Should You Warm Up Your Car Before Driving?

Should You Warm Up Your Engine Before Driving Your Car?

Cars with electronic fuel injection do not need to be warmed up before lightly driving off. This is because fuel injected engines can compensate for temperature changes. Cold engines run rich to compensate for poor fuel atomization. This means extra fuel is injected into the combustion chamber.

Now fuel is a solvent, so when extra fuel gets on the cylinder walls, it washes away the oil from the cylinders and pistons. Less oil on the cylinder walls means less protection, and because the oil is cold it makes it harder for it to be replaced. This means the longer you spend with your engine cold, the more wear you’ll have. Idling the engine doesn’t put much heat into it, so the car remains cold for a long duration.

If it’s cold outside, you can wait 15-30 seconds to ensure that oil is flowing, but you don’t need to wait for the engine to be warm. It will heat up faster by driving the car lightly. By heating it up faster, the oil gets to operating temperature more quickly, and this is what you want to prevent wear. If it’s really cold outside, the time it takes to scrape off the windows so you can see will be plenty of time for oil to start circulating, so you can get in and go once you can see out the windshield.

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[chriscrowder]

I just hold it at redline till the temp gauge is in the middle. Less time to warm up = less wear

[maybeturki]

When it’s cold, I always launch my car in the 4th gear so not only the engine gets warm, but the transmission too.

[coryr]

I always let the car warm up between 30 seconds to a minute, just until the rpm drops down to a regular idle.

[TheBasher-_-]

How old is this guy? Im guessing between 21 and 41

[Corrosion]

I just start a fire under the oil pan before i start my car.

[smartdrivetest]

Thanks Jason - brilliant explanation of why the engine should NOT be idled in cold weather. And that easy driving is the best way to warm up the engine in the winter. All the best, Cheers Rick

[DynMFree]

The reason why we warm up our cars is to warm up the car interior when it’s freezing out, not because we want the engine warm.

[Reapwhatyousow]

In the winter I usually just give my car couple of slaps to show it who is boss. works Everytime.

[silverado.]

I like to let the idle drop before I go

[MrBales]

It hurts me to drive right away. Almost like my truck tells me not too.

[MollyMcBooter]

the owners manual for my 2016 Subaru Crosstrek recommends that I wait until the blue engine oil temp light goes out before driving.. So I follow the manual.

[bryantr.]

You guys are all misunderstanding the guy he's saying you don't really need to warm up the car until the needle is in the middle of the temperature gauge. As he said in the video the time you take to clean the ice of your windows is plenty of time for you car to warm up! No need to wait 15 minutes for you car to warm up! He also mentioned that if you do drive your car without letting it warm up at all you should drive it lightly. What he's saying completely makes sense... but if you do choose to wait for your car to warm up for 15 minutes or however long you guys choose to that's on you.

[JoeIsCrazyWillman]

And we warm it up because we want the interior to get up to our preferable temperature comfort level too! Lol.

[matthewharris]

I believe the car idles fast at first to keep the car warming up properly with EFI. This is designed to get the engine running at first. But I can definitely tell a huge difference in performance if I allow the vehicle to warm up even just a little bit when temperatures are cold. A cold engine needs time to expand the metals and warm oils..

[jordanmendes]

Cold start and 95% throttle for 5 minutes straight and you’re go to go.

[kalloggs]

I have 320k miles on my BMW e46 318i and I always warm up for 3mins, never had an oil leak, never smokes,  never had an issue except batteries, mounts, hoses, and thermostat. I change my oil with fully synthetic 5w40 every 6months or 5000miles. Also warming up your car can get the desired cabin temp before jumping in. AND I HAVE USED E10 Ethanol fuel all those miles.

[danielfl.]

My car revs at 1.400 rpm the first 30-50 seconds during cold start before dropping to 900rpm, which is when I drive.
No need to let it sit for 5 minutes.

[syrthdrsybr]

Perfectly said man, 30 sec to a couple of minutes of idle to ensure a good volume of oil is getting to the head is ideal. But letting the engine warm up is definitely not required.

[TopiasSalakka]

We in Finland use engine warmers when it gets under 5C or so, less wear if the engine's warm before starting, and starts up easier. In older cars (or new base models) we also use interior warmers that are linked with the engine warmer, so the inside is warm when you get in.

[thekfcbandit]

How long should I let my bicycle warm up?