Warming up car in garage?
 

Hi guys,

I'm one of the believers in warming up your car before morning take off, and have always done so. It may not be the best way to do it, but I can't seem to stop doing it.

Every morning I usually start the car, check a few emails on my phone, and then take off. I usually let the car sit and get to operating temps/lower RPM's for about 4-5 minutes. I then take off slowly as well...I park my car in a parking spot outside.

I'm moving into someone's house next week, and they said I could have a space in the garage. At first I thought this was pretty awesome, but now I'm wondering about my warm up routine...I was reading online it's an absolute no-no to even idle your car in a garage (with door open) for even a minute...If I still wanted to warm up my car in the garage, how would I go about doing so?

Another thing that scares me (which may just be OCD), is what if the other guy who lives there accidentally leaves his car running for more than a minute in the garage? My bedroom will be literally a few feet from the garage, and it seems the carbon monoxide is odorless, and you can actually die from it? I never really knew too much about it, as I don't have a garage where I live now. Is this an entirely weird thing to even think about? How can I protect myself from a mishap like this? It doesn't seem that rare actually, after looking online, it's actually common that people get very sick/die from this? I did find this interesting, and it sort of scares me. I may be thinking too deep into it, but wanted to make sure I was safe.

Thanks guys,

Worry wart

If the garage door is open, and your exhaust is facing the opening... :dunno: Or you could simply pull it into the driveway and let it warm up there. 4-5 minutes of warm up in Florida seems pretty unnecessary to me, and almost OCD. But it's your thing and your car and certainly nothing wrong with it.

Out of curiosity, what do you do when you find yourself in an underground parking garage?

I do it every morning bud, with the garage door open of course, and have been doing it for years. I don't have brain damage yet, hold on that would explain a lot....
Seriously though man there are plenty other things to worry about you can scratch this one off your list

Wouldn't pulling it into the driveway to warm up ruin the whole point? Since you are bringing it from 1,250-1,500 rpm right down to 750rpm when you put it into reverse? This is what I was primarily trying to avoid.

I actually park in an underground parking garage every day for work, and when I leave work I let the car sit for a few minutes also. I didn't think this was the same thing, since it's a huge garage and ventilated?

Not at all. Now if you did the opposite and rev'd it over 5K right away, that would be bad.

Would I leave it in Reverse with my foot on the brake, or parked it in the driveway after pulling out? Wouldn't this just cause excess wear on the transmission everyday?

I actually have a friend who pulls out of work everyday (car sitting for 9+ hours), and literally red lines it onto the main road. I cringe everytime, thinking about the poor engine. I let mine sit for 4-5 minutes, and then keep the RPM's under 2,500 for the first 10 minutes or so. Probably overkill, but then again my car is years old and perfect condition.

One question I had about this is...(might be confusing)...let's say I keep it under 3K rpm for the first few minutes, does it matter how aggressively I hit the gas to hit 3K rpm? You could hit the gas hard and stop at 3K rpm, or you can gently progress from 2k -> 2500 -3k and then let the car shift...Does it make a difference?

I can't play anymore, Brad. You're over-thinking this non-issue into a problem that just doesn't exist. Give your car 30 seconds or so down there in Florida before driving it when cold, and drive it casually for the minute or two it takes until the temp gauge reads normal.

Relax, man. You're OK and your car is OK. Honest.

I don't know why but I laughed at this..

I am borderline OCD as well. Unless I am in a time crunch I'll just go. But for the most part I reverse into the garage. When I warm up I just put it in gear and let it "roll" out onto the driveway and let it warm up outside. I'd say as long as your back in is facing out you'd be ok. But since it's at someone elses house I'd pull outside and let her warm up. The fumes can be easily smelled from inside the house.

Sometimes I even inspect my paint/body and even quick detail while it's warming up.. :confused2::confused2: Even sometimes I think I'm crazy myself.

I dont see a reason for warming it up in FL. Also, in my neighborhood, if I let it warm up and go back in my house, chances are the car wont be there when I get back. lol.

If only, I had some type of 30 second timer...That would be ideal. Hmmmm

Start the car, put on you eyeliner and lipstick and drive off. That should take at least 30 seconds.

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OCD, slightly stupid, but definitely not trolling. If I had a 30 second timer that would be awesome, as that seems to be enough time to get everything flowing properly and not cause damage. It's also enough time not to cause too much poisonous gases into the house as it's attached to the garage very closely. I could actually use my stopwatch on my iPhone?

30 seconds is about the time it takes, in a temperate climate, for the revs to drop from fast idle down to ~1000rpms. thats when i slowly pull out of the garage and ease into my morning commute. for the first few kms i just drive easy until all other driveline fluids are up to operating temp. idling in a garage does nothing to help the diff and gearbox fluids.

there is no need whatsoever to warm up longer than that, especially in Florida! perhaps in Alaska in -30 weather you'd give it a few mins to get the engine oil up to temp, but then you'd likely have a block heater to help with that. bottom line: extended "warmups" are completely unnecessary.

Dude, you're car is not going to blow up. You're not going to die from the exhaust with the garage open. You don't need a stopwatch. Just count to 30 if you must. I'm pretty sure it's ok if it was 33 seconds or 28 seconds. Life will go on.