I get it between 170 to 190 before I take off (auto tranny)..........K

My procedure for the 360 gassers.

 

Here's a good article about cold starts:
http://www.idlefreevt.org/how-long-s...icle-idle.html

 

I like to let the engine warm up to above freezing before I drive away. Hut I don't always do that.
Basically I start and drive. Engine warms up faster under load.
But I don't punch the throttle until the truck is fully warmed up.
From my house to the highway is three blocks. Once on the highway I'll get up to 75mph as usual but I won't floor it.
Once my engine and transmission are up to full operating temperature I will.
Takes 35 minutes to get to work going 70-75mph.
I usually hit my command start so the bitch is ready to fly when I'm walking out the door to come home.

 

yes...but if you drive it COLD it consumes a massive amount of fuel in the process...

Like I said, I use a scangauge and the old calculator method, letting it go into closed loop before I go anywhere is better than letting it suck down fuel in open loop when ECT really richens the hell out of it.

 

^+1..........Yes.

 

With my diesel I will start it and let it idle in neutral for 5 minutes if it is colder than 30* outside. On a diesel engine it isn't that big of a deal to let them idle but on a gas engine I was always taught that letting it idle can cause carbon buildup and foul the plugs.
Now that being said if you are warming your rig up and then driving it for at least 20 miles or more after then I think you should be ok. My wife has the remote start on her Jeep JK and she uses it all winter long. And as far as I know it doesn't hurt anything so why not use it. But like I said it does go against everything I was taught.

 

Back in the day with chokes and later on 02 sensors without heaters true indeed, driving it was the only way to get it warmed up. Today...it doesnt pay if you drive more than 10-15 miles to work to run out and take off, the first 5-6 miles down the road can use as much as two gallons of fuel.

 

Is this true though? The pcm dumps the preset amount of fuel until engine is up to temp and taking readings from the O2 sensor.

In that link someone cited it said after 30 seconds of idling your using more gas then it would take to re start. So is idling for nearly half an hour really save any gas as compared to driving it for 10 mins at a modest rate?

Unless it is below 0 Farenheit I really don't see a need to warm it up. If you have oil pressure and your fluid is flowing in your trans you should be good to go.


I guess the question is, how much gas do you use idling for 25 mins?

 

I'd say anything under 15 degrees F. Even then I still won't take off until the engine temp is about 100...you just cannot justify putting a load on the engine and consuming a huge amount of fuel...it does warm up faster but that's not proportionate to how much fuel it uses idling either.

I mean, to each his own...for sure the big benefit is getting the transmission warm, that's the biggest parasitic drag there is.

The other thing is...it doesn't take 25 minutes to get to 120 degrees... at 0 it takes the truck about 5 minutes to get to 120. As soon as it hits that I'm gone.

 

I don't care what it burns for fuel to warm it up before I move it, I am sure it's cheaper than a auto tranny replacement. Thats about 80% of my reason to warm it up, it's all about protecting the auto tranny. It's an old habit of mine to warm a vehicle/boat/sled up and always will be. If you got on a sled and did not let it warm up and you took off there is a very good chance you will four point seize it.