How to properly start-up your mazda
12-03-19, 06:01 PM
#26
ancient wizard...
I have always felt these engines need some warmup time as they're a sandwich of dissimilar metals. Even though coolant flows thru the housings,they're aluminum and warm/expand at a faster rate than the irons do.
With temps in mid 30s as was today,i would pull car out of garage and let it run long enough for it to warm to its base idle while i grabbed coat,gloves and locked up house. For 1st couple miles drive easy and then as normal. Ambient temps 70 degrees and above,start and drive away easy for couple miles then as normal. Living geographically where temps get not much under 70 degrees,no real time for warmup needed.
My car may sit 2 months or more between being driven so the engine/drivetrain is stone cold. Garage temp when not working in it kept at 55 so warmup to base idle maybe 4-5 minutes. After sitting outside in 30 degree temps for 5-6 hours,it cranks a little slower,this due to 20w50 oil and can take 5-10 minutes for engine to warm to about base idle. Being i keep car in heated garage i don't fret about that weight oil in engine in these temps as usually car never shut off for more than a gas stop while out,then home.
You wouldn't expect a senior citizen to jump out of bed in the morning and run a couple miles without some amount of wake up time...our cars in the automotive world are senior citizens and should be treated as such My 2c.
With temps in mid 30s as was today,i would pull car out of garage and let it run long enough for it to warm to its base idle while i grabbed coat,gloves and locked up house. For 1st couple miles drive easy and then as normal. Ambient temps 70 degrees and above,start and drive away easy for couple miles then as normal. Living geographically where temps get not much under 70 degrees,no real time for warmup needed.
My car may sit 2 months or more between being driven so the engine/drivetrain is stone cold. Garage temp when not working in it kept at 55 so warmup to base idle maybe 4-5 minutes. After sitting outside in 30 degree temps for 5-6 hours,it cranks a little slower,this due to 20w50 oil and can take 5-10 minutes for engine to warm to about base idle. Being i keep car in heated garage i don't fret about that weight oil in engine in these temps as usually car never shut off for more than a gas stop while out,then home.
You wouldn't expect a senior citizen to jump out of bed in the morning and run a couple miles without some amount of wake up time...our cars in the automotive world are senior citizens and should be treated as such My 2c.
12-04-19, 07:25 AM
#28
ancient wizard...
Lol,Ray. Pretty sure I’m older than you are.
The cars are senior citizens,majority of “regular” cars of that era were scrapped/crushed long ago.
Not getting into politics here,cash for clunkers”program” put an end to availability of recycled auto parts for reasonable prices.
Used parts supplies dried up in a short time after,what was still available gave you sticker shock.
Mazda’s of that era disappeared along with all the other”gas guzzlers”.
In your area,can’t imagine temps get much below 45-50 degrees so your warmup time is minimal+ you have a new engine in that LE.
Consensus of other techs in the shop and techs I met at Mazda training centers for the reason of number of engines replaced for leaks and excessive wear was people running the shi* out of them on a cold start+lack of maintenance.
Pretty good # of engines I removed were low enough on oil that dipstick didn’t register anything. Some didn’t have much more than a quart in them when drained.
Found it humorous locked up engines sometimes were full of clean oil that had never been run thru the engine.
Replaced way more 12As than 13B engines,majority of those were ruined by lack of maintenance.
Some of this was owners not being told when purchasing the cars they had to monitor oil consumption. Nobody reads owners manual right? At least til car wouldn’t run anymore.
Surprised me at times how far cars were driven before engine expired from no oil.
Some owners admitted that had never checked the oil,a lot ignored oil level light as long as oil pressure gauge registered some oil pressure.
More times than I can count i got a repair order stating oil pressure gauge was fluctuating,often around turns or accelerating and car brought in for that complaint. Learned real fast to go out and open the hood and pull dipstick and then go have a talk with service writer who then had the”talk” with the owner explaining it was their responsibility to monitor oil level and it was a possibility the engines life was compromised.
A lot lived,surprisingly after an oil change,some didn’t. Can remember friction between customer/service writer/service manager when they were informed the engine wouldn’t be covered under warranty. Yelling,shouting ensued,lots drama.
My experiences with replacing so many engines is where i got the discipline to take time to warm my cars when cold out.
Not related,just remembered how guys would pull 12A cars into shop when real cold out with choke on full and held choke out while they turned key off to load engine/exhaust with fuel and walk away to bathroom or parts dept or outside.
Sometimes it took a couple minutes for it to light off and guys could be far away but when it did it was so effing loud it sounded like a bomb went off. If you weren’t paying attention it would scare the crap out of you if you were working in the bay next to the bomb when it went off. Flames could shoot 3’ out of the muffler. It became a thing to see how much of a bang you could get.I remember the day service manager put a stop to it. The car in question had a rusty exhaust and when it lit off,the muffler flew off and slid @ 10’behind the car followed by a huge fireball.
The cars are senior citizens,majority of “regular” cars of that era were scrapped/crushed long ago.
Not getting into politics here,cash for clunkers”program” put an end to availability of recycled auto parts for reasonable prices.
Used parts supplies dried up in a short time after,what was still available gave you sticker shock.
Mazda’s of that era disappeared along with all the other”gas guzzlers”.
In your area,can’t imagine temps get much below 45-50 degrees so your warmup time is minimal+ you have a new engine in that LE.
Consensus of other techs in the shop and techs I met at Mazda training centers for the reason of number of engines replaced for leaks and excessive wear was people running the shi* out of them on a cold start+lack of maintenance.
Pretty good # of engines I removed were low enough on oil that dipstick didn’t register anything. Some didn’t have much more than a quart in them when drained.
Found it humorous locked up engines sometimes were full of clean oil that had never been run thru the engine.
Replaced way more 12As than 13B engines,majority of those were ruined by lack of maintenance.
Some of this was owners not being told when purchasing the cars they had to monitor oil consumption. Nobody reads owners manual right? At least til car wouldn’t run anymore.
Surprised me at times how far cars were driven before engine expired from no oil.
Some owners admitted that had never checked the oil,a lot ignored oil level light as long as oil pressure gauge registered some oil pressure.
More times than I can count i got a repair order stating oil pressure gauge was fluctuating,often around turns or accelerating and car brought in for that complaint. Learned real fast to go out and open the hood and pull dipstick and then go have a talk with service writer who then had the”talk” with the owner explaining it was their responsibility to monitor oil level and it was a possibility the engines life was compromised.
A lot lived,surprisingly after an oil change,some didn’t. Can remember friction between customer/service writer/service manager when they were informed the engine wouldn’t be covered under warranty. Yelling,shouting ensued,lots drama.
My experiences with replacing so many engines is where i got the discipline to take time to warm my cars when cold out.
Not related,just remembered how guys would pull 12A cars into shop when real cold out with choke on full and held choke out while they turned key off to load engine/exhaust with fuel and walk away to bathroom or parts dept or outside.
Sometimes it took a couple minutes for it to light off and guys could be far away but when it did it was so effing loud it sounded like a bomb went off. If you weren’t paying attention it would scare the crap out of you if you were working in the bay next to the bomb when it went off. Flames could shoot 3’ out of the muffler. It became a thing to see how much of a bang you could get.I remember the day service manager put a stop to it. The car in question had a rusty exhaust and when it lit off,the muffler flew off and slid @ 10’behind the car followed by a huge fireball.
Last edited by GSLSEforme; 12-04-19 at 08:26 AM.
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DummyFixer (12-13-19)
12-04-19, 07:35 AM
#29
True, cash for clunkers got rid of a lot of rusting polluting junk. And saved the economy.
But it also increased the value of our RX-7's. We're getting into 240Z territory these days.
And I get 22-23 mpg, which was good for the early '80's and better than most new cars (sometimes called "trucks") sold these days.
So stop worrying about the start up guys, get in and drive!
But it also increased the value of our RX-7's. We're getting into 240Z territory these days.
And I get 22-23 mpg, which was good for the early '80's and better than most new cars (sometimes called "trucks") sold these days.
So stop worrying about the start up guys, get in and drive!
12-04-19, 08:33 AM
#30
Waffles - hmmm good
iTrader: (1)
Am I the only person that pretty much immediately starts driving?
Jump in, choke on, start, ease choke back to about 1600 rpm and pretty much set off, usually give it half a minute just to let some oil circulate.
Progressively let out the choke as it warms up, but generally within a few streets it off completely.
Jump in, choke on, start, ease choke back to about 1600 rpm and pretty much set off, usually give it half a minute just to let some oil circulate.
Progressively let out the choke as it warms up, but generally within a few streets it off completely.
The following users liked this post:
GSLSEforme (12-04-19)
The following users liked this post:
GSLSEforme (12-04-19)
01-04-20, 03:09 PM
#34
01-10-20, 12:46 PM
#35
Senior Member
Letting it sit and idle to warm up is just silly. It will foul your plugs quicker. It will waste petrol unnecessarily. It takes far longer to warm up compared to driving it gently! Also if you sit and idle before driving.. Your transmission and diff oils will still be cold AS when you set off. So will have to drive it and warm those fluids up anyway
It is very important to let ALL the fluids in the car get nice and warm before giving it ****. But sitting and idling for 10 minutes isn't going to do it very efficiently AT ALL.
01-10-20, 02:03 PM
#36
ancient wizard...
I don’t get to drive my car near as much as i’d like,it is not a dd. It may sit for 2-3 months or longer. I check fluid levels and start it up and pull out of garage and check and adjust tire pressures,check for leaks that takes about 10 minutes and engine is warm enough to drive away. Usually drive easy long enough to have gone up/down thru the gears couple times before ripping on it
Car is FI and doesn’t foul plugs,as far as wasting gas,I don’t drive it as an economy car so mileage not a concern.
Not being able to drive it regularly,I have to reacquaint myself with steering/brakes/amount of gas input/clutch engagement and shifting.
I enjoy this,it’s like seeing an old friend.
I have three other modern vehicles with manual transmissions but like the way you’re connected to the 1st gen where you have to”drive” it,sounds and sensations it has,not driving it everyday there is an anticipation that I look forward to when I get a chance to drive it.
Car is FI and doesn’t foul plugs,as far as wasting gas,I don’t drive it as an economy car so mileage not a concern.
Not being able to drive it regularly,I have to reacquaint myself with steering/brakes/amount of gas input/clutch engagement and shifting.
I enjoy this,it’s like seeing an old friend.
I have three other modern vehicles with manual transmissions but like the way you’re connected to the 1st gen where you have to”drive” it,sounds and sensations it has,not driving it everyday there is an anticipation that I look forward to when I get a chance to drive it.
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