why are you supposed to let your car warm up?

Question

I always do it, but just realized that i don't know why. I can understand the motive simply for comfort if you have a remote starter. But I beleive theres something involved with the engine. when i start my car, it idles high. until i rev it, then it idles low. are you not supposed to step on the gas a bit just to make it idle even higher? or is that doing damage because the engine isn't warm enough to rev that high?
Sometimes even, I'm in a rush and I can't sit there for 2 minutes so I just go. and nothing seemed to happen. worked fine. Of course I was still late for my appt. what degree of damage could I have just done to my car?
And do they have remote starters for standard vehicles?

Answer 1

The oil isn't really thicker. With 5W-30 oil, the viscosity is at 5 durning cold weather, and as the engine warms it thickens to 30.

Modern day fuel injected cars don't really need a warm up, but it is a good idea to drive gently until they do. This would be in above zero temp.

I am from the old school, so I usually warm the car, mostly to let it warm for comfort.

Click and Clack, from "Car Talk" said it best, "Unless it's below freezing, cars don't need to be warmed up at all. Driving them gently is the best warm up there is. If it's 25 degrees out, you might want to let it warm up for 30 seconds. If it's 10 degrees out, warm it up for a minute. If it's -10 degrees out, move somewhere warmer."

Answer 2

basically the engine needs to be warm to keep it safe, never sit there and rev an engine in the driveway while cold or slam on the gas pedal pulling out of the driveway, it's not good for the engine. If you drive normally while warming up then you won't do any damage. Cars are supposed to idle high when they first start, it's supposed to help them warm up quicker at a controlled idle by the cars computer.

Answer 3

the remote start is just for people who want to feel special or so they can start the car from the house and let it warm up instead of jumping into a cold car.
but yes you do want to let the car run for a minute or so before driving off. this allows all the oil and other fluids that have been sitting in the bottom of the engine to circulate and get lubrication to the top end to prevent premature wear. if you start the car and immediately take off, there is no protection at the top of the engine and you will wear those parts out.
as for the engine idling higher than normal, the car is designed to do that. especially when its cold out, the choke on the throttle opens wider and the rpms go up so as to bring the engine to optimum operating tempature as quickly as possible (your car is set to operate at a preset certain temperature from the manufacturer to run correctly and efficiently). now you dont have to wait for it to drop before you drive off, but do give the engine a minute or two to get fluids flowing. this will definitely save your engine in the long run

Answer 4

I guess some people don't know that that is for older cars. The newer cars you don't really have to warm it up longer than 30 seconds. it's for the oil only. nothing in your transmission is warming up if you are in park or neutral. or maybe that's not 100% true but I know that it doesn't matter. If when you start your car, it idles at 2k, it's ok to maybe step on the peddle to manually make it idle at 2.5k but no higher. this may shorten the time it takes for your windsheild to defrost. but really, that should be your main concern. if it's too cold to see out the windsheild, don't drive yet. that's really the rule of thumb I go by these days. and maybe it's just too obvious for some people to notice.

Answer 5

you need to warm up the car to get all the fluids properly moving throughout the engine and drive train , this includes the transmission especially the fluid in an automatic needs to warm up in order tomake the tranny shift out properly. warming up the car allows for the heater and ac to work properly also helps the car battery also. If you get out into traffic with an improperly warmed up car and it stalls anything could happen , a train could hit you , the police could stop you, you could cause a major accident, just because you didnt take 2 minutes to make sure your car is properly warmed up. hay you wouldnt run a 10 k marithon from a cold start would you? would you want to warm up a little first?

Answer 6

Unless your car is very old, don't warm it up. Today's cars function better if you just drive slowly for the first few minutes.

The best way to warm your car up is to drive it. With computer controlled, fuel-injected engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling before driving away. Things like wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires only warm up when your car is moving.

Answer 7

i almost got a car with remote starter and it was a cheap car i fig you can install on any car. as far as warming up i also heard your not suppose too, i do cause i hate to be cold and also i had an emergency once and hurried out and it was so cold that a cat was asleep i guess in the car and when i turned on i left it was in there and thru out the day i just kept cooking it so i always beep for i start.

Answer 8

I think it is because the oil gets thicker when it is cold and letting the car warm up allows the oil to be able to lubricate the engine better than if it was cold.

Answer 9

after sitting a long time (such as over night) the oil in the motor is in the bottom of the motor (oilpan actually) starting the car ahead of time lets the oil get into the motor and circulate. if you start your car and give the gas real hard then youre warping valves which can cause serious problems.

Answer 10

Unless it is 20 below zero, you aren't. You waste fuel and the engine doesn't warm up as quick unless it is working. The longer it takes to get to operating temperature the more damage.