What's a reasonable amount of time?

 

I don't agree that there is a certain amount of time to warm up, because there are several factors which can determine how fast your engine warms up. I always wait until the vehicle is a little above "C", before I put it in gear.

 

It depends on how cold it is when you start the engine. At 60*F one or two minutes. At -25*F, 10 minutes. Some folks don't warm up the engine, but the 28 years I lived in Alaska I always warmed it up. My engines lasted a long time...but some folks just drove off in ice-cold cars.




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I'm guilty of driving off without waiting for warm up in my old car but I was always in a hurry. I always warm up my G before taking off for ~5-10 minutes.

 

I usually let mine run for about one to two minutes if it's cold out. During the summer, around 30 seconds or so. Long enough to get the fluids flowing.

 

I let mine run till it start to idle under 1 rpm mark

 

Well this is what I say it's always good to let your engine warm up before driving off but I heard countless tech say cars made now don't really need warming up. You can drive it cold long as you don't rev the rpms up high.

 

I just warm it up for a minute or two like the manual says.

 

Just until the RPM's drop to 1K or less.

 

I try to let it sit for 3-4 minutes until the coolant temp has risen a bit above C. If I'm running late for work in the morning, I'll probably only give it a minute or so before I takeoff. Though I always drive it very lightly until the coolant's at operating temps.

 

i wait for the RPMs to drop and i just take it easy

 

You doesn't need to run very long, just enough to get the oil flowing through everything. There is a lot of heat in an engine and it's transferred throughout the metal block pretty quick. Using the temp guage is the extreme on the long side.

Frankly being diligent on your oil changes and using a decent oil is much more critical to the longevity. My last 4 (and one my current) cars I have kept for 10 or more years, over 100k miles and none burned a drop of oil or needed any major engine work.

 

Leaving it idle until it fully warms up does more harm than good. Especially if you make frequent stops or only drive short trips.

At idle (especially cold idle), the engine runs rich. Idling creates more condensation in the motor (crankcase) and leaves behind unburned carbon deposits. Long trips (20+ minutes at highway speed) are needed to burn off the excess moisture.

The majority of engine wear occurs on start-up; almost nothing you can do to prevent that.

It's best to let it warm up for 30 seconds, then start driving. Keep a light throttle the first few minutes until it's fully warm.

There is a ton of misinformation about this topic, I hope this helps clear it up.

 

Even back in the early 90s bimmer driver's manuals said don't let the car sit and idle to warm up.

People that still do it are 1) misinformed or 2) just want the heater to be warm when they get in the car