While reversing I ran into a problem
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Land of Cincinnati Chili
Originally Posted by pyrocpu,Oct 1 2007, 12:23 AM
Lots of interesting theories. So say you warm up your car in your driveway for 10 minutes. Congrats. Your engine oil and water are warm. Now what about your differential? Cold. Tires? Cold. Grease in the wheel bearings? Cold. Trans--relatively cold. Driving slowly for the first 5 minutes warms everything up gradually, not just the motor. To avoid large deltas in temperature, keep throttle position reasonable, gearchanges gentle. Idling an engine to warm it up in your driveway is, as mentioned, is a waste of fuel. Long ago, that might have been true as are 3000mi oil changes, but things do change, ya know.
As far as piston-engine aircraft engines, yes those have to be warmed up. You can't operate a prop plane at 20% throttle (whereas we can do that with automobiles) and expect to take-off, do you? Think about it.
As far as piston-engine aircraft engines, yes those have to be warmed up. You can't operate a prop plane at 20% throttle (whereas we can do that with automobiles) and expect to take-off, do you? Think about it.
Dead on. Also falls in line with what most manufacturers (including Honda) recommend. Pretty sure the owner's manual recommends this as well. Any idle warmup should be short. I know, it's pretty tough in actual cold weather (like 15F) but how many of us actually drive these cars in that kind of weather.
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Calgary
Originally Posted by pyrocpu,Sep 30 2007, 10:23 PM
Lots of interesting theories. So say you warm up your car in your driveway for 10 minutes. Congrats. Your engine oil and water are warm. Now what about your differential? Cold. Tires? Cold. Grease in the wheel bearings? Cold. Trans--relatively cold. Driving slowly for the first 5 minutes warms everything up gradually, not just the motor. To avoid large deltas in temperature, keep throttle position reasonable, gearchanges gentle. Idling an engine to warm it up in your driveway is, as mentioned, is a waste of fuel. Long ago, that might have been true as are 3000mi oil changes, but things do change, ya know.
As far as piston-engine aircraft engines, yes those have to be warmed up. You can't operate a prop plane at 20% throttle (whereas we can do that with automobiles) and expect to take-off, do you? Think about it.
As far as piston-engine aircraft engines, yes those have to be warmed up. You can't operate a prop plane at 20% throttle (whereas we can do that with automobiles) and expect to take-off, do you? Think about it.
Know how our S's have the ECU that doesn't like the throttle being touched when it's trying steady the idle? I realize it's keeping the cold revs high until the engine is warm so it doesn't stall out, but that nature of it not liking throttle when it's trying to adjust itself to run properly translates in my head to a need to wait for the idle speed to drop from 1500+ to 900 or so. Even if it's got 3 bars after sitting running for a few minutes I never get in and tear off because of the tranny and diff still being cold.
I'll go at 1.5k starting from tomorrow 
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Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Lexington, Ky
I always give it at least time to idle down, then I short shift first and use second all the way to the end of my neighborhood, about a mile, then usually the engine is fully warm, takes the tranny another mile to shift a little smoother, but I do run redline.
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Los Angeles, Calif.
The high idle helps me get out of the garage. I don't have to touch the throttle, the cold-start map enables me to get out of my sloped driveway by just clutch modulation alone.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I always drive pretty slowly in my subdivision anyhow. I see no need to show the dogs in my neighborhood how VTEC works, nor neighbors of the smell of a chirped 1-2 shift. The last thing I need is my HOA coming after me with pitchforks! Take advantage of waving to your neighbors as you putt out of your area. The high idle usually lets me idle in 2nd or 3rd gear in the residential area.
The only "warm-up" I do is the time it takes to drop the top (if it's up), put on the shades and my cap/visor, and click on my seatbelt. That's all you need.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I always drive pretty slowly in my subdivision anyhow. I see no need to show the dogs in my neighborhood how VTEC works, nor neighbors of the smell of a chirped 1-2 shift. The last thing I need is my HOA coming after me with pitchforks! Take advantage of waving to your neighbors as you putt out of your area. The high idle usually lets me idle in 2nd or 3rd gear in the residential area.
The only "warm-up" I do is the time it takes to drop the top (if it's up), put on the shades and my cap/visor, and click on my seatbelt. That's all you need.
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Medford, OR
Umm duh you are supposed to let you engine idle for 1-3 minutes and warm up before you take it out. then still drive it easy after it's warm. if you want to hear the difference start it, then immediately take it out and get after it and listen to the top end engine noise. then try letting it warm up the next morning and see how your engine sounds. And as for the oil it doesn't matter if you're moving or not, the ammound of circulation is based upon rpm so if you want more you can just idle higher and you get the same benifet without putting any stress on any cold parts. The gearbox is true because it doesn't really pump; the gears moving is what lubes them.
So bottom line drive you car easy in the morning either way, but let it warm up a few minutes will be best for it.
(and every honda tech i work with agrees with me)
So bottom line drive you car easy in the morning either way, but let it warm up a few minutes will be best for it.
(and every honda tech i work with agrees with me)