This article says running the engine idle is bad for your engine. Is this true?
The article is a mixture of some truth, and some complete nonsense.
Idiotic statements like "If you let your engine idle, oil will slowly drain away from key components since the engine isn't moving the car." shows a complete lack of understanding how a vehicle works.
But it is true that driving the car will warm it up faster than letting it idle. If you do warm up your car, you're doing it for your own comfort, or to melt ice/snow, not for the benefit of the engine. But I don't think it's a big issue.
Just use common sense. Warm up the car if you need to make it safe to drive. Help it out by clearing snow (especially off the cowl where air is drawn in) and scraping the windows. After that you can hop in and drive away gently (don't floor it). It will warm up quickly once you get moving.
I don't know if it does any damage but a long warm-up period is not needed. Some people will do that just to get the heater going. In the past with carbs you'd frequently need to get the engine warmed up just for it to run properly but that's not an issue with modern fuel injection.
From the standpoint of the engine all that's really necessary is for the oil pressure to come up. (30 seconds may even be overkill.) Then drive it but take it easy until the engine warms up.
Im always skeptcal of some know-it-all who has a simplistic answer to a complex question that has been tested and debated for decades. If one way or the other was clearly superior, we would have known long before now.
Most new cars are designed to circulate oil quickly on cold start, and in the meantime, warming up is generating revs without miles. But a few minutes of low-RPM warm up is not a big deal one way or the other.
Regardless, the fact that we debate this issue is pretty good evidence that it is not a clear, easy answer.
I don't care what anybody says, I let my vehicles warm up before putting any load on them, just like diesel truck drivers do.
diesels need warming up for reasons that don't exist with small gasoline engines
I know.
new article that says that newer cars do not need to be warmed up
This is an old question. use the search before posting please.
Merging topic with the rest.
I am new to the group. I will delete was not aware. Thanks! Even though it has not really been answered.
Yes to some extent it is true
Hey there! Recently heard that warming up your car too long in the winter time is bad for the engine causing excessive wear due to less oil getting to engine while idling. Is this true ? Should I only be warming up less than 5 minutes instead of 15? Thanks !
2016 Honda Civic Lx 2.0
96 Ford Ranger 4.0
please use the search before making a new post. This was just asked yesterday. Merging topics.
Do you have any link to that article?
Can you please clear up If you should idle your car in the Winter to warm it up? If it's cold outside I'd like to get my engine to operating temperature. Is this correct?
- {pear}:smile:
How to search the forum: https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/read-this-first/#post-248073