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what temp is it ok to drive the car ?

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Old May 3, 2012 | 12:17 PM
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what temp is it ok to drive the car ?

I tried searching But my keywords .. were less then accurate as I got a whole lot of the wrong stuff on my results .

so if you could help me out with the correct keywords thats awesome to .

otherwise , my question is at what temp is it best to start driving the car?

I start the car and let it idle till it reaches around 75C , ( power FC ) sometimes 60 if I'm in a hurry. I will not go over 2500 rpms , until the motor reaches 80C . needless to say I'm slow in the mornings LOL .

Now my friends who have rotaries dont do this , myrx8 friends ofcourse have the lowered rev limiter until warm , and my rx7 friends just say they take it easy .

now of course I know waiting for the car to warm up is bad for my MPGS! lol but I cant say I really mind if it honestly keeps the engine healthy .

but I keep getting told that I'm being excessive .LOL

what is the general consensus on this subject?
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Old May 3, 2012 | 12:26 PM
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for me, if it registers on the stock gauge (approximately 60C on my GReddy gauge) then i drive, but dont boost. i personally dont really limit the rpm, but i try not to drag out one gear to redline

once the stock gauge is centered (approx 80c and before the thermostat opens for the first time) I start driving normally.

my reasoning is that all of the metal parts and seals of the engine are at these temps or higher by the time it registers in the coolant sensor.

Since the coolant stabilizes between 80-100c in normal driving, i'm comfortable with driving it when the coolant reaches the bottom of that range because the metal parts and seals have been in/above that range prior to the coolant getting there.

edit: i am not saying that the metal parts are in the 80-100c because obviously combustion is warmer than this.

Last edited by nismosilvia270r; May 3, 2012 at 12:30 PM.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 12:29 PM
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to be quite honest I don't even worry about that.

I turn the car on, pull it of the garage, leave it on the drive way idleing as I go back and close my front door. Then I just hop in and drive. The one thing that I am careful of is not to get on the gas until at least the car hits 70C on the PFC.

Last edited by Montego; May 3, 2012 at 12:31 PM.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 12:30 PM
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This topic can be argued to death.


It seems some people do something similar to what you do; warm up the car to close to operating temp. then start to drive the car easy till it is fully warmed up.


I usually wait till the car is about 50C or sometimes even less. I just go real slow and take it easy. I don't see the need to warm it up fully before driving. It is a waste IMHO.



PS, you do not need to space the commas and periods in a sentence from the preceding letter.


Originally Posted by Montego
to be quite honest I don't even worry about that.

I turn the car on, pull it of the garage, leave it on the drive way idleing as I go back and close my front door. Then I just hop in and drive. The one thing that I am careful of is not to get on the gas until at least the car hits 70C on the PFC.
That is basically what I do.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 12:37 PM
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haha, a popped engine scares the hell out of me because im not ready to replace it with a v8 yet.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 01:11 PM
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<- daily driven past 7 years almost 8 years with 75k on this motor so far. Just start the stupid thing and drive it, stay out of boost till its fully warm.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 02:05 PM
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I wait for oil temps to come up before I rev high as well.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by JTurtonRX_7
<- daily driven past 7 years almost 8 years with 75k on this motor so far. Just start the stupid thing and drive it, stay out of boost till its fully warm.
same with me, DD most of the 5 years i owned it now im going on 7(or is it 8?) and semi daily it.

but when i first got it, i use to let it warm up before driving it. but then i realized im wasting time, Now i just start it pull it out the garage and drive off. keeping it under 3k till around 70c on the pfc. Not like these cars were built with the intention of the owner letting the car idle in the driveway before going out. If that were the case not many people would of bought the car back in the day.

Plus, the car warms up faster when driving it than letting it idle. just dont go into boost till around 70c + .
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Old May 3, 2012 | 02:24 PM
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If I am in a hurry, I allow about 30 seconds for the blood to circulate before taking off. Because my car is not a daily driver, that rarely happens. I often let mine warm up to around 160F before driving. Much of it has to do with my 850cc primaries. My car runs like total crap when its cold. Can't wait for my new EV14's to go in.

NEVER boost or over rev a cold engine. Let things warm up first.... period.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 04:30 PM
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You don't need to have the vehicle sit to warm up, you're actually not warming up the diff or trans fluids when you do that. The engine warms up fastest when it's being driven.

When it comes to WOT though, never go WOT or anything above 3000-3500 rpm if normal operating temps haven't been reached. This is due to the fact that multiple sensors don't function until operating temps & that includes oil itself. Oil starts to actually work at around 190-200 degrees F. Water temps are different from oil temps but you get the idea.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 07:04 PM
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Wow, seriously guys, the FD is a CAR, start it and GO. Sitting in the driveway letting it warm up accomplishes NOTHING but wasting gas.

YOU WILL NOT HURT YOUR ENGINE IF YOU DRIVE THE CAR WHEN IT'S COLD. Period.

Now, if you live up in the Great White North and it's -50 outside, sure, let it warm up some before going for a drive. The oil is probably mud and needs to heat up a bit. If air temps are 20 deg. F or above, you'll be just fine.

Yes, it is an excellent idea to wait until it's warmed up before you go WOT. Stock the FD has the extra secondary throttle plates that keep you from going full throttle when it's cold, many people have this bypassed or removed however.

To really answer the main question, around 80-85 deg. C is where I like to see my car running. On REALLY hot days in stop and go traffic with the AC I might see 95 or so, that's still fine. If I see 100, I'm pulling off the road, but I have yet to see the car naturally get that hot, if it IS that hot there's a coolant leak or something.

Dale
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Old May 3, 2012 | 07:10 PM
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Start it. Drive it. Keep it under 4K for the first minute. No heavy acceleration until fully warmed up. Thats it. Easy.

Been doing this for 10 years.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 08:25 PM
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This morning it was 8deg C when i left for work.
I started car, blipped throttle to get rid of the cold start high idle - reversed out of the driveway and drove to work.
I dont let it warm up at all before i drive it. I just take it easy and dont boost for 10mins or so after startup.
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Old May 3, 2012 | 11:42 PM
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<- daily driven past 7 years almost 8 years with 75k on this motor so far. Just start the stupid thing and drive it, stay out of boost till its fully warm.
+1
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Old May 4, 2012 | 05:43 AM
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Lol I always hated people that never warmed up their car. I'm not saying sit in your car for 10 minutes but people start it and within 10 seconds the car is moving..

I let the car idle for a couple of minutes. Winter time and car idles a couple minutes longer. Usually I wait til my water temp gauge moves. So when I see about 110-115f ill move out slow.

Thing is where I live and when you get out there, people are on your ***. So driving slow to take it easy will have people run you off the road. You and your car have to be ready for the paces where I live. That's where a v8 has the advantage. Lol
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Old May 4, 2012 | 07:11 AM
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Originally Posted by adam c
Start it. Drive it. Keep it under 4K for the first minute. No heavy acceleration until fully warmed up. Thats it. Easy.

Been doing this for 10 years.
+1. No boost until it's fully warm. Fortunately that's about the time I make it to the freeway on ramp.
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Old May 5, 2012 | 02:05 AM
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I drain the coolant, warm it to 220F fill the motor then pull the EGI fuse and crank it till the oil pressure is up and then start it. I go through this routine every morning.


Seriously, Dale hit it on the head, start, drive and don't hit it til it is warm.
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Old May 5, 2012 | 05:48 AM
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Originally Posted by nismosilvia270r
haha, a popped engine scares the hell out of me because im not ready to replace it with a v8 yet.


+1 I wait till about 180 F. before really hammering on the car but thats just me. If you got the money for engine rebuilds and/or run your car very hard constantly even after its warmed up, just start it up and go!

I've hear of a lot of people which never brake new engines in and some which do burn outs till they pop their tires on brand new/rebuild engines on the first crank. then again these guys know how to rebuild their engines or have the extra cash for it. I'm a broke as$ **** right now so I just take it easy. Hell even when I take it easy and stay out of the boost, I'll probally get tickets if I didn't conciously keep the speed down (here in Hawaii speed limit is a very strict 50mph which a crap load of cops everywhere and most roads are 25mph...).
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Old May 5, 2012 | 11:41 AM
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Drive it straight away. Once oil temp is up to temp, then boot it.
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Old May 5, 2012 | 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by turbojeff
I drain the coolant, warm it to 220F fill the motor then pull the EGI fuse and crank it till the oil pressure is up and then start it. I go through this routine every morning.


Seriously, Dale hit it on the head, start, drive and don't hit it til it is warm.
ha
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Old May 5, 2012 | 07:34 PM
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I am confused, how do you "pop" and engine because you ran it cold? Worst case you scar some bearings no? Even then that is not very likely. If anything I would be more worried on a standard piston engine then a rotary. I beat the everliving crap out of my Talon cold and she is purring along nicely 170k miles. Even my old auto instructor who was a machinist went straight WOT after a re-build for break ins. Cars/Engines are a lot more stout then people are led to believe.

Do keep in mind that the most wear on the engine is during cold starts though. So keeping the load down during warmup is logical. But sitting in the driveway waiting for it to warm up is plain silly and a waste of your life/time.

Its a car stop worrying about it and drive the damn thing, its not your child or something. Enjoy the damn thing.
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Old May 6, 2012 | 01:05 PM
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i turn it on and hold the gas slightly til my AFR warms up then i let off (HBP helps it idle so it doesnt fall on its face)
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Old May 6, 2012 | 01:38 PM
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It's good practice to let any machinary that uses oil to lube gears and such to warm up to operating temp. Oil is engineered to work at certain temp range for maximum protection of the metal components. When you are driving below operating temp, you are not letting the oil do its job. Engineers specify an oils operating temp for a reason.
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Old May 6, 2012 | 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by turbojeff
I drain the coolant, warm it to 220F fill the motor then pull the EGI fuse and crank it till the oil pressure is up and then start it. I go through this routine every morning.


Seriously, Dale hit it on the head, start, drive and don't hit it til it is warm.
LMAO Formula 1 procedures
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Old May 21, 2012 | 07:26 PM
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is it possible to run to cool of a temp on a rotary....like whats to low of a temp for a car to ride around at because i ride with the fans on at 176-180F (80C) off at 158-160F (70C) is that too cool??? im using a hand held mirco tech for temps.

Last edited by Eli063; May 21, 2012 at 07:28 PM.
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