Starting/Warming up conflicting info
08-02-10, 03:12 PM
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Starting/Warming up conflicting info
I am a rotary newbie more or less. When I got my FB I was told by an FC owner that I after I turn it on, I should not drive my car until the engine is fully warmed up, and not turn it off until it has had a few minutes to cool down. In essence, treat it like a turbo car.
Today, my friends coworker who has an RX4 said that information was wrong. He said that I should give it maybe 30 seconds of warm up time to allow for the oil to start circulating and then start driving to warm the oil up as fast as possible. He also said that since it is NA I don't need to let it cool before shutting the engine off.
So which information is correct?
Today, my friends coworker who has an RX4 said that information was wrong. He said that I should give it maybe 30 seconds of warm up time to allow for the oil to start circulating and then start driving to warm the oil up as fast as possible. He also said that since it is NA I don't need to let it cool before shutting the engine off.
So which information is correct?
08-02-10, 03:47 PM
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the rx4 guy is correct. you wanna start it, let it run for 10-30 seconds and drive it gently until its warmed up.
letting it sit there and idle is actually bad for the engine, not to mention being a huge waste of gas.
the cool down part is also wrong. if you have an oil temp gauge, you'd see that letting it idle hot just heats the oil up. the non beehive oil coolers need air flow to work, so the car needs to be moving.
so if you DO drive it hard, it certainly wouldn't hurt to drive it really easy for a few blocks
this advise even works on the turbo cars, stock they have water cooled turbos, so they do not need the turbo timer treatment. water cooled turbo makes the turbo timer a relic from the disco era. your 930 turbo needs one, but the mazda does not
letting it sit there and idle is actually bad for the engine, not to mention being a huge waste of gas.
the cool down part is also wrong. if you have an oil temp gauge, you'd see that letting it idle hot just heats the oil up. the non beehive oil coolers need air flow to work, so the car needs to be moving.
so if you DO drive it hard, it certainly wouldn't hurt to drive it really easy for a few blocks
this advise even works on the turbo cars, stock they have water cooled turbos, so they do not need the turbo timer treatment. water cooled turbo makes the turbo timer a relic from the disco era. your 930 turbo needs one, but the mazda does not
08-03-10, 04:04 PM
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A lot of this probably stems from the fear of flooding. A lot of people worry that if you start the car, then shut it off before it is fully warmed up, it will flood. Deflooding a rotary can be difficult. I've never worried about it, and don't have any issues. Must be a fuel injection worry or something. 
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08-03-10, 05:05 PM
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A lot of this probably stems from the fear of flooding. A lot of people worry that if you start the car, then shut it off before it is fully warmed up, it will flood. Deflooding a rotary can be difficult. I've never worried about it, and don't have any issues. Must be a fuel injection worry or something.
the classic story is i backed the car out of the garage to wash it, and then it wouldn't start.
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