Driving Car Cold

I may be old school, but when I start the car in the morning I let it idle 30 seconds, then am very easy on the gas until the temp gauge bumps a bit. Then I drive normally. Before I turn the car off I let the car idle 15 seconds or so. I don't know if there is any reason mechanically to do this. What about you?

I always like to let it run a bit before putting in gear if at all possible. Helps get the oil flowing a bit. Then I was always taught to keep it under 2000-2500 rpm until it is fully warm. When the needle moves the water is getting warm but the metals of the motor take 5-10 miles in a cast motor to fully warm up. Then drive as normal.

What does the owner's manual say?

Start car, drive.

jayoldschool wrote:

Start car, drive.

Pretty straight forward!!

I do the easy driving on cold days but as soon as it starts I am gone.When I had my Turbo T bird I always let the engine idle for about a minute when hot particularly in the summer to lower the oil temp and circulate the oil in the turbo around.

By the time my needle moves I drove the 5 miles to the office. My exhaust manifold gets hot enough to stop the tick from the broken bolt when I'm half a block from the office.....

How cold is cold? When it hits -20 or -40 in mid-winter, I let it idle a bit while I scrape the windows. If it's above freezing, gently driving it warms things up faster than idling.

Remember when its bitter cold like anything below zero,your whole drivetrain needs to warm up,transmission fluid,rear axle grease so be gentle but the era of letting the engine warm up
in the driveway is gone and your just wasting gas and time,just be gentle on the gas.

The other thing I should mention: when it's below -20 I plug the block heater and battery blanket in for a few hours prior to starting the car whenever possible. I have it on a timer so if I'm leaving at, say, 3am, I'll set the timer to kick in around 11 pm.

As long as it's a normally aspirated car, once it has oil pressure, it's good to go!

From the Owner's Manual (95 model):

Quote :

When starting your engine in very cold weather (below 0"F or -18"C), do this:
1. With your foot off the accelerator pedal, turn the ignition key to START and hold
it there. When the engine starts, let go of the key. Use the accelerator pedal to maintain engine speed, if you have to, until your engine has run for a while

(p. 2-16)

Quote :

Engine Coolant Heater (Canada Only)
In very cold weather, 0°F (-18°C) or colder, the engine coolant heater can help. You'll get easier starting and better fuel economy during engine warm-up. Usually, the coolant heater should be plugged in a minimum of four hours prior to starting your vehicle.

(p. 2-17)

Using oil pressure as a guide may be a bit misleading. Oil pressure tends to be higher when the oil is cold -- because it's thicker and does not flow as well. Having oil pressure at one point does not mean you have oil delivery at all points.

Which of course is related to the viscosity of the installed oil, and why GM recommends a 5w-30, especially below 0°F (-18°C). If you are using the more common 10w-30 then your oil starts out even thicker in cold weather. True synthetic oils (eg: Mobil 1, Amsoil) tend to be more temperature stable than conventional oils so they don't thicken as much. In really cold weather (below -40°), I plug in a magnetic oil pan heater to keep the oil from turning to sludge.

My wife's car actually has a "cold weather mode" which starts and runs the engine for 15 minutes every few hours to maintain some residual heat in extremely cold weather on those occasions when it can't be plugged in. Once upon a time, malls, employers, motels, etc. used to provide outlets at each parking space but that perq seems to becoming rare around here these days as electricity prices skyrocket. I'm thinking of adding an aftermarket remote starter to the wagon just for that feature.

But again, how cold is "cold"? None of this is necessary if you live in an area where "cold" just means "below freezing". In that case you can just start it, drive gently during the warm up and bear in mind that the engine idle speed will be higher during that warm up period so the car will tend to pull more than when it's fully warmed up.