Engine warm up time

[MSGia]

Good evening all,
Pretty generic question, but I guess everyone has a different opinion... How long should you wait to drive off after cold starting your truck? I used to wait a minute or two, but now I just wait 15 or so seconds and then start driving. Which one is "right"?

 

[97RangerXLT]

As my truck gathers years and miles on it, I tend to baby it and let it run 2 min or so to get the fluids circulating. That is in nice weather. In below freezing and my age and mileage increases, I let it warm up 15 or 20 minutes while I am inside getting my fluids circulating and I come out to a truck that is blasting warm air

But for the warm up time really does not need to be much more than a minute. 15 second works if the car is newer. But also a shorter idle time to warm up ND then just drive it slow for a few minutes will also warm it up faster in the winter and get the transmission warmed faster as well

AJ

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Anything well tuned and with a computer system 15 seconds is plenty.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I try not to do anything that requires high revs untill its fully warm (ie quick acceleration)...but ill take off as soon as it fires up

 

[dvdswan]

It's more of an "ole wives tale" thing now a days. It was more for carbureted and points vehicles back in the day where the vehicles didn't have the technology of computers to warm up vehicles. Vehicles are less efficient cold but it doesn't take long to warm them up. When the temps are low, warming up a vehicle now is more warming up the passenger compartment.

couple of good quick reads...

Myth Busters - The top five most common vehicle myths - Torque Toyota

The biggest winter energy myth: That you need to idle your car before driving - The Washington Post

Is warming up the car an Old Wives' Tale? | wcnc.com

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ll usually let it come down from high idle unless I’m really in a hurry and I try to keep from really railing on it until the temp comes up. Unfortunately the temp gauge doesn’t work in a few of mine and I haven’t got around to resolving that yet…

 

[sgtsandman]

With a modern engine and transmission, you can start driving after a few seconds. I wouldn't hammer down on the throttle until the engine is pretty much at operating temperature but you can drive it without harming anything before them.

You don't have to worry about it all that much in Florida but in PA, if the weather is known to be pretty cold and stay there, I plug in the block heater, oil pan heater, and battery blanket. I can't do that at other locations than home but it does help the fluids flow better at start up and prevents the battery from getting weak but to the cold in the morning. The side benefit is that the engine warms up much faster. A nice thing to have when you are still tired and grumpy on a cold winter early morning.

 

[DILLARD000]

...How long should you wait to drive off after cold starting your truck?...

Depends on Climate+Season+VehicleAge+PersonalPreference\Patience.
Like others noted above, as both vehicle & the driver ages,
tendency here is to not get in a hurry & let vehicle warm up 1~2 minutes, longer in winter conditions.
If the wife is with me, I'm usually sitting in the vehicle waiting on her for 5min anyway.
Anything over 4~5min is a waste of fuel+time as engine is completely warmed up by then.
AutoTransmission is a little different story; it will not fully warm up until driven several miles;
in below freezing conditions, preference here is to first manually shift the tranny thru each gear,
letting it idle in each for a few seconds before putting it on D & taking off.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

In temperatures above freezing, I just wait till the fast idle right after starting falls back to regular idle. That might be 15 seconds or so.

In temperatures below freezing, I let it run for a minute or so. I extend that time as the temperature drops. If it's in the teens outside, then 3–4 minutes idling before moving.

I'm in a residential area, so my speeds are low anyway, no more than 25–35 mph until I get to a road with a higher speed limit. This means I baby it for the first few minutes after I start moving.