figured out how. ahhh.. good ole memories. too bad i swaped for the pickup.

 

Starting your truck and immediately driving it pollutes more because the system is running in open loop mode. Of course the newer O2 sensors have heaters to reduce the open loop time but there is more exhaust volume going into the atmosphere driving in open loop compared to idling in open loop.

 

Lv360ram good point

i was thinking i would have liked to be wating in the parking lot of the tv station and see just how long thse reporters idled there cars...or thatshaidy mechanic too

 

between 10 to 15 mins.. especially with the 180 stat.. but syn oil so it "shouldnt" sludge up if i run her cold..

having a remote starter is nice.. and generally.. afte letting it warm up ..ill jump in it and put it in N for a little bit just to get that cold tran fluid pumpin.. then ill cruze away

 

at -22*...that is cold as shizz, you def. need to let your truck warm up to at least your coolant temp beings to lift up, unless you are using something like 1W-30 lol. - that oil is going to be cold and hard/thick as hell - the block heaters do help in this part

also, if you drive your truck right after you start it up when cold, drive like 3 miles, and then shut it back off, with no warm up or cool down periods, you are going to have problems in the long term.

Blow-by is very big factor when an engine is cold, and that excess fuel is going down to the oil pan and sitting on the oil and if the oil does not get hot enough to burn off that gasoline thruoughout your driving cycle, it can cause premature engine problems. using gasoline instead of oil to lube your engine components. - even though it is not a HUGE amount - it is still there.
/fact

but if you are using a block heater plugged in overnight or for a FEW hours, you shouldn't have THAT much of a problem.

 

ALWAYS in the winter let your car warm up for at least 2-3 minutes. Even when it is warm, it is best to let your car idle for a minute or two to get oil pressure up and circulating among other things.

 

+1

 

1w-30 oil? lol