You HAD to warm up the engine before we had multiviscosity oils, or you would tear up the crankshaft bearings. That’s where the idea of warming up an engine came from.
I have to warm up my car for 10 minutes for a different reason on some days:
I can’t drive off, because see where I am going, until the defroster warms up enough that the ice scraper can move the half-inch shell of ice off the windshield.
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This kind of reminds me of the woman whose husband asked her why she always cut the ends off the roast and put them on top of the rest of the roast before cooking it.
The wife said, “my mother always did it.”
He called his wife’s mother, who said “My mother always did it.”
He called his wife’s grandmother, who said “My mother always did it.”
He called his wife’s great-grandmother, who was still alive. She said “My roasting pan was too small.”
For some stupid reason, I can’t edit the original post. In the third paragraph, the words “I can’t” belong after the word “because”.
The regulars are aware of not being able to edit the original post. This Web site managers haven’t fixed it, yet. As far as I know, they don’t intend to, and, or don’t care.
If you want to avoid scraping a half inch of ice off your windshield (been there, done that), get a big garbage bag, tarp, or specially made windshield cover, and put it on the windshield overnight. In the morning, just pull off the cover, and presto, no scraping. The ice and snow goes on the cover, not the glass. Therefore, you don’t need to idle the car for 10 minutes anymore.
However if the temp is cold/moist enough outside your windshield may frost up. I don’t warm up car typically but if its frosty on the inside I turn on AC and go back inside if I can. Its miserable having cold air blasting on your face and barely being able to see.
As per the previous post, today’s engines with fuel injection and computer control do not really need a warm up. I would suggest about 30 seconds or so to get the oil to properly lube the valve train. If the car is outside, and covered with ice, you may need to run it longer to be able to safey take off.
Old style caburetor engines would stall and sputter if you tried to take off to soon.
In any case, the rest of car will still be cold, so take it easy until the temperature gage starts to move up.
It’s probably because they BOUGHT the web hosting software and don’t have access to the source code.