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

[Gary DuBois]

I was personaly thinking at least 5 minutes to get my engine warmed up enough to then drive slowly and carefuly ??

 

[bhgl]

Kinda depends how many miles you have on it, but also not really.

A lotta people state you always need to let your vehicle warm up before driving regardless of temperature, and that might be true for some engines like rotaries and diesels, and older carbureted engines, but if your engine is healthy and you've kept up on your maintenance, if the vehicle is running you've got oil circulating.

If you've got a ton of miles on the engine, maybe wait a couple minutes before setting off, that way you're at least letting the engine get some heat in it and avoiding big temperature shocks to gaskets, seals, e.t.c.

Personally, as someone who's chronically almost late and has lived in Northern Ontario his whole life, I basically don't wait at all. As long as I can see out the windows and the vehicle has started, I'm setting off. I'll start my car and set off after clearing off snow/ice and setting up my music, maps and air settings, that can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and that's enough time. I've never had so much as an engine tick in any of the cars I've owned despite never letting my car actually warm up before driving.

Short of near arctic temperatures (-22 F or below) if your vehicle is able to start and has relatively normally oil pressure, you don't have to sit around idling for more than a minute to be safe.

Plus, your car will warm up much quicker once it's actually driving.

If you want to speed up your truck getting to temp, you can turn on basically everything that consumes power create a little more resistance for your engine aside from your blower motor which should be at its slowest possible setting as it'll pull heat (AC, lights, music), this doesn't do a ton, but when it's a frigid day and you can't deal with the cold, every little bit helps.

 

[Blmpkn]

Ill wait until the motor comes down off of high idle when it's cold out.

 

[bhgl]

Ill wait until the motor comes down off of high idle when it's cold out.

This is a pretty good rule of thumb, they put the high idle in for a reason.

 

[Curious Hound]

The bare minimum is "long enough to see proper oil pressure." But, that idea of waiting for it to come down off "high idle" is pretty good.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Anymore I remote start it at least once to get it warm enough to support human life.

It warms up quicker when you drive it... but it is warm by the end of my driveway if it runs a bit vs warm by the time I get to town if I just jump in it and go.

With a little kid... jump in and go isn't very feasible.

 

[JoshT]

If you're running the correct oil viscosity for your climate and assuming a healthy motor, oil pressure will come up quicker than you can drop it into gear. Fire it up and wait how ever long it takes for the defroster to clear your windshield. Once you can see out of it safely, hit the road.

If you aren't running appropriate oil viscosity for your climate... just don't. Change the oil and put the right stuff in, or point a heat lamp at the oil pan so that it flows a little more freely at start-up. Between those I'd highly recommend the former as you won't have to park near an outlet and it'll still be fine for year round use.

Only other consideration is letting the cabin warm up before getting in and taking off. That's purely your choice. As @bhgl said, it'll warm up quicker while driving.

then drive slowly and carefuly ??

Always. If it's below freezing you never know where you may encounter ice. Much safer situation if driving slowly and carefully. That said, don't drive so slowly as to be come a hazard yourself, unless conditions call for it of course.

 

[Blmpkn]

With a little kid... jump in and go isn't very feasible.

Pfft... Builds character lol.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Pfft... Builds character lol.

It was like -20* yesterday and he was almost crying wanting to take the Ranger... I would have had to go out and start it which is a buzzkill after beings spoiled with remote start.

However it has the best heater in the fleet, I can maintain a shortsleeve environment just on defrost.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, technically once it builds oil pressure, it’s ok. Just don’t rail on it until the gauge is in the normal operating range.

I usually wait at least until high idle comes down or I can see (often it takes a little longer to get something defrosted than it takes to come down from high idle. I still try to refrain from anything beyond about half throttle if I can help it until it comes up more to temp. Sometimes that’s hard to do since I live in a valley, lol. If I anticipate that, and it’s really cold, I usually try to just let it warm for 5 minutes or so to at least get the cylinders good and warm before I start giving ’er the ol onion. The beans. You guys know, lol.

Side note, my transmission cooler mod is actually good enough to feel a little bit of sluggishness from thick and cold fluid for a couple miles down the road when it’s really cold. I’m holding off making any adjustments until I get the new bumper built and get an electric fan in, since that will change how the air flows and all. I have one of the high blade count metal mechanical fan on there now and it was good enough to keep a faulty thermostat running at 165-ish degrees barreling down the highway at 70 mph in the summer. The clutch may or may not be partially locked up on that fan, I think. Or I’m just getting too much airflow around my not exactly a bumper hunk of 5” C-channel hanging off the front…

 

[Blmpkn]

It was like -20* yesterday and he was almost crying wanting to take the Ranger... I would have had to go out and start it which is a buzzkill after beings spoiled with remote start.

However it has the best heater in the fleet, I can maintain a shortsleeve environment just on defrost.

Yeeeap.. that remote start can really change a guys whole outlook on what 'quality of life' means lol.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

So, technically once it builds oil pressure, it’s ok. Just don’t rail on it until the gauge is in the normal operating range.

I do baby the Ranger until it gets warm, it has that rinky dink little shaft that runs the oil pump I don't want to twist off.

 

[sgtsandman]

You don't have to let it run that long before you can drive it. It is generally better for the vehicle if you let it idle and warm up some but you don't have too as long as you have good oil pressure. It is also better for the transmission if you have an automatic. With a manual transmission, it doesn't matter so much.

I let mine idle while I clear the frost/snow/ice off the vehicle. Having a bed cap on both trucks causes that to be a little longer since there is more windows to clear and I like being able to see around me. That is usually enough for the coolant gauge needle to start moving.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You don't have to let it run that long before you can drive it. It is generally better for the vehicle if you let it idle and warm up some but you don't have too as long as you have good oil pressure. It is also better for the transmission if you have an automatic. With a manual transmission, it doesn't matter so much.

I let mine idle while I clear the frost/snow/ice off the vehicle. Having a bed cap on both trucks causes that to be a little longer since there is more windows to clear and I like being able to see around me. That is usually enough for the coolant gauge needle to start moving.

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

 

[Curious Hound]

If it's that cold, leave the Ranger at home and ride the motorcycle to work.