Do you let your old engine warm up or just get in and drive?

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niceolddart said:
Unless its real cold out, 30 seconds or so, drive easy first couple miles.
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Being a south Fla resident, anything below 60F is "real cold".
But my reason for liking this response, few seem to care/note much about the rest of the drivetrain, that "easy" above also takes into account.
 
One of the reasons taxi & commercial engines last longer than engines that do short trips......is that they are at operating temps for long periods, where the parts are working 'together' for longevity & minimal wear.
With that in mind, I drive my car as soon as it is running, because loading the engine gets it up to operating temp quicker.
 
I use a manual choke (every old car I own) and I let it run on high idle until I get to mid choke then I will get moving but go easy until I take the choke completely off and I am close to full temp.

Unless it's in the summer and above 75 degrees then usually it won't even need the choke and be ready to go almost right away like an EFI.

Maybe I am doing it wrong but it has worked for me and I get a reliable starting engine every time.
An old guy I knew who was a transmission builder from the 60s and 70s (R.I.P. ED) told me to never push a cold engine hard, go easy and the engine will tell you when it's ready.
 
idling a engine is slowerst way to build heat, and only builds heat in engine, ease on down the road and youll warm up engine quicker along with the trans, the rearend, the hubs and bearings,...the hole damn car, not just the engine!!
 
Lord Sparky said:
I let the 1968 440 engine warm up a few minutes to get the oil flowing.
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I run it long enough to where it can idle without stalling, then drive it easy until it is up to temperature. I don't have a choke so it is all foot and feather until it runs steady.
These flat tappet cams need varying rpms for proper oiling. No flat tappet engine will like long idling periods unless it is a stock slant six or 318 with weak valve springs.
 
J-c-c said:
Being a south Fla resident, anything below 60F is "real cold".
But my reason for liking this response, few seem to care/note much about the rest of the drivetrain, that "easy" above also takes into account.
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Yup, like I said, I idle it a bit then drive easy a few miles first. 45 degrees & colder I'll do 1 minute warm up, but the trans fluid, especially manuals, & diff fluids are still cold no matter what. Engine oil will warm up pretty quick, but some like to warm their cars up well. Just don't start up & GO, like I see people do with their new cars, that CAN'T be good, even on a warm day. Just my opinion though.
 
It's not just the engine oil, trans fluid, power steering, gear oil ect. Have you guys ever heard power a steering pump screaming at -20F? I've seen transmission lines come a part at -10F at the add on trans cooler because the fluid was thick and made extra pressure. So if it's below say 10F I let it warm up some. I never throw it in gear and go.
 
Until it will come off the high idle cam on it's own, then I like to let it get to where the temp gauge starts to move.
 
Do whatever makes you happy, but when it's cold (I'm talking Wisconsin cold, not S. California cold), tell people to throw it in gear and give 'er. It keeps engine rebuilders in business. Just doing my part to help the local economy!
 
I'll give it about 30 seconds or so then get on my way, baby it the first few minutes and gradually get on it a bit harder as the temp comes up but still try to keep the RPMs low. Once it's up to full operating temp I'll do a WOT blast for a few seconds up to near redline at least once during the drive to burn out some carbon and try to get the oil nice and hot to boil out any condensation.

I hate idling any engine longer than I have to, causes carbon buildup especially if the cam is big enough to have a choppy idle and warms up the engine way slower than driving gently. Also dilutes the oil with liquid fuel. Sometimes I'll shut the engine off at a long stop light to save gas lol. Engineering Explained on YT did a video where he calculated that an EFI engine consumes the same amount of gas during startup as idling for about 7 seconds. Carbed engines use less because they only pull fuel from the carb when the engine is running, of course that's only for a warm start where the pedal doesn't need to be pumped to squirt some extra gas into the intake.

I can say at least that the oil in my old carbed engines doesn't smell like gas at all and takes a long time to get dark, as in a couple thousand miles.
 
This post hasn't surprised me, nor, I doubt, will change anyone's way of running their engine's.
 
I get in and drive since I have EFI. It is just a Holley Sniper unit but it starts with my foot on the floor hot or cold and lets me drive immediately without any warm up. I don't spin the engine past 2000 rpm until it is up to temp.
 
Darter6 said:
Cold weather below 60* Run for a few minutes,kick off fast idle,drop in gear. If it idles in gear it's ready to go.
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60°, that is a nice summer day for me. Fire it up and once you have oil pressure drive away taking it easy. No straight onto a freeway. We just had a few nights at -40°. F and C the same at that temp. And that was without windchill. At that temp a moose walking by and farts and the air feel 5° colder. Heck the neighbor who is a *****/witch even quit going out to warm her titties.
Back to the topic at hand, when that cold condensation from breathing frosts up the windows until the heater starts putting out some warm air. W to 5 minutes warmup.should be enough. Remember the engine warms faster with a bit of load on it, aka driving.
About 18 years ago we had a morning that was -50°C or about -60°F.
 
440outlawdart said:
wonder why nothing is said about block heaters.they sell them at jegs.have them on everytrhing
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I had one on my '93 Cherokee, heater was not great and I had to park it outside so it helped a lot to be able to start the engine at 110°F as opposed to -15°F in Colorado winters.

If I was still living there and had to drive my D200 regularly I'd probably add one to that truck. Fortunately the coldest it gets around here is about 20°F at night. I would like to add one of the factory air cleaners with the heat riser since the exhaust crossover is blocked and it's not very happy the first 5-10 minutes of driving when it's cold out. They're pretty expensive these days though.
 
Back in high school my brother and I both had 340 cars. His was a Dart Swinger, mine was a Duster. Both were 4 speeds. I always liked to let mine warm up a little before revving it up and taking off. As soon as his Dart would fire up, he would romp down hard on it three or four times and I was thinking to myself, "He's going to blow that thing up doing that every time." His engine never blew up though and ran like a scalded dog.
 
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