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How long should i idle my 2002 ford ranger fx4 off road in the morning if its below freezing outside


sgtsandman

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Baby as in hard acceleration/revs. I have a half mile of gravel to take it easy on before I get to pavement.
What? Am I missing something?

EDIT: Oh, I think I get it. You took my post to be a reply to yours. I have no disagreement with that. It is generally best practice to go easy on a vehicle until it gets up to operating temperature.
 

rubydist

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You only need to idle it long enough to be able to see clearly out the windshield. That means if its dry, you can get in at 0 degrees, start it up, turn the heat on all the way, and drive off. When the engine is cold, you want to keep the rpms relatively lower until it gets fully up to temperature, which is around 20 minutes when it is really cold out. By relatively lower, I mean under 3000 rpm in most cases. When the windshield is covered in frost or ice, you may have to let it idle for 10 minutes to be able to see safely, but the engine does not need that idle time (although the driver will appreciate it.)
 

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My credo
Giving my truck more money than it deserves.
UNTIL THE CAB WARMS UP!!! No way I'm touching my leather steering wheel when it was -3 this morning! I start it and run back inside.
 

lil_Blue_Ford

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If you live in an area where it gets really cold a lot, a block heater will help a lot with getting the truck warmed up quick without idling for excessive amounts of time. I’ve thought about doing it to some of my fleet since they all live outside
 

85_Ranger4x4

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If you live in an area where it gets really cold a lot, a block heater will help a lot with getting the truck warmed up quick without idling for excessive amounts of time. I’ve thought about doing it to some of my fleet since they all live outside
I've got one, I am not entirely sure it works though.
 

sgtsandman

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If you live in an area where it gets really cold a lot, a block heater will help a lot with getting the truck warmed up quick without idling for excessive amounts of time. I’ve thought about doing it to some of my fleet since they all live outside
All of mine have them along with an oil pan heater and a battery blanket. The 2019 also has a pan heater on the transmission.

It makes a big difference at 0500 in the morning when I'm on the way into work.

One thing I did to help keep the electric bill from blowing through the roof is to get one of those themocubes that only turn on below a certain temperature and shut off above a certain temperature. Farmers use them to keep the water troughs from freezing. The particular one I use turns on at 35 degrees and shuts off at either 40 or 45 degrees. Tractor Supply sells them and I wouldn't be surprised if Family, Farm, and Home and pet stores do as well.
 

sgtsandman

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I've got one, I am not entirely sure it works though.
If it's working, there is a marked difference in when the temp gauge starts moving. For me, the temp gauge starts to move about 1/4 - 1/2 a mile from home. Without, it's about 2 miles from home. It's only about five minutes of time difference but when you're still waking up and hating your work schedule and the cold, 5 minutes means a lot.
 

sgtsandman

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My dad was way ahead of his time. He developed an AI powered remote starter.

Son, go out and start the car
Kinda like that old school TV remote.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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If it's working, there is a marked difference in when the temp gauge starts moving. For me, the temp gauge starts to move about 1/4 - 1/2 a mile from home. Without, it's about 2 miles from home. It's only about five minutes of time difference but when you're still waking up and hating your work schedule and the cold, 5 minutes means a lot.
From the door when I remote started it, it didn't sound any different. :icon_twisted:
 

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I bought this cheap OBD2 Gauge/Scanner, and it has a pretty darn accurate temp reading. Not all of its features are super accurate, but the built in code scanner is definitely useful.

Forgive me about about to use Celsius and I'm too lazy to translate

What it lets me do however, is hold off on turning the blower motor on until the coolant temperature is actually warm, instead of just warming up. Since the gauge in the truck may as well just have 3 positions that say: "cold, normal, TOO HOT" I can wait for the actual reading from the temp sensor to get up to a nominal 40-50C before cranking on the heat and actually getting some defrosting ability going.

Because of how effective the heating/blower motor is in this truck, if I start the vehicle from 0C and let it idle with the blower on full for 30 minutes, the truck won't even reach it's typical operating temp between 85-90C. But that number will climb a LOT quicker if I keep the blower motor completely off for a shorter amount of time.

Likewise in the summer when I was experimenting with my E-Fan during a road trip, if I noticed the temp gauge climbing up to dangerous levels (past 95C up to 100C) the scanner gauge will actually beep to warn you. I'd set the blower to max heat and the temps would drop 10C in near minutes. Kind of insane.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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I bought this cheap OBD2 Gauge/Scanner, and it has a pretty darn accurate temp reading. Not all of its features are super accurate, but the built in code scanner is definitely useful.

Forgive me about about to use Celsius and I'm too lazy to translate

What it lets me do however, is hold off on turning the blower motor on until the coolant temperature is actually warm, instead of just warming up. Since the gauge in the truck may as well just have 3 positions that say: "cold, normal, TOO HOT" I can wait for the actual reading from the temp sensor to get up to a nominal 40-50C before cranking on the heat and actually getting some defrosting ability going.

Because of how effective the heating/blower motor is in this truck, if I start the vehicle from 0C and let it idle with the blower on full for 30 minutes, the truck won't even reach it's typical operating temp between 85-90C. But that number will climb a LOT quicker if I keep the blower motor completely off for a shorter amount of time.

Likewise in the summer when I was experimenting with my E-Fan during a road trip, if I noticed the temp gauge climbing up to dangerous levels (past 95C up to 100C) the scanner gauge will actually beep to warn you. I'd set the blower to max heat and the temps would drop 10C in near minutes. Kind of insane.
I popped the fuse for my efans on the way out to the vagabond trip, running on the interstate it was kinda wanting to get a tad warmer than I liked so I cranked the heater up, it dropped 10*F. It was like 80* out but with the windows down you couldn't tell the heater was on.

Until of course the next morning "why the heck is it so hot in here?" :icon_rofl:
 

sgtsandman

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Make / Model
Ranger XLT/FX4
Engine Size
4.0 SOHC/2.3 Ecoboost
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
Pre-2008 lift/Stock
Tire Size
31X10.5R15/265/65R17
I bought this cheap OBD2 Gauge/Scanner, and it has a pretty darn accurate temp reading. Not all of its features are super accurate, but the built in code scanner is definitely useful.

Forgive me about about to use Celsius and I'm too lazy to translate

What it lets me do however, is hold off on turning the blower motor on until the coolant temperature is actually warm, instead of just warming up. Since the gauge in the truck may as well just have 3 positions that say: "cold, normal, TOO HOT" I can wait for the actual reading from the temp sensor to get up to a nominal 40-50C before cranking on the heat and actually getting some defrosting ability going.

Because of how effective the heating/blower motor is in this truck, if I start the vehicle from 0C and let it idle with the blower on full for 30 minutes, the truck won't even reach it's typical operating temp between 85-90C. But that number will climb a LOT quicker if I keep the blower motor completely off for a shorter amount of time.

Likewise in the summer when I was experimenting with my E-Fan during a road trip, if I noticed the temp gauge climbing up to dangerous levels (past 95C up to 100C) the scanner gauge will actually beep to warn you. I'd set the blower to max heat and the temps would drop 10C in near minutes. Kind of insane.
I have a Scan Gauge II in both of my trucks to do the same thing. Though, atleast in my trucks, when the scanner is indicating about 150 degrees, the needle on the dash guage is starting to move. Unless the windshield needs the defroster, I don't turn the heat on until then. Otherwise it feels like it is just blowing cold air.
 

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