How long should you warm up your car/engine in the winter before driving?

if it has a carb then you have to wait till the engine idle speed calms down.

if not then 7 seconds for the oil to get to the top and its good to go

until my truck stops sounding like a diesel due to cold piston slap. i put some stop leak in to plug up a leaky head gasket. big old mistake, not my heat only starts getting warm 15 min after i hit full operating temperature.

This is similar to what I do, except more like 2000rpm.
>start car
>settle in
>plug aux cord into phone
>turn on drls or headlights, blah blah blah
>go

I hope this is not the case.

It takes me about 15 minutes to reach Uni on a GS500. By the time I arrive, the engine is almost as its normal idling speed.

So I should wait every day around 20 minutes just idling, and then 15 minutes for the journey? And the same thing back?

Get a tesla pleb

Fuck no. You're gunna be filling up every other day if you do that bullshit. Takes even longer to warm up just idling then under light load.

it was the case 25 years back, not now.

If it's a modern EFI car, about 20 seconds at most. Then drive gently for a bit. WIth EFI, you'll be doing more damage if you leave it idling for ages to warm it up.

GS500s have a bit over 25 years. Mine is from 2003, but the bike is pretty much the same as it was when it came out. So I should be waiting? At that point I might as well swap the motorcycle for a bicycle. It would take me as much time to get there and would be much cheaper and I would still arrive cold and wet anyways.

Might as well ask: how long should I keep the choke on for? how tight? I usually start with it between full and half choke, and keep it on for a few minutes of ride and then take it off. The bike is still cold so that it doesn't stall at redlights I manually pull the gas a bit so it stays at idle when standing still.

I'll try to sell the motorcycle on summer and get a modern EFI, that's for sure, to much stuff to care about.

were not talking car variants, were talking a straight 25 year old vehicle. Cars do get minor tweaks year after year, so if its not a straight 1990 car then it wont need to be warmed.

bikes on the other hand should not be driven in winter imo. they get and stay too cold.

I fire mine up and WOT out of the driveway and skid down the street

Every day at 6:45am to go to work

Till your windshild is defrosted.
Wish i had a garage.

Engineering explained says warming up an engine is unnecessary and increases wear on the engine.

youtube.com/watch?v=xKALgXDwou4

Owner's manuals will typically tell you you either don't need to warm it up or to MAYBE let it idle for 30 seconds. Just try to stay below 3000rpm until it starts to really warm up. Slow driving warms the engine and your heater core much faster than idling

Totally anecdotal, but I tend to drive only accelerating at 2000-2500 rpm for a while. Warms the engine up plenty.

What if my car is over 30 years old?

you need the coolant in the engine to heat up.

>coolant
>heat
yes, your coolant absorbs heat. when it's cold out, as your engine is running, the coolant circulates around the engine block and radiator to help warm the car up.

after about 30s-1min, start driving slowly. idling doesn't get the car working hard enough to heat up the engine meaningfully once you get below 0F/-17C.

you CAN idle to heat up the car closer to 32F/0C, but it's less efficient than driving, and idling at cold temps is hard on the car.

this all assumes you have a car made within the last ~25 years as others have said.

drive gingerly until the temperature needle starts to lift from F.

the general consensus is the max benefit you're going to get from an engine block heater is about a three hour runtime. anything longer isn't beneficial

On my new truck, i just sit long enough to connect my phone and put away my visor.

My 50 years old car takes a few mins just to get it started in the cold. Then i wait till the heater starts to work.

what oil do you use
temperature

long enough so that the inside won't turn you into oetzi the iceman. all that matters.

motor oil

I usually warm mine about 2 mins till the idle settles down. I don't go over 2500rpm or spool the turbo till the oil is at temp.

With oil suited to the temperature there is no negative to starting up and driving off

About 25-30 minutes depending on the outside temperature.

I fell for the leather meme. It's terrible and I hate it.

Sometimes I just get in and go after contemplating suicide.

Don't get me started on the really nice aluminum shift knob. That bastard is cold.

Now my other shitbox? I usually take off within a minute or two.

Only as long as it takes for the car to heat up the cat (10 sec)

canola

I remember you. Didn't you used to tripfag?

only the finest Italian olive oil straight from Sicily. When i drain my engine, I make sure to re-bottle it for use in salads.

>live in the most Northern city in Canada
>-40 C° winters are normal and expected
>literally drive a shitty 90s Toyota
>park my car outside all year round
>I always just start my car and go

What the fuck are you talking about?

do you live in Alert?

You're lucky, my camry's heater doesn't work at all, it's stone cold.

>it wasn't until recently that I learned the heater core is part of the cooling system and not just an alternate route
>engine temperature spikes
>no heat coming from heater
>pull over and shut the car off
>coolant is all over the floor, engine is shooting coolant out through the resevoir at a violent rate
>tfw

I mean 「It Still Runs」, but for how much longer. I'mma try a heater core bypass and see if that stops it from randomly overheating, at least that will tell me that the heater core is shot and replace it. If not, well RIP my old shitbox.

I let it idle until it defrosts the window

this, once i can see out every window i go vroom to drive vehicle make move

Reminds me of women who shift their cars into gear immediately after starting it. Like it's one motion turning the key to reverse and WOT

Depends on how cold it is and what the winter rating of your motor oil is. If you live in a cold climate, hopefully you've got at least a 5W__ oil. If it's pretty cold, just let it idle until the engine stops sounding really rough, and you see the temp gauge needle move up from the bottom of the dial. Usually this only takes about 1-2 minutes. After that, just drive gently until the gauge moves up to normal operating temperature, which usually takes between 5 and 15 minutes.

>women who shift their cars into gear

women don't drive manual tho...