Is it necessary to let your car idle for a cold start?

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08-Nov-2005, 12:41 AM

#21

Younes Si

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Join Date: Aug 2004

Posts: 6,753

Quote:

Originally posted by Buddah
hence, if you drive a D16, it is absolutely normal for it to take forever and a day to get to that temperature where you have heat.

That bugs me, why is that?

08-Nov-2005, 01:18 AM

#22

B18C5er

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Posts: 517

Quote:

Originally posted by spth38
Is it normal that my civic has about 1500 rpm in a cold start? then it drops very very slowly to about 1000rpm.....please tell me if it has some problem....

It is very normal for the engine to idle higher for the first few mins on a cold start. Just how it works.

08-Nov-2005, 09:14 AM

#23

imported_viper_2_4

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I let mine sit for 30 seconds in the winter,.....when its extremely cold, couple minutes...thats ..

08-Nov-2005, 03:12 PM

#24

imported_kane2k

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Quote:

Originally posted by Younes Si

That bugs me, why is that?

Heat in an engine is a waste product of the combustion process. It's also directly proportional to the amount of fuel used. You have an engine that burns very little gas and burns it efficiently so it won't heat up too fast. That's why it will take a long time of idling and quite a decent bit of driving before enough heat is produced.

09-Nov-2005, 12:57 PM

#25

Gunmetalef

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Location: Oakville Ontario

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Quote:

Originally posted by SilverSiG
... am i the only one that uses my compustart remote starter in damn cold winter days?

especially at work when i know it's been snowing alot or it's been icy i'll turn it on 5 or 10 minutes before so then it's easy to take off the ice and snow... i'm also allergic to cold so it helps

allergic tot he cold? thats tyte so am i

sucks eh?

13-Nov-2005, 11:54 AM

#26

imported_QRTR

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In the summer time I usually let the car idle for a minute before I
take off.Once winter comes it's a different story though. I usually idle the car for about 10 minutes before going in so it gets nice and toasty inside bc I can't stand those freagin BODY SHAKES you get going into an ice cold freezing car very early in the morning...LOL

13-Dec-2005, 02:06 PM

#27

imported_Moe_Mentum

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13-Dec-2005, 07:11 PM

#28

imported_t_dot_SiR

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i usually just warm it up 30-45 seconds before i take off in reasonable coldness...... but if i actually feel my car is freezing like hell...... i would warm it to about 90-120 secs...... i don't wait till the temperature needle rises... i just wait till my rpm gauge drop to 1500 and just drive slowly until the temperature needle start rising... driving slow as in i shift at around 2500 and i accel gently and keep the rpm at 2000 as well......... i use 5w30 for oil changes, everything seems good so far...

14-Dec-2005, 08:48 AM

#29

HamiltonsIsuzu

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Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Posts: 1,831

If you are running a tuned engine of some sort, b16, turbo car, any vtack, warm your car.

I rather get to work 10 mins late than blow up my ls-vtec, gsr or whatever, even a dual point dx pos engine, on the 403 in the middle of winter.
We live in canada, you have to do it.

14-Dec-2005, 10:15 AM

#30

dbg1234

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Join Date: Nov 2005

Posts: 27

My 06 civic idles at 1250rpm from a cold start. About 1 min of warming up and I'm off, but i try to keep the revs under 2k rpm for a few mins.

14-Dec-2005, 05:34 PM

#31

mazer

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Join Date: Dec 2005

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Quote:

Originally posted by dbg1234
My 06 civic idles at 1250rpm from a cold start. About 1 min of warming up and I'm off.

SAME HERE

14-Dec-2005, 08:13 PM

#32

imported_viper_2_4

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Quote:

Originally posted by QRTR
In the summer time I usually let the car idle for a minute before I
take off.Once winter comes it's a different story though. I usually idle the car for about 10 minutes before going in so it gets nice and toasty inside bc I can't stand those freagin BODY SHAKES you get going into an ice cold freezing car very early in the morning...LOL

why not buy a jacket?

honestly, its probably worse for your engine to sit thier ideling in a kind of hot condition, than to drive it and have it reach optimal temperature quicker.....

on the coldest days I let my car warm up for 5 min, every other day in the winter 1-2 min, summer nothing, no problems at all

14-Dec-2005, 10:39 PM

#33

stock94block

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Join Date: Apr 2004

Posts: 1,854

I dont idle at all, well unless you count the couple seconds it takes for me to put in a new cd and wipe off the windows. D15's are bullet proof, you just cant hurt it.

14-Dec-2005, 11:16 PM

#34

rjngo

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summer 30 seconds
winter 2 minutes or no more than 5 if its really cold!

anything more than 5 imo is a complete waste

15-Dec-2005, 10:18 AM

#35

imported_Cablerat

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Block heaters help a lot.. I have a battery blanket and a block heater on my beater accord.. When the car lived in thunder bay you could start it in -30C easily and it would sound like a perfect summer time start.