# Idling RPM

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/idling-rpm/1614>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [July 12, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/idling-rpm/1614 "2007-07-12T15:11:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ma3944](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@ma3944](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ma3944)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/idling-rpm/1614/1 "2007-07-12T15:11:25Z")

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My car has a manual transmission and when I first start it up in the mornings, the RPM (in neutral) floats around 1200 rpm but after driving for a bit (maybe even as little as 5 minutes), I notice the RPM in neutral drop down to 500 or 600 rpm. Is this normal?

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**Author:** ![malibu585](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/malibu585/32/18_2.png) [@malibu585](https://community.cartalk.com/u/malibu585)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/idling-rpm/1614/2 "2007-07-12T15:20:13Z")

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Yes it is normal, cars have a ‘warm up’ phase. The engine is set to run at higher rpm’s untill it reaches operating temperature. Then the engine will slow the rpm’s to it’s idling speed.

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**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/idling-rpm/1614/3 "2007-07-12T15:40:41Z")

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Yes, perfectly normal.