Proper Warm Up Procedure
 

Well,

I have actually been wondering about this. What is the proper way to warm up a rotary powered car?

I know many people will say to warm it up maybe 10 minutes, however, I have read online and one person has said that 1 minute for warm up and then just start driving below 3k rpms until maximum temperature has been reached.

This is the article I read: http://forums.maxima.org/general-max...wrong-way.html

So how should I properly warm up my car?

Start it. Let it run for a few seconds before starting to move. Drive it under 4K for about 2 minutes. After that, no hard acceleration until fully warmed up @ 180 degrees.

Thats it. You don't need to warm it up to drive it!!

Sounds good. I'm going out right now. Lataz

Letting it idle for 10 minutes will make it warm up too slowly, after giving the engine a minute or so to start circulating oil and lubricating all seals you should take it easy and don't go over 4k rpm untill th engine is at operating temperature, that could take up to 15 mins.

That is my just opinion, any way to warm up the engine will be a bit of a compromise between warming up to slow or just reving the nuts off it.

Turn on, put on seatbelt (which should add sufficient delay for the oil pressure to rise), drive.

Any longer and a shrink may be a good option.

[Edit: And when the water temperature gets to 80C, drive the snot out of it.]

I do about 5 minutes, or maybe even longer if its REALLY cold.

I have always done that to my cars and it never hurt it. Another reason is because where i live, you cant really go "slow". When you're on the road, you gotta pick up the pace and start moving, unless you go out at 11pm or 5am. Otherwise there are alot of other cars on the road, all in a big hurry.

My DD i dont warm up that much, i say like 3 minutes, then i go. Frankly because i dont care because if something breaks (i know it wont), i have warranty.

On the FD, its an old fragile turbo car. So i baby it. I warm it up. Make sure it sounds ok, check for leaks, then i start slow. That car i HAVE to start slow because the car doesnt move til you boost (non seq). I usually wait til i see til i see the temp gauge reach like 105-110F. That takes about 5-7 minutes. Then i go.

I've always just started it and gone. No spooling till the temp rises to 180F like Adam said.

It takes me 2 minutes just to get out of the drive:lol:

Let it idle 30sec as others have said, then drive without hard throttle until fully warm. That could be anywhere between 8-15 mins :icon_tup:

Yep ^^ C'mon guys, it's just like any other car. Just don't boost hard until your thermostat opens up (engine warm, ~180F/83C temp). Just like any other turbo (or even nonturbo!) engine that you give 2 $hits about. I've never spent time "warming the motor up" in any car I've ever owned, just practiced going easy on it 'til it warms up. Like mconnor said above, by the time you start the car, buckle your seatbelt, and look behind you, you should be good to go.

I park on the street
very close to neighbors

and i have 3" straight pipe exhaust.. which barely quiets things down..

i drive my FD to work every morning

so i don't have much choice..

Fire it up.. wait 10-15 secs while I turn on the stereo, roll down the windows, put seat belt on, put sun glasses on..

and then I granny her.. shifting at 2-3,000 rpm

not exceeding 60mph

Keepin an eye on my defi gauges..

it takes a good 4-5 miles before my Thermostat even opens..

and after that

it takes another few miles for the oil temp to catch up

especially @ highway speeds

Go outside, turn on car, go back inside, make sammitch mmmm sammitches, eat sammitch. Go outside and go drive, if it didn't catch on fire. Your welcome.

Alot of you people live in warmer climates so thats understandable that you guys just start and basically go.

Now i know colder climate probably has no to little effect on doing the same thing but i have always let the car idle a bit longer, especially when its cold out, 40F or below.

One morning, i think it said like 29F on my digital temp reader thingie and i had frost on my windshield and it took about 10 minutes for it to clear. I know car warms up faster if i drive it but what good is that if i cant see?

I think its a matter of just wasting gas if you sit and let the car idle a bit longer. Because if it was bad for the car, then we all do the same thing technically.

Sitting at red lights, going through fast food drive thrus. Stop and go traffic etc.

You cant just NOT let the car idle because its impossible.

80% of engine wear is done in the driveway

long perious of idle also aren't good for the oil either..

if i'm in gridlock I usually switch the car off..

Is there an article or a test stating that theory?

I think there are alot of maybes than actual facts here.

Ice scraper? ;)


The issue is really the oil. Oil has a much higher viscosity when it's cold (which is why the FSM suggest changing oil on a warm engine). If you get the car moving, the oil will warm up much quicker than it will just idling. The longer your oil is cold, the more harm it's doing.

lol mahjik

I usually go outside and start the car, go back inside and make my coffee mug, take out the trash etc, then go back outside. I dont literally sit in the car and wait for it to warm up.

So if the issue is really oil, that means a person who does such a thing as idling the car long should use really good oil then no?

Cause then the many different oils available dont even mean a thing if the same wear and tear will be an effect on the car with the person with the same habits.

Every single car manual I have seen indicates that a car should be started and immediately driven. That should be evidence enough since car companies have to warranty these things and engine longevity also affects their reputation.

There are many many articles on engine wear vs. oil temperature out there. Here is one (though there is a much better and longer if read last year one that I will try to find):

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/747.html

Cliffs notes: "The point of this problem is to stress that by far the greatest amount of engine wear takes place before the oil is warmed up. The amount of wear that occurs afterward is insignificant by comparison."

Of course this article concentrates on piston engines but the wear principles will apply to any other lubricated moving part.

Getting the oil to optimal operating temperatures as quickly as possible is key - if manufacturers did not want this they would not have put a thermostat in the car.

lol....I've owned several turbocharged cars in my life, still have two and thus I am always pretty conservative when first driving with a cold engine, with the 'stay off the boost' mantra firmly in my head.
On occasion when the weather is nice I will drive my FD to work, but if it is cool or cold outside I always take it easy for the first few minutes.
Now, a co-worker just purchased a fairly new Camaro with an LS-1, and he drives it like Jehu. A couple of times recently when I leave to go to lunch, he will get on my ass and then just haul ass by me, and of course when I come back I hear these jeers of, "So...you didn't wanna try and race me again, huh?"

Fucker.

On a cold motor?

Yes, on a cold engine. Just last Wednesday, in 20 degree weather he and a guy with a 300C did this little impromptu drag race out the parking lot and down the highway, with the Camaro smoking its tires thru first and second and ALL OVER the road.... :wallbash:

Very true but a car manual shouldnt be the only proof. There are other things they state that doesnt matter and we dont follow anyway. Like oil weights, redlining the car etc.

Im not saying that link was wrong, im just saying there cant be a significant difference in engine life for a person who never warms up a car versus a person who idles the car for a couple more minutes than it should.

Also, about the thermostat comment. If that was the case, im sure car manufacturers would put a lower temp thermostat than the usual 160-190F thermostat to bring the car up to temp before the t-stat opens.

On my FD, especially in this ambient cold weather takes FOREVER for the car to reach 180F. I literally can do a 10 mile cruise, with highway included and end up back in my house at 170F. I have to lightly boost in between, so when i get to a stop, the heat can bring up the temp faster.

synthetic oil is recommended for those who spend alot of time idling in traffic..


just a side note.. even in my M5 I do the same.. as soon as she's firing on 8 cylinders I take her out and start moving.. and it says so in the manual as well

if it works for an $80,000 car it should be ok for the FD as well..

but in my M5 I have pretty lights that go out as she warms up telling me when shes ok to unleash some powa :D

lol yeah i remember that when i drove my gf's brothers m3. I was like wtf? im limited to 5K rpm? Then as time went by, the lights went out and i was like yeeeehaaaaa. lol nah jk i couldnt rip on the car because she was with me and i dont want to get my ass kicked if she told.

But idk, i guess that was a habit of mine ever since owning a car and never had a problem. Ill try to make the habit of not doing excessive idling when warm up.

You have the reverse idea of the thermostat. The thermostat is CLOSED so the liquid is NOT air cooled and allowed to build up heat. It opens to allow the liquid to circulate through the cooling device (whether radiator or oil cooler) when the liquid is hot and needs to be cooled.

In the summer I usually dont let it idle, basically just what the other guys said (seat belt, roll down windows and go but just giving it a bit of gas while we went down the street).

When it was fall I would have to wait for the idle to drop down from 1500 rpm to 1000 rpm, or else it would be mad at me. In the winter (just at the beginning in like -10-0 temps with little snow) it gets really pissed off, I tried going pretty quickly, still idling at 1300-1400 rpm, barely giving it gas, black smoke just poured out and it really just wanted to die, so I didnt try that again and let it warm up for 10 mins usually or till 1000 rpm.