At some point in your driving life you will inevitably come across a person, invariably an older gentleman, who will advise you to warm up your car before driving. “Start the car, wait a few minutes, then only start driving,” he’ll probably say. “Your car needs to warm up first, until the temperature needle reaches the middle of the meter. If you start then drive, your engine sure kong one!”
So you do. It becomes your morning regimen – you crank the engine, go back in to finish your coffee and pack up your things, lock up the doors, and only then will you get in the car, fasten your seat belt and set off. You may be burning some fuel, you might be thinking, but at least your engine will be at the peak of its health, and you won’t have to worry about the costly repair bills you sometimes see on social media.
But are you really doing your car any good? And is there any truth in that uncle’s advice? In case you need to know the answer right now and can’t be bothered to read the rest of this article, no, you do not need to warm up your engine before driving. Not only are you wasting all that fuel, but you are also causing more harm than good to your engine.
Watch your carbs
So where did this urban myth come from? As always, there is a little bit of truth to it. In the olden days, engines relied on mechanical carburettors to deliver the air and fuel. Petrol doesn’t vaporise well in colder climates (we’re talking about countries with actual winters, not Genting Highlands), so engines back then needed to run richer to improve combustion and prevent them from stalling out, until they became warmer.
Since there was no computer to help dump extra petrol into the cylinders when the engine was cold, the only real way to do so was to let the car idle until the optimum temperature was reached. What you may not have realised is that the said uncle’s knowledge is about as outdated as flossing (the dance, not the dental hygiene practice, which you should definitely still do).
Unless you’re holding on to an original Proton Saga or an early Perodua Kancil, your car will almost certainly come fitted with electronic fuel injection, which is able to adjust the air-fuel mixture to suit different driving conditions. The ECU can monitor the operation of the engine using various sensors and, if required, simply inject more (or less) fuel and run the engine richer (or leaner) – no chokes or idling necessary.
Lube it up
“But what about the engine oil?” the uncle will probably ask at this point. “It’s all stuck at the bottom of the engine. If you don’t warm the engine up, the oil won’t circulate, then you will destroy your engine!” Yes uncle, but you’re forgetting one important fact – engines warm up faster when the car is being driven.
Engines don’t actually heat up all that well when they’re being idled; driving your car immediately will allow the oil to get up to temperature quicker and flow better. Modern oils are designed to cling onto parts and walls anyway, so they won’t all drip into the sump immediately. Moving components like the cylinders and piston rings will also be able to expand to their correct size due to heat, enabling the engine to run at its best.
In fact, idling your car to warm it up might actually do the opposite of what you intended. Since the engine doesn’t heat up quickly enough, the ECU may continue to supply a richer air-fuel mixture for longer, and since petrol is a solvent, running a rich mixture could wash the oil off the aforementioned components.
As you can imagine, stripping the lubrication off these vital parts isn’t going to do any good – indeed, it could lead to increased wear, said Stephen Ciatti in a Business Insider interview. Ciatti is a principal engineer for advanced engines at American truck conglomerate PACCAR, so he knows what he’s talking about. Running a rich mix for extended periods could also dilute the oil, potentially damaging your engine further.
Burn baby burn
Idling may not only damage your engine in the long run, but it’s also a colossal waste of fuel. The US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory found that an average compact sedan (i.e. Honda Civic-sized) with a 2.0 litre engine consumes around 0.6 litres of fuel per every hour of idling, or 10 millilitres per minute. That’s 2 sen of RON 95 every minute, which may not sound like much, but it all adds up. The DOE estimated that passenger car idling wastes around 11 billion litres a year in the United States alone.
And that’s not all. The department also said that idling throws up around 27 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, making it a huge source of air pollution. A 2009 study also found that idling as a whole contributed to an astonishing 1.6% of all US greenhouse gas emissions, “almost double the total emissions for the iron and steel manufacturing industry,” reported the Washington Post.
Granted, these figures also include idling at traffic lights and jams, which is unavoidable (although start/stop systems do help in that regard). But the study also stated that nearly half of the emissions attributable to idling comes from people warming up their engines or simply waiting for someone (like at a school or office) or something (like at a drive-thru) – actions that are completely unnecessary, as you’ve just read.
So how long should you wait?
Now we come to the advice part of this article – how long do you have to wait between starting the engine and driving? Even in the dead of winter, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the DOE both recommend that you take around 30 seconds – just enough time for the engine to generate enough oil pressure to lubricate itself. Any more and you’re just wasting fuel.
In our sweltering heat, there is absolutely no reason to warm up your engine. The general rule is that once you crank your engine, you simply need to put your seat belt on before setting off. Carmakers are perfectly happy with this – none of the three user manuals that I browsed through, including one for my 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK, suggested to wait for the engine to warm up before driving.
The manual for my Kia Picanto did tell me to “let the engine warm up,” but only in temperatures below -18 degrees Celsius, or if the car had not been operated for several days. Remember that user manuals as a whole are pretty overbearing, so if they don’t tell you that you need to do something, you probably don’t.
The option to warm your engine up isn’t even available on most hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. On these cars, the mills are only started once you are already moving and are often immediately placed under heavy loads. This is yet more proof that you don’t need to warm your engine up, as this would have been programmed into the cars’ software if it was actually required.
But what about if you’re waiting at a school or at a drive-thru, you may ask? Surely it would use up more fuel to turn off the engine and then restart it when you’re only waiting for a short while? While it’s true that engines use a little bit more fuel for the first combustion, even idling for just ten seconds uses up more of the stuff than simply turning your engine off and on again.
Don’t whack before you walk
If you don’t wait to warm up your engine, won’t it cause undue wear and tear when you’re driving? Only under heavy loads, and that’s where another grain of truth to uncle’s statement comes in – whatever you do, for heaven’s sake, don’t pin the throttle immediately after cranking the engine. Instead, drive gently for the first five to 15 minutes (depending on the driving conditions) and let the engine come up to temperature on its own. Only then are you free to whack your car to your heart’s content – preferably on the track, of course.
Certain performance cars give you some sort of heads-up to let you know when it’s OK to rag on your engine. The BMW M3 (like the E46 you see above), for example, comes with a series of lights in the rev counter that indicate a safe maximum engine speed for a given engine temperature – progressively disappearing as the car warms up. Once the two redline lights are all that’s left, you are good to go racing.
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We just leave the engine at idle while waiting at a school or at a drive-thru because we absolutely NEED the aircon!!!
Tell me sincerely Jonathan that you always turn off your engine and aircon in malaysian sweltering heat just to save miniscule amount of fuel and the environment?
Cranking the engine multiple times in a day will also shorten the life of your batteries, which has a finite amount of cranking cycles it can endure.
That’s the good old trick use by automotive industry syndicate to force consumer to spend more, buy more expensive agm type battery for start-stop equipped cars, more expensive alternators, promotes higher wear and tear will definitely gets higher turnover for parts replacement is good business.
start stop function is just a gimmick.
probably okay in climates like europe, totally unsuitable for malaysia.
where my adik ipar stayed in singappre.
stiff fines await ppl for car engine idling…
doing start stop will also introduce something that car manufacturers will never tell you.
thermal shock
In a hot climate like malaysia, suddenly switching off your engine while your engine is hot will suddenly deprive the engine from water circulation by the water pump through the radiator. causing sudden heat expansion of parts in the engine.
then say hello to wrapped engine heads, gasket failures, cracked parts.
So cannot turn off the engine when you get to your destination?
Ever heard of a thermostat? You maybe driving an antique car that doesn’t have one of these things.
Every car have been fitted with one. The purpose is to close or open the circulation to maintain optimal temperature of the engine. And since these are mechanical, they open or close at a specified temperature.
So what I’m the world are you talking about warped heads, gasket failures or even cracked parts? If this ever happens, blame your poor maintenance for letting the engine overheat.
Your argument of thermal shock also hold no water! How much heat can you lose by switching off the engine for 5 minutes? 5-8’c? How much difference is that to cause such a thermal shock you mentioned? Thermal shock would require the temp to drop drastically for that to happen.
If a car manufacturer is aware of such a thing affecting the reliability of their engines, don’t you think they wouldn’t have Omitted such a feature? You think they would want their reputation to go down the drain over such a small feature?
Seriously, is common sense a super power these days??
What on earth are you talking about, the article is about warming up, not saving fuel by turning off the engines waiting for your big mac. DId you even bother to read?
Copy paste: “idling comes from people warming up their engines or simply waiting for someone (like at a school or office) or something (like at a drive-thru) – actions that are completely unnecessary, as you’ve just read.”
well…some people just like to jump the gun, not bother to read the title or even read properly.
When I do remember to turn it off, I do. I can always get out and walk to a shaded place to wait.
Sure, starting the engine more often could shorten the battery life, but how often are you turning your engine on or off, anyway? How many times are you waiting for people or things every day that turning your engine off and on will cause such a noticeable effect on battery life?
When starting up first thing in the morning, rpms hold at 1300 on my tachometer. I discovered that waiting the 40+ seconds for rpms to drop below 1100 will dramatically reduce the force of the jerk load on the transmission whether it is shifted into R or D for the first time any given day.
Learned that by hearing about the drivetrain problems that some of the worse fellers complained about and observing how they unknowingly mistreated their slushboxes time in and time out. Day in day out, too.
Imbibe the term ‘vehicle sympathy’ and apply it to everyday driving. It will help with your repair bills.
Yeahh.. right.. Have you ever waiting to pick your child at school? Where there always long queue beside the road even before the last bell rings.
Ya, only lazy people bother to wait at the long queue. Park your car somewhere not too far from your kid’s school and walk to the gate to pick them up. How far? I say around 250m to 500m should be a safe distance from the clog. You may even get out faster than the first ten cars queuing there. So, walk= exercise=win, park far=get out fast=win. Why bring up having to queue is a valid reason to keep your car idle? Stoopeed
This article is talking about during start up, NO NEED IDLE and not idle during drive thru mcd or waiting. To me a car will spoilt faster if always at high speed and when the radiator fan not running anymore or leaking. That is number killer of an engine.
How about diesel engines? Older pickups and modern pickups. Older 4*4 do require some warming up but what about current 4*4?
Diesel or petrol, as long as your car has electronic fuel injection, you’re fine to drive it without warming up.
i do understand the need to warm up the engine. BUT if your engine vibrates LOUDLY then it is an issue. how long do you need to warm it up 10sec…30….40 or 2 mins or until you finish reading all your social media. Do you still need to warm the engine when you reach your destination or home?
Well. Apparently, my feel rattle abit if drive straight without warming up. Once warm, no rattle issue.
Damn true..
Of cos we need. Dont u ever notice how ur car performance feel if morning start immediately drive away, dont u notice the sound abit different and abit lag even u throttle it? Gear change also can feel lag. Unless u start n drive as slow as turtle n not rev higher than 2000rpm.
Compare to car that u heat up 1st before drive, it feel much smoother to drive. So basically, u also need to heat up the engine oil. The hotter the oil the better it lubricate the engine wall. Heating metal or alloy engine head also give some effect in smoother running.
And basically a car engine are same mechanism as human body, it got heart as carb/fuel injection, it got kidney as fuel filter and oil filter, it got lung as air filter, it got ass as exhaust to fart, it got dicky/puccy to pee out engine oil during service. So u cant straight run 100m just after wake up, of cos u need to warm up 1st. Let ur blood heat up. Same goes to car, heat the the engine and engine oil 1st.
Been doing this for more than 20 years on more than 8 cars i eber had til today, its keep the engine lasting. While my cousin, a lady, she never heat up engine before drive, she just start and straight drive to work every morning, now her car just 5 yrs old the engine sound already quite rough, even she keep service her car on time.
Those who say “NO” basically wanna give business to workshop. Say “NO” so that ur car engine spoiled faster.
The wear and tear of an engine depends far more on driving conditions, habits and maintenance (and the engine itself) than whether you warm up your engine in the morning before setting off. I have never warmed up my Picanto and it still drives like new, six years on.
Somehow, yes and I agree with you.
Minimum, drive normally until you reach main road if you are staying around the housing area.
For Diesel car, I definitely warm it up at least 3-5 mins. I do feel the car less sluggish in the morning if I warm it up rather than drive straight away.
I do feel the same for petrol engine too.
Actually no harm to warm it up minimum 1 mins before drive out. Unless you are on emergency.
No, That s what Japanese and asian car feels in the morning frm my memory. After changing to new generation bmw and merc, I didnt feel different in the morning. Just start, 10 sec of ecu higher rpm at 1k then auto drop back to 700 rpm. Drive and everthing feel smooth and quiet. Unlike my jap car which feel so different every morning. And yes. AUDI also feel knferior every morning. Wonder why? You just remind me of those day whuch make my morning feel bad frm inferior parts noise.
True that’s what I felt as if the car won’t want to move once you started the engine , just loud noise, like it’s been hard friction with the block
Quote: don’t pin the throttle immediately after cranking the engine. Instead, drive gently for the first five to 15 minutes (depending on the driving conditions) and let the engine come up to temperature on its own. Only then are you free to whack your car to your heart’s content – preferably on the track, of course.
Why do one need to drive gently for so long when most car’s will reach optimum operation temperature within 1.5-3min (with normal driving).
Also please let us know if the article above is applicable for most of the Turbo Engines where you drive immediately with that 150,000 – 350,000RPM spinning Turbo Compressor parts without proper engine oil warming/lubrication for proper/full protection.
Finally can you also make an article if one should turn-off their engine immediately even after a long-drive, hard-drive or based on engine make to complete the above. Thank you
As for my car, coolant gets to 80 deg C in 2 minutes.
The oil will take 10 minutes to get up to 110 deg C.
The series of lights on the E46 M3 should be made standard equipment as many cars today uses digital tachometer.
if the engine needs to warm up, The next question is how long to warm up? 3 min? 5 min? or just by listening to the purr of the engine?
Or depends on how hurry I might be in the morning?
+-30sec
Another reason why EV’s are so much better.
And there’s a myth you only can start driving after the blue thermometer gauge dim. It took 3 minutes.
I would rather spend 2 sen every minute for comfortable temperature inside the car. Anyway, with my uncle method, I used to have few cars with milage of more than 400,000 km clocked before I sold it and it is troublefree. Reason of change is just the needs of bigger and more powerful vehicle.
My car idling at 1.7k that last for 2-3 minutes before drop down below 1k. So imagine how much stress the gearbox get when you engage in D when idling at 1.7k rpm? Will u rev ur engine at 1.7k in N and put the D on? Pointless article, not sure why so many similar articles pop up recently.
The increased idle speed is due to the richer air-fuel mixture mentioned in the article. The engine needs to clear out the excess fuel and also heat up the catalytic converter, hence the higher idle speed. It’s not going to “stress” your transmission, especially if it’s an automatic gearbox – the torque converter absorbs the shock anyway.
Playing Devil’s advocate here.. So are you saying it’s fine to switch gears from a free gear at 1.7k RPM to Drive everyday?
Would you seriously do that everyday to your car (even if it’s not that high)? I would dare you to do it and see how long your transmission/torque converter will last.
Your article cannot encompass all vehicles vintage/modern because there is simply too many variables introduced by manufacturers quality and components.
Your car not stupid. When engage gear of course the RPM drop what…
Modern car comes with a low engine coolant temperature indicator that turns blue the moment you start the engine. From what I learned, you are not supposed to drive aggressively until the light goes off. You can either wait or drive gently until the engine warms up and all the fluids are at optimal operating temperature. So indeed you it’s not entirely wrong to idle your car first in the morning.
If you see all hondas sold in showroom today, they remove the blue light feature. The light will only come on when your car engine overheats by that time it is too late.
I think we should at least wait around 30 seconds to 1 min after start and before engage the gear to move.
Regardless it is a modern or old car. Any mechanical movement will need sometime to lubricate the moving parts. But if somehow no time, at least don’t fully floor in until you reach the 2nd junction.
Unlike Diesel cars, which I think it is good to let it idle for 5 mins before driving. Somehow I feel it is better and smoother to drive. The diesel engine will run better if it is hotter. Can ask all the Hilux owner experience :)
Well, it just the driving feeling.
I read that the main reason modern engines still idle “rougher” upon cold start is mainly to warm up the catalytic converters so that they pass emissions regs. I drive a euro grey import fiat & the user manual states that you should not leave engine idling (I think this has more to do with emissions than anything else), it suggests to warm up the engine by driving at “medium revs”. That being said, on a hot day I like to leave it idling for a while & blast the aircon so the aluminium gearknob doesn’t burn my left palm.
How about diesel cars
What about diesel engine?
My CBU Mazda 6 has the blue light feature and it is recommended in the manual to only drive the car once the light is off after you started the engine in the morning. It will take normally between 2 to 3 minutes for the blue light to switch off. So are you saying the Japanese are designing cars with redundant function? I don’t think so. I am sure the engineers have considered all angles and decided it is better to let the engine warm up first before you drive.
I don’t know which version of the Mazda 6 you’re referring to, but I’ve gone through the online owner’s manual and it only says to let it idle for ten seconds before driving.
Problem is people here could care less to RTFM as it clearly states not to warm up the engine by idling and also emphasizes the usage of turn signals. Any EFI engine should be driven as soon as its fired up, regardless if the engine is cold or warm. That doesn’t mean you should rev it up immediately, just drive according to the regulations and be gently until the engine is a operating temperatures.
But how bout I am driving to my workplace which is only around 5km away? Do i need to”heat it up” before driving and “wait a moment” while parking before turning it off?
You ride a bike.
You’ll have a different problem. Too short a drive everyday, your alternator did not have enough time to recharge your battery. The battery will die faster. The problem gets worse if you happen to have a dashcam that stay on recording during parking.
At least every 2-3 days, you’ll need to drive 30 min to somewhere else to fully charge your battery.
This was the problem my wife had with her car. Our house and her office was so close. She could actually walk to her office in 10 min flat. The car battery did not last long. MCO made it worse since we can’t go anywhere.
you walk lols
Dont idle..do work now!
And in the end it’s all about physique
if your car did not run for many weeks (especially during fmco etc), isn’t it better to run the car engine where the engine turns the dyno to charge the battery?
i notice if car long time no start/run…most likely battery will end up dead (discharged itself)
or maybe newer cars these days battery dont need to charge? ^^
My son’s 2014 Mazda 3 2.0 starts rough in the morning but after 2-3 min idle, runs smooth as a baby. Anything he should watch out for? Like cold start fuel-air setting?
Referring to cold start in the morning, (or engine off for 6hr)
If I start the engine and immediately drive, the car will choke for a while.
But if I start engine and waited for a minute then only drive, it is fine.
I think is still better to wait for a minute after start engine, let the flow circular smooth.
Actually there’s no be all, end all answer. It depends on the age & condition of the vehicle’s engine, the fuel quality & of course the ambient temperature which relates to the location’s climate.
The carburettors in the old Saga & the Kancil do have automatic chokes & fuel enrichment circuits, which allow the engine to run richer at a slightly higher idle rpm after a cold start. The auto choke would gradually disengage as the coolant temperature rises. This allows the car to be driven (at light loads) before the engine reaches operating temperature. Thus, the need to wait for a carburetted engine to first warm up at idle before driving off, is not entirely true.
My car 18 yrs old with fuel injection system I still warm up engine for 2- 3 min. Every morning I drive to work no problem engine life cooling system temperature.
You would not believe the number of people who confronted me even to say I was killing my car and said shits to justify even I gave the situation and the fact on this people do really throw away the car manual booklet for real cuz it’s even told not to waste time, it’s a start and go era and written in the booklet
EXCEPT for rotary engines..u need to warm up the engine first..cold start + whack the car = bye2 apex seals…engine rebuild otw..lol
No surprise that Mazda eventually abandoned FWankel’s design & went sky active with their main stream products.
Still need to warm up the engine every morning before going to your work place especially if it’s a very short trip so your battery can last long.
Another nonsense article, based on a theory not in field testing, the engine will last longer if you idle it for 3 minutes, how do I know, because tested it in the field on engines running hard, it absolutely extends the life of the engine but don’t over idle beyond 3 minutes as then may build up carbon
I am a loyal reader of your page, but this time you really disappoint me. Being a german graduated automotive engine and drivetrain master background, I can assure you that driving without heating up your engine is absolutely bad to the engine lifetime regardless during winter or summer. I am not going to explain much on thermal efficiency, metal expansion, engine oil wash off from oil rings etc. you will get tons of explanation about why you should warm up your car in google. My advice is that Paul tan.org should focus more on auto news & trends than giving advices on car maintenance unless you got strong auto Know-how background.
panaskan enjin anda sekitar 30 saat hingga 1 minit sudah memadai. gunakan waktu itu untuk baca doa naik kenderaan
My Mazda manual state to let the engine idle for 10s. However, there’s also a note saying ‘If the ambient temperature is lower than about － 10 °C (14 °F), the
maximum engine speed may not be attained for about 3 minutes after the engine starts to protect the engine.’
During the coldest winter months in Siberia, they don’t switch off their engines when they leave their vehicles parked outside.
So not factual
Natural motor oil doesn’t stick to metal & it takes about 3 days to flow down
If u don’t run your engine every 2 days, metal to metal friction will cause wear & tear
Do u define ‘natural’ motor oil as lubricating oil without any additives? Virtually every engine oil manufacturer nowadays put additives in their products to counter the situation which u mentioned.
Not doing for 20years, no problem. Do not believe to masters from their own private university.
Ihave been driving for nearly 40 years. I’ve never purposely warming up my car before driving it every morning.
The time you spent on engaging your seatbelt, composing youself before driving is more than enough. You dont pin your throttle within your neighbourhood, do you?
My csrs engine just doing fine throughout the years.
I did left the car idling when driving for the first time of the day, but not up to 10 minutes. More like 2 minutes top.
It’s due to I run the aircon after starting the engine. Just to let out the smell away.