Warming up your AU

[Bushbasher]

Kick her in the guts, wait till her pressure goes up then go out and start the car, .

But seriously, start up, wait till the oil pressure is up then ease on up the road like a hat wearing pensioner till the temp guage is in the normal range.
Works for me.

[Mark One]

Originally Posted by MRJUCY

I don't go from cold start to maximum attack but I don't leave it sitting there waiting either just click & go but just cruise until everything is up to temp.

Me too.

[2Lucid]

o come on ur all kidding yourself....... we all flatten it and try and achieve our best 0-100 time befor ecleaning up the old bag next door coming down the road with her shopping

[ef_classic]

I just take it easy for the first 10 minutes, we live on a long durt road, so its ok.

[RUKIDN]

same here, i try often to warm the au up before drivin but pretty much exactly wat the poll says i press the snooze button and dont have time to sit in the driveway for 5 min :hihi: i just drive it easy till its got some temp, but then its not like i go floggin' it then either lol.

[quigs]

Yup, about a minute for the AU, helps the tranny get warm...

the other car takes about five minutes, British engineering is a PITA.

Q

[SVR73]

Yes it deserves to be given a few minutes to warm up. No point cranking it and taking off. I want my baby to be running smooth as silk in twenty to thirty years time and make all the AU haters cry when I zoom past with my pristine XR with original paint and hopefully as many original parts as possible

[F6 R-Spec]

Running late or not, i religiously warm all my girls up at least till the temp gauge moves off cold.
Then very light throttle for the first phew corners of the estate till the gauge moves further up.

happy driving to all, regards mick :eclipsee_

[blu falc]

Originally Posted by Gianz

usually give my vct about 5 to 10 minutes, unless im running out for lunch.. its deffinately important, not only for the engine but for the clutch, gearbox and driveline, everything has been designed to operate with the least stress and wear at operating temperature.

5 to 10 minutes? Thats just a waste of fuel in my opinion.

The owners manual says you don't need to warm the car before driving but I usually give is about 30seconds for the oil to get up to pressure. I don't go over about 2500RPM untill the temp is about 1/4 the way up

[InfernoSR]

Option 3 sums it up for me... the earlier i get up, the longer my car can warm up... otherwise its mach 1 from start up... :P

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by PURSUIT-250

Running late or not, i religiously warm all my girls up at least till the temp gauge moves off cold.

Now if I did that ... I'd have to leave the ute idling in the driveway for 30 minutes.

[Cam]

The AU wont idle until she's been runnin for about 1 min, otherwise she coughs and splutters like a 70 year old pack a day smoker, after that I take it easy for the first 5km or so until she reaches a more decent temp.

The EB daily driver doesn't get the same treatment, I leave for work quite early in the morning, so i usually nail it just to get the heater warm! My warmth is more important then that of the engine!

[DJM83]

Always warm the TE usually 3-4mins and then easy does it till everything it up to temp. Then still easy does it then too :.

[justa6]

i think sitting there idling is just polluting and a waste of fuel , although i used to swear by it. not now, start it and drive away softly untill it warm's. it bring's the engine up to temp quicker, therefore better for it.

marty

[bcr2734]

i warm all cars an trucks up when starting in the morning. The t need 1 min before it starts coughing ( spelling) and then when it is warm we drive for 20 kms at low speed for it to be sorta warm. Just remember that glazing can happen to engines that sit there for ages too. E.g mate Vx SS ute. tool leaves it for ages and when engine went bang, we stripped it and 4 out of 8 were nice and glazed.

[justa6]

the other reason i never sit there idling anymore bcr2734, glazing.

[TE50 027]

I usually let mine idle at least until the oil pressure gauge reaches it's normal position and a minute or so more if I have the time, if not it's easy driving until she's up to normal temp.

[autickfordfairmont]

It changes for me. Most mornings I try to let it warm up for 3-4 mins before leaving for work, then just take it steady up the road till it warms up. Other mornings I have to just jump in fire it up and off i go straight away (Running late with kids still to drop off at school). Alot depends on my gearbox though. Its low on oil atm, so sometimes it wont let me select a gear untill its warm. Got to get under it and top it up real soon.
PLUS my gas system wont switch over untill a certain temp, so i try to let it warm up so it can switch over within a minute of me driving off. During the day im in and out all day from work (real estate) so i just jump in and go straight away.

[Sox]

Warming up an engine whilst the vehicle is stationary is a complete waste of time and fuel. The ONLY time this should ever be done is if the vehicle is unable to move because of coughing/stumbling issues etc. And even then, it should be driven as soon as it IS driveable.

Idling an engine for any length of time is BAD because of the following -

Potential cylinder wall glazing
Slowest method to reach operating temp
Doesn't allow any other mechanical item on the vehicle to warm
Wastes fuel
Pollutes unnecessarily

Driving your vehicle immediately is GOOD because of the following -

Quickest method of warm up
Allows other mechanical items to warm up in harmony
Saves fuel
Fewer pollutants

With the nitty gritty out of the way, the absolute best way to warm an engine is to drive it gently IMMEDIATELY.
An idling engine is under no load, and an engine under no load takes the longest time to build heat. It also doesn't allow the spark plugs and catalytic converter to reach their optimum operating temperature to allow clean burning.

The theory about cold oil not working as well is a myth, cold oil works just as well as 'warmed up' oil, what we're attempting to do is to warm the metal parts within the engine to reduce the clearances and stop things rattling and grinding against each other. This, for obvious reasons needs to be done as quickly as possible. The quickest way is to place the engine under load (by driving the vehicle).

Excess idling also allows too much unburnt fuel to wash the oil off the cylinders, increasing wear substantially. The fuel also ends up in your sump, contaminating your engines life blood (oil).

Lastly, moving off straight away allows all the other mechanical items to warm up in synch with your engine. The gearbox, diff, brakes, tyres, etc, all need warm up to work at their best. Sitting stationary doesn't allow any of those items to warm up, so you go racing off with cold tyres, brakes and gearbox. A recipe for disaster and unnecessary anyway.

Moral of the story, start engine, and drive away gently.

EDIT - BTW, I believe the above has been touted by almost all car manufactures for many years now. It's a no brainer.

[5.0 ED]

I have to agree totally with sox here.

But in my case about half the time i warm it up and let it idle cause it backfires and carries on for a while at low throttle (to the point where you can't accelerate). Or im running late and jump in and flat to floor we go to the speed limit and then i cruising i drive along for about 30seconds to a minute and then the oxy sensors kick in and it starts accelerating so i have to back off, once oxy sensors are hot, it runs fine i just drive it soft until its all warmed up.

Now we all know when your running late, its straight out the driveway and on the gas.

[bloggs24]

ill let it sit there while the pressure gauge moves to normal and once it stops spluttering.

[WoodysXR6]

let her warm and and just admire it, dreaming it was a t3 pursuit ute hahahaha.

[V8falcons]

I start it open the gates, jump in and cruize to the intersection up the road
(half k) then Its 100ks ,I dont see the need to warm up newer cars,they have all the cold start/run maps in the ecu, dont forget you have a gearbox/diff to warm up as well.I just dont nail it until the temp gauge starts moving up abit

[Bobman]

I've always let my cars warm up in winter. I mean who wants to sit in freezing cold anyway?

Still, driving off immediately from dead cold, you get the sense that the car just doesn't want to go anywhere. Things vibrate and shake, etc.

[blueoval]

i warm the car up every morning for up to 10mins. sometimes the guage hasnt moved but moves once i take it real easy up the road for at least 1-2km's.

i have heard it can glaze bores, but like others here, letting metals heat up gradually cant hurt. can it?

[clontarf_x]

I normally give it about 2 or 3 minutes, till the needle starts moving. Won't give it anything too hard until it's in normal operating range. Once she's all warm though she get's the full workout.

[LANKY 1]

ive been really bored and gone looking at all the old threads

i normally just pull up roller door. start ute, wait for oil pressure to get close to normal then reverse out, shut door then drive the few back streets onto a main road. then get a red light normally so nothing i can do then. don't give it the works (unless it's a bit slippery)

EDIT: even my last ute, an xf carby. the auto choke didn't work but it still started farily well in any weather and was drivable right away.

[Jimmyd]

Hey, I live in Northern Queensland - EVERYTHING is already preheated/warmed up....

But I do warm up the RS2000 before I take her out for a run, with the twin idfs webbers it really needs it - for all you youngun's they are carberettors; and no, you can't just 'chip' or 'edit' it, you have to chnge these little things called 'jets' and 'air correctors' and 'emulsion tubes', and 'chokes', etc. etc.........




Cheers

[DashXR6T]

Warm it up everytime usually between 2-5 mins, however If I stop start within 2 hours, I just drove off.

[AUbigfoot]

Ill turn it on, put my gear in the boot, get in and organise sunnies and my music, stretch the legs up the mountain of my driveway and cruise until the temp is better. I don't really flog much past 3krpm anyway so it works out well..

Nice thread idea too!