Is it beter to warm up your car if it is below freezing outside?

Question

Does it hurt your car if you never warm it up?

We're having a debate at work. I say warm up your car for at least 10 minutes. Other co-workers say it doesn't matter. The car will warm up when you drive it.

Answer 1

You should always warm up an engine before operating it under any sort of load. There are a couple of things that can cause excessive wear when loading a cold engine. For one the oil which needs to film over all moving parts will not be flowing very well when it is cold so some parts may get starved for lubrication.
The other thing to consider is the temperature of engine parts. Most all metals expand when heated and contract when cooled but different metals have different expansion rates and your engine is a mix of several different metals. Clearances between moving parts are set so that they will be optimal at "operating temperature" How long it takes a car to reach this temperature can be influenced by several different variables so there is no set rule on how long one should warm an engine.

Answer 2

Hi Jay, If it is below freezing out? Yes! It is best to warm your car up! Especially if it is below zero when you are starting it. (Like it has been the past 11 mornings here in WI!) The oil is VERY thick at such low temperatures. A few other tips that will help reduce wear on your engine in cold weather: you may consider switching to a synthetic oil, plugging your car in if it has an engine block heater is also a good thing, keep your gas tank above half full to reduce moisture from condensation, and be sure to check the concentration of your antifreeze once a year, and after adding any water or antifreeze of an unknown strength. Another thing to remember, when it is extremely cold out, the engine is not the only thing that is cold, if your car has an automatic transmission, and you have already warmed your engine, you still need to "baby" your car so the tranny gets a chance to warm up too! This is an extreme example, but true, one of my friends warmed up his pickup, so the engine was nice and warm and ready to go, but the outside temperature was -20 Fahrenheit. He floored the accelerator to show off a bit and blew a seal in the transmission! The transmission fluid was still at -20 and couldn't handle that much power at that low of a temperature without first being warmed up a bit by being driven with care for the first few miles!

Answer 3

Warm it up on real cold days. Get the oil warm so it will lube the engine. Cold oil will also build up too much oil pressure which in turn will blow your seals out. Also if you have frost or ice or snow build up on you windshield you are going to have to let it warm up enough that your defroster will keep it off your windshield after you de-ice.
When I was in driving school (for eighteen wheelers) that starting and driving off with a cold engine was equivalent to driving it 50,000 miles everytime you did it. These were diesel engines in big trucks. And if you have ever been beside someone who was driving a diesel car or pickup and heard the why their engines sound when they start up and take off with a cold engine you'd know what the instructor was talking about.
That is why I won't but a used car or pick up with a diesel engine.

Answer 4

This really depends on where you keep your car, lets first assume that you leave the vehicle outside in your driveway, not in a garage, YES it is good to run the vehicle for a few minutes before you drive it, NO it is not necessary to let it go for 10 minutes total waste of gas, The only reason u wud run the vehicle is str8 up its cold out ur engine is metal, if u heat metal really fast it cracks, i e u crack ur block, i wud say no more than 5 minutes will do just fine, i personally wait 1 to 2 minutes at the most just so my heater has a chance to warm when i leave. If you don't give ur vehicle a chance to warm up for the most part it will just warm up as u drive, unless u pull out of ur frozen driveway and floor it to get up to highway speeds, ur not going to crack ur engine block, so ..... no it does not take 10 minutes to warm up a car

Answer 5

it does matter weather you warm it up. first you will put less wear on your engine. it doesn't seem like much, but it takes about a min or two for the oil to reach every wear, because when you let your engine sit for over night it drains to your oil pan and when your you start up it has to re-distribute the oil to the vitals of your engine. also when it gets to below freezing the oils is a bit thicker and will take a little bitt longer to circulate. another thing is that when you start up an engine in the cold you computer will over compensate for fuel if you start driving immediately which means you will be burning more fuel. the reason the computer does this is because it is already adding more fuel to warm it up then its adding even more because its accelerating. the other thing that happens when you don't warm up your engine the cat wont heat up and nether will your o2 sensor which will send your comp into open loop mode which will make your car eat up gas. lastly its just nice to step into a nice warm car in the morning and not have to shiver while your driving and if you set up your nobs to defrost when you start is up you most likely have much frost on your windshield. hope i helped you out.


also like some one said engines do last longer if you run them cooler but the optimum tep is 170 to about 190 not -20. and as i menchoned you need to let your oil warm up. if you dont, in extrem cases(ie wrong weight oil, extrem temps), you can spin a rod bearing which means youll have about a 2 grand bill on your hands for an engine rebuild.

Answer 6

It is better to warm up your car before driving it, especially when it is too cold outside.

Answer 7

Only for a minute or two. It will warm faster with a load on it while driving.

Answer 8

You really need to warm up your car. You need to warm the oil so it can lubricate crucial engine components, or else you've got metal rubbing against metal, and that can lead to losing compression, which leads to lost power and oil burning.

Answer 9

warming your car up first does not make it healthier for it to drive, in fact, the colder your engine, the better it runs
the ONLY reason for warming you car up and letting it sit is so that when you finally get in it, it's warmer (becaues the engine has had a change to get hot, which produces the heat for your interior)
it does not hurt your car if you never warm it up....essentially, driving it warms it up...and faster even.

Answer 10

I live in alaska we plug in our cars and trucks at 20 and warm them up be kind to your car