[steves69RS]

I was always taught that in cold weather to warm the vehicle up before driving. My brother in law has a 2001 F**d ranger (oops, did I just swear?)with a four cylinder engine and the manual says not to warm the engine up, start and drive. It states that when cold idleing, the engine is not getting full lubrication and engine failure could result if you idle it when cold. I find this hard to believe. Anybody heard of this?

[69lemans]

I have always let my cars idle on cold mornings, 15 to 20 min. The van and blazer both have 150000+ miles on them, I want my a$$ warm when I go to work


------------------
jamie
our cars
"Have you ever notice anybody slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

[zuma]

I have done it both ways, My old 81 RX-7, I got in and drove, put 207k on it without any big problems. I currently have 50k on my Dodge Dakota 4X4, I'm older and don't like my a$$ cold like Lemans either, so I warm it up, no problems so far, so for me it dosen't really matter, I guess. Mike

[Kens68]

I had an 83 Pontiac 6000 with 303K on it. I would start it up and drive or until it warmed up enough were it wouldn't stall when I put it in drive (usually 3 to 5 minutes on very very cold mornings).

On the other hand, my 68 Camaro in cold weather runs better when it gets to @ 150 degrees. Otherwise, if I start and go in cold weather she kicks (sounds like an exhaust pop...) a little when I lean in to it too much.

[BillK]

The worse thing you can do is let it sit and idle forever. The choke is closed...lots of fuel washing into the oil etc etc. Same goes with FI engines, they are in the open loop, cold running mode, just not quite as bad. Let it run 20 or 30 seconds to get things circulating, then drive it gently till it is totally warmed up. A lot of the OHC engines are havong camshaft failures due to not enough lube up to the head when cold, thats why they say to drive it.
I have always done this with all my vehicles and have never had an engine failure. Put plenty of miles on them too.
Hope this helps,

------------------
Bill Koustenis
Owner
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
1971 Chevelle "Heavy Chevy" original owner

[DjD]

I'm inclined to agree with Bill. Newer cars I give about 30sec or so, long enough to belt up, check the mirrors, run the wipers to get the water off the windshield and set the defroster and radio. With my carb'd '86 El Camino I wait until a blip of the gas releases the choke so I'm not dropping it in gear at 1500 rpm. The '69 doesn't have the choke hooked up so I hold the idle about 1500 rpm for 30 sec to a minute and if it will idle and it always does, off I go. The key is not getting on it until the engine is up to operating temp.

------------------
...Dennis
"The '69, the '96 our local club"
and the "daily driver"