How long will you let her warm up for? or him

[Muscle Master]

I very funny about this, I let my engine temp gauge reads normal before I move it

[Nexus6]

I live the perfect distance from the highway.I let the engine settle before i do anything,i then take it easy through my neighborhood,right about the time i get to the highway ,my car is hitting normal driving temp.

[cam2fst4u]

how ever long spike said

[Eighty-Six Z]

I never put alot of thought into this until I had my '90 300 ZX. When I got it I remember reading in the manual, "After starting the car, let it run for atleast one minute before placing it in gear." Ever since then, I have tried to let any car that I drive run for about a minute before moving. I usually take that minute of warm-up time to remove any paper or trash that I might have left in my car the day/night before or plugging in my charger and fiddling with my phone.

[soverydeb]

I don't bother with warming up the car...you don't have to with newer cars. Put the key in, hit the gas and go!

[gunslinger]

Wow, there are some VERY misinformed people on this forum.

The ideal amount of idling would be to wait until the OIL hits operating temperature of between 180-220 degrees F.

All this BS of "letting car idle is bad" or "you don't have to with new cars" is flat out wrong.

Oil is the MOST important fluid in your car! When you start driving while the oil is still cold and thick, you risk putting a load on the motor when there is not proper lubrication.

With the new oil temp gauges in these cars, I would wait until it hits 180 or so, which is probably about 5-10 minutes of idling. (Maybe more with the amount of oil the LS3 has)

Once again, over on LS1Tech.com there is great info regarding subjects of this matter. Patman is a great resource over on that board. His suggestion was to give it a little time to build heat in the oil (before driving) and then keep the RPMS under about 1800 until the oil gets fully warmed up.(If you are going to be late and HAVE to drive)

The more RPMS you turn, the greater chance you have a of starving the bearings because your oil is too thick to flow properly.

[lnsjr1]

Has anyone ever seen what they do to these cars before we get our hands on them... Throw ur best at it, because they did..

[ZYAL8R]

Originally Posted by gunslinger

Wow, there are some VERY misinformed people on this forum.

The ideal amount of idling would be to wait until the OIL hits operating temperature of between 180-220 degrees F.

All this BS of "letting car idle is bad" or "you don't have to with new cars" is flat out wrong.

Oil is the MOST important fluid in your car! When you start driving while the oil is still cold and thick, you risk putting a load on the motor when there is not proper lubrication.

With the new oil temp gauges in these cars, I would wait until it hits 180 or so, which is probably about 5-10 minutes of idling. (Maybe more with the amount of oil the LS3 has)

Once again, over on LS1Tech.com there is great info regarding subjects of this matter. Patman is a great resource over on that board. His suggestion was to give it a little time to build heat in the oil (before driving) and then keep the RPMS under about 1800 until the oil gets fully warmed up.(If you are going to be late and HAVE to drive)

The more RPMS you turn, the greater chance you have a of starving the bearings because your oil is too thick to flow properly.

Gunslinger gets it right. What he's saying makes more common sense than any speculation.

What's more is....... when you get the remote start on the 08 Yuke, it will idle for 10 minutes and shut off. If this was too long to idle and cause damage, it's my belief that GM's engineers would not have set it up this way.

To the peeps that are in a hurry and do the "start and run" thing every morning....it may be in your best interest to get the L99 for that reason!

If you forget to start the engine in the morning in time for it to warm up, you'd probably forget to shift gears in the LS3! Chuckle chuckle ya'll!

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by gunslinger

Wow, there are some VERY misinformed people on this forum.

The ideal amount of idling would be to wait until the OIL hits operating temperature of between 180-220 degrees F.

All this BS of "letting car idle is bad" or "you don't have to with new cars" is flat out wrong.

Oil is the MOST important fluid in your car! When you start driving while the oil is still cold and thick, you risk putting a load on the motor when there is not proper lubrication.

With the new oil temp gauges in these cars, I would wait until it hits 180 or so, which is probably about 5-10 minutes of idling. (Maybe more with the amount of oil the LS3 has)

Once again, over on LS1Tech.com there is great info regarding subjects of this matter. Patman is a great resource over on that board. His suggestion was to give it a little time to build heat in the oil (before driving) and then keep the RPMS under about 1800 until the oil gets fully warmed up.(If you are going to be late and HAVE to drive)

The more RPMS you turn, the greater chance you have a of starving the bearings because your oil is too thick to flow properly

Actually the information that I provided is right off of GM's site.......
Im going to take GM's word over yours


"Do not over-idle when starting. Even at -18°C most cars only require 15 to 30 seconds of idling before being driven. The engine and drivetrain warm up better when your car is in motion. However, drive gently until they are warm".


Here is another tid bit from "Car talk"...


What's your MPG when you're idling? It's negative! You're actually burning gas... and going nowhere.

If you're sitting outside a tattoo parlor waiting for your grandmother, and you know it's going to take her a good 15 minutes to get that new Komodo dragon tattooed on her left butt cheek, turn off your engine. You're just burning money. Some people have heard a myth that it takes more gas to start a car than to run it. So they use that as an excuse to leave a car idling. It's complete B.S. If you're stationary for more than a couple of minutes, shut it off, and save gas.

This tip also applies to warming up the car. Unless it's below freezing, cars don't need to be warmed up at all. Driving them gently is the best warm up there is. If it's 25 degrees out, you might want to let it warm up for 30 seconds. If it's 10 degrees out, warm it up for a minute. If it's -10 degrees out, move somewhere warmer.

[DaddySS]

Most engine builders and manufacturers will tell you that you should wait about 30 seconds for oil pressure to build and lubrication to circulate before engaging the transmission and moving the car, then take it easy until the temperature comes up.

[Kwaz1335]

I usually wait until the car idles down which is essentially when a steady amount of oil has reached the top of the motor (about 30 seconds)...drive it gently till the car is fully warm then have at it.

[dodson914]

Originally Posted by shnomac77

Actually the information that I provided is right off of GM's site.......
Im going to take GM's word over yours


"Do not over-idle when starting. Even at -18°C most cars only require 15 to 30 seconds of idling before being driven. The engine and drivetrain warm up better when your car is in motion. However, drive gently until they are warm".


Here is another tid bit from "Car talk"...


What's your MPG when you're idling? It's negative! You're actually burning gas... and going nowhere.

If you're sitting outside a tattoo parlor waiting for your grandmother, and you know it's going to take her a good 15 minutes to get that new Komodo dragon tattooed on her left butt cheek, turn off your engine. You're just burning money. Some people have heard a myth that it takes more gas to start a car than to run it. So they use that as an excuse to leave a car idling. It's complete B.S. If you're stationary for more than a couple of minutes, shut it off, and save gas.

This tip also applies to warming up the car. Unless it's below freezing, cars don't need to be warmed up at all. Driving them gently is the best warm up there is. If it's 25 degrees out, you might want to let it warm up for 30 seconds. If it's 10 degrees out, warm it up for a minute. If it's -10 degrees out, move somewhere warmer.

If I waited for the oil to get to 180 in my truck I'd literally be idling for 45-60 minutes every day. Maybe longer if it's cold.

[a6pk2go]

I think Al Gore needs to step in and advise us.........I mean after all HE invented the internet so he should be an expert on letting us know how long we need to wait b4 we hit the road.

[RobH]

Originally Posted by DaddySS

Most engine builders and manufacturers will tell you that you should wait about 30 seconds for oil pressure to build and lubrication to circulate before engaging the transmission and moving the car, then take it easy until the temperature comes up.

BMW gives the exact opposite advice (and they know a bit about engines). Always drive your car at low RPMs until the engine is up to temp. Letting oil sit in the sump while idling puts more stress on the BMW engine engine. Perhaps the Camaros are a bit different, but waiting 5 minutes is just a wive's tale from the 60's.