# warming the car up in the cold morning?



## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

i have a 98' nissan sentra and live in upstate new york. sometimes the temp's drop below negative at night. how many of you warm your car up in the morning? i've been reading pro's and con's on warming your car up in the morning. some say its bad, cuz your wasting gas and should warm the car while driving below 20 mphs so the engine can lube the engine. so should or shouldn't i warm the car in the morning. interested in your answers...


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## I'm Slow (Dec 30, 2004)

i park in the garage every night but if i dont i start it go inside, get food(2-3 min) then take off


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## pete2.0 (Sep 17, 2004)

yah I am down in MD and it gets pretty frosty out here in the morning ... before school I normally go outside and turn on my car and go back in and like brush my teeth , give it like 2 or 3 mins of warm up time , then drive it pretty calmly and not pushing it 2 hard... Another option u could try is a block heater and plug ur car in over night ... I personally am going to invest in a block heater when I move to Canada for college ... I dont know exactly wut is required or how much it is , all I know is it will help with early morning start ups


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

I'm in FL, but if it's cold in the morning, I usually will give it a good 3k rpms under no load for about a minute, then I drive pretty calmly until the needle begins to move. I don't drive aggressive until the needle is at normal.


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## Twiz (Aug 24, 2004)

I give it about a min to warm up... sometimes less and you shouldn't beat up on the engine when it's cold even tho sometimes I do cause job's more important than the engine.


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## asleepz (Feb 24, 2004)

Ninety-Nine SE-L said:


> I'm in FL, but if it's cold in the morning, I usually will give it a good 3k rpms under no load for about a minute, then I drive pretty calmly until the needle begins to move. I don't drive aggressive until the needle is at normal.



I don't know if holding it at 3K is a good idea.... Maybe if you crank it, let it idle for a minute then rev for a minute it would be alright though.


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## I'm tired of my usernamee (Feb 16, 2004)

Well my friend used to let it warm up in the mornings but he would do it for like 15-20 min. :dumbass: and he burnt his valves up in the process. It is beneficial to warm it up for a few for engine longevity so that you dont hurt it when it is still cold.


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## BlackNismo95 (Nov 20, 2004)

ouch.. i let mine run for about 20 mins every morning... but that was so i could have some heat.. it's been -15 degrees here in the mornings lately. but.. now it only has to run for about 5 mins cause i put in a new blower motor resistor and the heat is unbelievable now.


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## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

i let my car run for about 10-15 minutes


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

man, warming up your car in the morning doesnt cause anything harmful! it helps a lot more...look:

when you crank your car in the morning and its cold out...letting it warm up lets everything in the motor reach an optimal operating temp. cranking it up and taking it for a spin right after cranking it(no matter the weather) is bad...it will waste more gas because it will run rich and you run the risk of fuckin shit up...its simple.


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

i remote start mine and let it run for like 10 minutes. Have the heat on, so all of the ice and snow melts. I live in NJ and lately its been pretty cold, temperature in negative (with the wind chill)


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## cmack (Jan 13, 2004)

i live in canada and lately it has been getting close to -50°C at night i always plug my car in (block heater) and i usually let it warm up for 2-5 minutes anything longer then that is just wasting gas IMO


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

im lazy, i can start my car from over a mile, and i just start it before i go take a morning shower. 

P.S I hate driving a non-warmed up car. For some reason my car functions and drives much better if i leave it on for like 10 minutes if its very very cold.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

♣AsleepZ♣ said:


> I don't know if holding it at 3K is a good idea.... Maybe if you crank it, let it idle for a minute then rev for a minute it would be alright though.


under no load, 3k is ok. I usually don't want to wait 5 minutes there warming up, plus the worst weather I see is 30*. I won't put any real strain on the engine until I'm at operating temp.


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## I'm tired of my usernamee (Feb 16, 2004)

i try not to drive unless the temp guage is starting to rise, where im at its usually about 40-50 F in the mornings right now so it doesnt take long to get to operating temps. It wont hurt it unless you let it idle for an insane amount of time and you do it all the time. Otherwise you should be fine.


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## Creason (Jan 23, 2005)

I fire my car up every morning and let it run for about 15-20 mins before I take off, dosen't really use that much gas idling in the driveway. I start my wife's honda before I leave too and it runs about the same amount of time. Good idea to run the defrost too especially if there's any frozen precip or frost on the windshield, you have no idea how many Sentras I get every week with the busings and/or pivots popped out of the wiper rods because they turned them on with ice on the windshield and they stuck.


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

Creason said:


> I fire my car up every morning and let it run for about 15-20 mins before I take off, dosen't really use that much gas idling in the driveway. I start my wife's honda before I leave too and it runs about the same amount of time. Good idea to run the defrost too especially if there's any frozen precip or frost on the windshield, you have no idea how many Sentras I get every week with the busings and/or pivots popped out of the wiper rods because they turned them on with ice on the windshield and they stuck.


yeah i do the same exact thing, i got a remote start so i dont even have to leave the house, all i need to remember is to turn the heat in the car the night before.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

Ninety-Nine SE-L said:


> I'm in FL, but if it's cold in the morning, I usually will give it a good 3k rpms under no load for about a minute, then I drive pretty calmly until the needle begins to move. I don't drive aggressive until the needle is at normal.


Ok I have a question for you. 
How long does it take for your 2.0 to move the needle assuming its 40 or 50 F and you drive it up to say 40 mph ?
Drove Duaghters SER from her house and it takes 8 to 10 mins, about 5 miles and the needle didnt get of the peg till I parked it on my driveway. 
My GA warms in about 1.5 miles or 2-3 minutes.
She says its always been like this. 
Stuck thermostat or normal ????
Thanks......


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## Radioaktiv (Feb 12, 2004)

mine takes maybe 5 mins to start showing on the needle
but im always letting it warm up for about 2 mins before i drive


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

Radioaktiv said:


> mine takes maybe 5 mins to start showing on the needle
> but im always letting it warm up for about 2 mins before i drive


So do you think her car is "normal"
Thanks ....


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## wildmanee (Nov 21, 2004)

Ian, usually in the mornings it takes my car around the same mileage it takes yours to warm up fully. (of course after a 2-3 minute warm-up.. I usually let the RPMs get down to 1600 or so)


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

wildmane said:


> Ian, usually in the mornings it takes my car around the same mileage it takes yours to warm up fully. (of course after a 2-3 minute warm-up.. I usually let the RPMs get down to 1600 or so)


So the SR20's take 5 to 8 mins to warm up from about 40 or 50 F
and the 16GA's take 2 to 3 mins ??

I find the difference amazing.


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

IanH said:


> So the SR20's take 5 to 8 mins to warm up from about 40 or 50 F
> and the 16GA's take 2 to 3 mins ??
> 
> I find the difference amazing.


the SR20 has an incredibly thick block, i've heard its something like 3 times thicker than a GA16's block. all that metal takes a longer to heat up. I experience the same thing as you in regards to my SE-R and my girlfriends '98 sentra. 

as for warming my car up, we've(my uncle*, dad and bro) have always just waited for the idle to drop once before driving. when you warm up a car all you're really looking for is having the oil circulating before putting the car under load. when the idle drops, the oil's all good to do its thang. no need to wait for it to warm up(especially with an sr20 lol)

*my uncle was a GM warranty tech, then a warranty service manager..and so on. he knows cars like scary well.


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## 200SushiX (Jul 12, 2002)

About 30 seconds.


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## Startours7 (Nov 30, 2004)

IanH said:


> So the SR20's take 5 to 8 mins to warm up from about 40 or 50 F
> and the 16GA's take 2 to 3 mins ??
> 
> I find the difference amazing.



Would the fact that the SR is an aluminium block + head and the GA, is an Iron block with an aluminium head make a difference.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

I warm up as little as possible ... about 30-90 seconds. Just long enough to clear my windsheild.

Prolonged warm-ups fuel-fouls your oil and increase wear.

I just take it _real_ easy for the first mile or two. Very light on the throttle.


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## B14_Stealth (Aug 14, 2003)

i just warm it up cause i dont like to sit and drive in the cold, plus the steering wheel is hard to turn and the car just feels weird (gears shift harder than normal, at least IMO)


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