Warming Up Queries

[Spade]

singapore warm country, standard temperature is 26 deg. no need warm up. drive easy can liao.

most western countries and northern neighbours standard temperature is 10-23 degs... need warming up.

[BMW320i]

i will always make it a point to warm up my car before driving off.

 

However, sometimes after parking for say 4 to 5 hours, the warming up light came on again.

 

So, would like to check whether is this common or should I send my ride in for servicing?

 

You may drive away the moment you start your engine. Just keep your revs 2-3k till your temp needle hits between red and blue range for about 3-5 mins. Thereafter your good to redline.

[Cordia_gsr]

i will always make it a point to warm up my car before driving off.

 

However, sometimes after parking for say 4 to 5 hours, the warming up light came on again.

 

So, would like to check whether is this common or should I send my ride in for servicing?

 

If you have a Oil Temp guage installed, you will notice that it takes about 20 mins for the oil temp to reach your car's normal running oil temp (eg. 85~90 degC). But since most oil flows well enough from 40 degC, no long warm up is needed since our surrounding temp isn't that low.

[Dennisk]

how much petrol will be wasted if we warm up for long period...usually for my case, if i park overnight, the next morning i will warm up for at least 5 mins...

 

if park for ~4-5 hours, then will warm up for about 2-3 mins...

[Hitman]

Idling for more than 2 minutes wastes petrol .... more than just switching off the engine and restarting

[Peterapc]

it's not the warming up, it's for the lubricant to flow smoothly before you began your ride. The lubricant settle down when you park your car for long hours, and began feeding back to the engine once you restart it. It only takes 2 mins and it goes a long way in smooth engine maintenance.

[Cyberet]

modern day lubes cling to the engine surface definately longer than overnight.. and it only takes awhile for the lube to circulate..

i start, wait for 5-10 secs, then drive off slowly out of carpark.., by the time reach main road, drive normally liaoz..

[Bcyn]

agree.. juz drive off once engine is started, just go easy on the right foot and keep the revs low so as not to put too much strain on the "still cold" engine.

 

analogy: in the past, it was thought that we should do warm ups before any strenuous exercise. but now, we know that we should do light exercise instead of trying to stretch our muscles that are still cold.

 

our body is sort of a "machine", same goes for the engine! :)

 

bro i dun really understand ur analogy part leh...

i still do warm ups like streching before going for any runs exercise leh...

[Normal_aspirated]

nowadays new engines are more efficient, drive out of carpark slowly & the time u hit the highway, the engine is already warmed up.........different from the old days, mah.

[Genie47]

His analogy is correct. You have to run around lightly first before stretching because warm muscles stretch better than cold muscles. A lot of people got their exercise routines wrong thinking that stretching will warm muscles. It does not happen. Stretching is not warming up. Stretching is to prevent injuries to muscles and at the same time, muscles gain more strength when there is stretching involved.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Genie47

[Bcyn]

so u mean that i should do something light weighted, den stretch den go for the main exercise izzit?

[Genie47]

Yep. Just enough to break out into a light sweat like walking gently if you are a complete newbie to exercise. Seasoned ones need 2 laps round a track. As the blood is already flowing well, stretching is easier and more effective.

[Bcyn]

hmm... okie... i'll try it out in future.

[Secondhand]

Anywayz, my friend loves to warm up his engine everytime we knock off frm work... I tell him, u may love to warm up ur engine... But I HATE the smell of ur exhaust...

For me, i also crank engine and slowly drive off... Leaving him with his idling engine in a basement carpark...

[Mits_jc]

you should actually do a light run before ur running exercise, instead of trying to stretch your muscles when they are still cold. hope that helps.