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"Warming up your car", is it a Myth or a Must?


NaturaTek
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I was googling info on oils and found a post that said:

 

10w40 is harldy ever used anymore (do not use it unless you have a car that calls for it, mostly older cars). 5w30 is VERY thin, so it heats up & breaks down very fast. You forgot the other option which is 10w30 & this is the oil you should use all year round (unless you are in the artic). People will tell you 5W30 is better (which it is given the choice of that or 10w40) but 10w30 is the best for normal cold winters (like New York or Chicago type). I have driven in some of the coldest of winters (-60 with the wind chills) & have never had a problem with 10w30 oil.

 

You may also hear that you should let your car warm up for 10 mins before you drive it. This is another myth as you want to put the engine under load (in drive & in motion) as soon as you can. While the engine is "warming up" for the 10 mins (in idle) the rpms are much faster & not much oil is getting to the required parts. There may be times it is sooooo cold that all your fluids are goop, so you have to give it a few mins to warm up. But as soon as it will let you, put the car in motion.

 

I have to admit, I've heard the warm up for 10minutes theory for a long long time. But in light of that post and other reading, is it a myth??? Or a must? I also admit, man, I start my pathy up and just go. I hate waiting and I always feel guilty of this 'warming up' theory in the back of my head. I'm pretty sure its common sense to warm up in the cold arse winter (I have not driven in winter yet, this year be the first), but if this warming up car is actually true, how much harm will one do if they don't warm up their car/svu?

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I give mine enough time for the oil pressures (engine and tranny) to come up and then I go. As far as oil, I am suspicious about someone who writes that 10W30 is berrer and uses the justification that they have used it without any problem. Guess what... I use 5w30 in mine. Thinner is easier to pump in the cold and more likely to get to the valves quickly. I switched to 20W50 in my honda because I was burning a little oil and had a small leak. The thicker oil lasted longer cause it didn't leak as fast.

 

If I recall correctly, there is a diagram underhood with the reco oil based on your most common weather.

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The warmup routine is old news. That was for carbureted vehicles. 30seconds to 1 minute is long enough for a fuel injected vehicle to warm up.

 

Yup, old news. The warmup period for me consists of starting the truck, moving it out of the garage, putting on my seatbelt and filling in the km's in my log book. Then I go. Max of a minute. Doing the long idle warmup does not warm up the trannie or diff. And I seem to get heat faster into the cabin too.

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Doing the long idle warmup does not warm up the trannie or diff. And I seem to get heat faster into the cabin too.

 

Ah but if you do want to warm up the tranny and differential try this. Put your transfer case in neutral with the handbrake on and put your tranny in drive or 1st gear. This will simulate driving down the road because your tranny is actually turning. Don't forget to pull your tranny in neutral and give it a few seconds before pulling your transfer case back in gear though as you might not like the sounds you hear.....so I heard ;)

Edited by denisb
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Ah but if you do want to warm up the tranny and differential try this. Put your transfer case in neutral with the handbrake on and put your tranny in drive. This will simulate driving down the road because your tranny is actually turning. Don't forget to pull your tranny in neutral and give it a few seconds before pulling your transfer case back in gear though as you might not like the sounds you hear.....so I heard ;)

 

No neutral setting on my trannie :huh:

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No neutral setting on my trannie :huh:

 

wtf? it has to.. not in gear is N and besides:

 

 

 

Ah but if you do want to warm up the tranny and differential try this. Put your transfer case in neutral with the handbrake on and put your tranny in drive. This will simulate driving down the road because your tranny is actually turning. Don't forget to pull your tranny in neutral and give it a few seconds before pulling your transfer case back in gear though as you might not like the sounds you hear.....so I heard ;)

 

i normally warm my up.. start it.. go back in the house.. come back in a little and drive but the garage is rarely v. frozen. anyway, the pollution controls kick in faster because the truck actually warms up faster when drive..

 

 

k9,

 

the quote about 10w30 is actually right except his reason is weak.. the real reason is that it is the base oil from which all other oils are made so it has less additives and doesn't break down as easily.

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k9,

 

the quote about 10w30 is actually right except his reason is weak.. the real reason is that it is the base oil from which all other oils are made so it has less additives and doesn't break down as easily.

 

Well ain’t that nice.

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Yeah I warm it up for about a couple of minutes and take it easy on the gas until its all warmed up.

 

But I always believed 5w30 to be better in the winters than 10w30 by personal experience. My fiance's ford escort was not able to start on one of our coldest mornings last year, down to -30F. I changed it over to 5w30 and never had any problems starting it up again.

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Listen, they don't call this Winterpeg for nothing. There are mornings so cold here, that I don't dare try driving until the truch has been running, in neutral, for 5 minutes. Not only is it an ambient temp thing within the cab, but stuff sounds like it's actually gonna bust when it's -40C. Besides, it usually takes us that long to scrape fargin snow and ice of truch and find our testicles. Oh, and I believe in 5/30 in winter for sure.

Edited by daftpup
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In THAT extreme cold....yeah....5 minutes is fine..... No matter what...that temperature is hard on a vehicle.

 

The waste of time is when people do it when it's -1 and idle their vehicle for 10 minutes.

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My 94 hadn't been running for 3 months it was sitting out in the back yard, i go start it up, started on the first crank, and was blowing hot air within 5 minutes.

 

:clap::clap: nissan

 

this was the middle of january with -45 degree weather fyi

Edited by redfinder
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My 94 hadn't been running for 3 months it was sitting out in the back yard, i go start it up, started on the first crank, and was blowing hot air within 5 minutes.

 

:clap::clap: nissan

 

this was the middle of january with -45 degree weather fyi

Ok , like, I lived just outside of Ottawa for 4 years dude and I dont recall it getting anywhere close to -45C. :shiftyeyes: DO NOT try and scam a scammer. :stickwack:

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The waste of time is when people do it when it's -1 and idle their vehicle for 10 minutes.

 

Yup, our neighborer idles his truck for around 1/2 hour for his 5 minute commute to work :thumbsdown:

 

And his wife is just as bad, she will let their van sit running for up to an hour before going for a 15 minute trip. Make you sick to see that kind of waste. :thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

And it does not matter if it is + 10 or -5 (Celsius of course).

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Yup, our neighborer idles his truck for around 1/2 hour for his 5 minute commute to work :thumbsdown:

 

And his wife is just as bad, she will let their van sit running for up to an hour before going for a 15 minute trip. Make you sick to see that kind of waste. :thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

And it does not matter if it is + 10 or -5 (Celsius of course).

That's insane. You should report 'em to the bad neighbor board or something. I also have a horrible neighbor but that's cuz he's a Nazi.

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That's insane. You should report 'em to the bad neighbor board or something. I also have a horrible neighbor but that's cuz he's a Nazi.

 

No law here against it unless you have a commercial vehicle, then you are limited to 5 minutes. Damm Western Canada redneck towns :tongue:

 

 

thats me on the left

redneck_mentor.jpg

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