Idling for winter warm up: bad?

CaifanSC

SCCoA Member
I was browsing another forum the other day and came up to some thing that i thought was just nonesence. But then again, thinking of how things apply differently (or sometimes not at all) on our cars i decided to ask.

What i read is that supposedly if you let ur car idle for too long it will affect the longevity of your engine and prematurely 'provoke blow-by.' Like i said, i thought this was junk as in my understanding it is to the best interest of your car to warm it up at idle (w/o revving the engine) until it reaches operating temperature and this will increase the life of your engine. in this forum some guy went ahead and said something to the extent of "if you ask any good mechanic, it will tell you this". so what u guys think?
 
The idea of not doing much warm-up idling is that the engine warms quicker when it's working, not just idling. The longer an engine stays below operating temp the richer the mixture, which dilutes oil and increases wear. If you get moving instead you make miles instead of just sitting there burning fuel.

At the same time, you don't want to go overboard on the RPM or engine load while the oil is cold. As a rule of thumb try to keep it less than 1/2 throttle and 2000 rpm or so at least until the temp guage is up to temp.
 
I usually let it idle until its in operating range...i guess i can cut the time in half and then just drive below 2k rmp until its within range. I see what youare talking about now, and it makes sence. I guess its just the way the other people put it, saying that warming the car was just baaaad...a good mixture of both is probalby the best thign to do.
 
On a cold day, I just wait until the computer takes over, and brings my idle back to 800. Then, like Parker said, take it easy until you're at operating temp.
 
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