10 Ways to Keep Your Car Out of the Shop

[tinkerbell]

Thats also to do with ur engine......you know you will drop approx 10-15 degree of oil temp from one good cool down lap......that 10-15 degree take ages to cool from a stand still car

[DC2RKID]

so either way u cant really win lol

[tinkerbell]

um, no - you 'win' by not idling your car to warm it up.

(unless you own an old school carbie fed car)

[DC2RKID]

in modern cars (like DC2R) running normal multi-grade oil:

1. it ONLY 'warms' your ENGINE. not your gearbox, your driveshaft joints or your brakes...

2. the engine runs RICH air/fuels which means there is more chance of ring wash out, oil contamination, fouled sparkplugs, cat converter damage. all of these are BAD for your engine.

3. it is bad for the environment.

4. it really DOESN’T warm up the WHOLE engine - it only warms up the coolant. when the engine is idling, the oil gets circulated, but not heated, it is the warm oil that provides the best protection...

at what ks would we start to notice this wear ?? 300,000ks ? id expect engines to be rebuilt by then...

[tinkerbell]

which wear/damage are you referring to?

thrashing a cold gearbox will make it wear in < 50'000km or damage immediately...

but if you disagree, that is up to you...

but i am not saying any of this is in my personal opinion.

it is basic fact. idling your car to warm it up is not beneficial in any way, and may actually be detrimental.

feel free to do some googling perhaps? www.google.com

or maybe read your owners manual...

[hayesam]

Tinkerbell, i take my hat off to you sir, you know your stuff

[DC2RKID]

im just goin on what i learnt through my trade... and i dont thrash it as sooon as it reaches warm...bnut im talkin ring washout...and im thinkin more bout engine component tollerances...give the things time to expand before driving...like the article says revving and engine is a bad thing to do when warmin up....but dont u have to rev and engine in order to make it move

[tinkerbell]

like the article says revving and engine is a bad thing to do when warmin up....but dont u have to rev and engine in order to make it move

the article was referring to revving the engine whilst stationary:

An even more destructive habit: revving the engine. Believe it or not, this won't help warm up the car. In fact, revving can do serious damage to the engine and significantly shorten its life. Engines need oil to run smoothly. But right after you turn over the ignition, the oil is still sitting in the pan.

like i said in my post above - you need about 30 seconds (in a Honda) where the oil pump primes and starts getting oil to the head before you start driving.

this 30 seconds is usually taken up by me putting on my seatbelt, checking the mirrors, turning on my headlights and maybe adjusting the radio...


and i'll say it again - the best way to "warm up" a car is by driving it normally.

[DC2RKID]

ahhh i see...so what u reken i do ? start it..let it idle for round a min...then drive carefully ...nothin over 2500rpm ?

[benson]

Doesn't the vtec not engaging have more to do with oil pressure rather than oil temp?

Vtec works on Engine coolant temperature

[tinkerbell]

Vtec works on Engine coolant temperature

on a side note: in the early days of VTEC there was also an oil pressure sensor that Honda employed, so if oil pressure was too low, it would not engage VTEC...

this is the 88-91 OBD0 versions... like DA6 Integra XSi and CRX's...

[DC2RKID]

Tinkerbell, i take my hat off to you sir, you know your stuff

Google has everything u ever need to know..its all at ur fingertips

[tinkerbell]

ahhh i see...so what u reken i do ? start it..let it idle for round a min...then drive carefully ...nothin over 2500rpm ?

if you have an oil pressure gauge, wait until it stabilises, then drive normally...

for me - 'normally' is upto 4000ish...

i expect most others (with a B series Honda) would be similar...

[DC2RKID]

if you have an oil pressure gauge, wait until it stabilises, then drive normally...

for me - 'normally' is upto 4000ish...

i expect most others (with a B series Honda) would be similar...

why do some cars blow blue smoke when there cold but...cause i know ppl that thrash there cars when there cold and they emit blue smoke till it warms up...

[fatboyz39]

Generally for stock ECU when cold its runs rich to warm the engine quicker. Hence why when people smash it cold its smokey.