Hey all, just did some research into warming up your vehicle in the winter. Alot of the websites I found say about 30 seconds is all you need to get the oil flowing. What about when its 30 below freezing outside. Does it need longer. I've always let it idle for a good 5 minutes while I brush the snow off etc. Some websites state that idling your car is bad for the plugs and not really good for your engine to leave it idling long.

Whats all your opinions on this? With the price of gas now a days I wouldn't mind saving a bit here and there.

Temps just started dropping below zero.

 

I do the same as you, fire it up, put it in neutral, brush off the snow. I always have and always will let my vehicles warm up before I drive them in below -15c.

 

I personally would get a dipstick heater or magnetic oil pan heater. Only because I did some research on this subject lately. You can also get many different styles of block heaters if it's just quicker heat you want. Here is one type of block heater that was recently discussed. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...nt-heater.html

 

I just wait for the oil pressure to come up, and drive away. At idle, you are getting zero miles per gallon..... and the engine actually warms up faster when you are driving it.

 

As someone who has lived in northern canada most of my life i offer you this... even if its only -10 C let the vehicle warm up for atleast 5 minutes before your drop 'er in drive and go bombing down the road. The extra half liter of fuel is well worth letting your engine warm up and expand at a rate thats it comfortable with. It also helps out your transmisson big time.

In the middle of january it can hit -45 here and thats when you really need to think about how you treat your vehicle. It doesnt hurt to hit the command start 2 or even 3 times before getting in and driving away, it will save you ALOT of money in engine/trans/power steering repairs down the road.
In regards to saving fuel, well what can i say its winter! The internal combustion wasn't really designed to atomize fuel with -30C air, especially on start up. Combine that with the winter blend gas found almost everywhere nowadays and any way you slice it you're mileage is gonna drop.

My 2 cents.

 

Yea, its not so much heat in the cab i'm concerned with. I'll let my truck warm up for 5 mins but its only 10mins to work so I don't even get heat but is it really necessary to warm it up before moving. Seems like the right thing to do to let the block warm up a bit then just stepping on it right away. I actually start getting heat as I pull into work.

I guess in the long run by letting it warm up your saving in long term repairs down the road. Probably just best to continue what i'm doing and burning a little extra fuel and letting it warm up.

 

And so does warming the oil. If the temps are that extreme. That's why a dipstick heater or pan heater is better than a block heater. If just getting quicker heat is not the issue.

 

The best way to solve everyone's dilema.... Move further south lol

 

That works good too.... Wish I was smart enough to pull that trick.

 

That's pretty much what I do. No, the engine isn't up to operating temperature, but neither is it when it's sitting there idling. And it makes perfect sense that it'll warm up faster when it's being driven; more fuel being burned.

"A lot of the websites I found say about 30 seconds is all you need to get the oil flowing. What about when its 30 below freezing outside. Does it need longer".

I'd say so, even as a drive-it-away guy. If it's crazy cold like that, I might wait until I see the temp gauge just start to budge.

This seems like an appropriate time to toss out my opinion that there are only two indisputable advantages to synthetic oil; it flows better when it's cold, and protects your engine better if it overheats. ( I don't count extended drain interval as an advantage because I don't like leaving dirty oil in my engine that long. YMMV.