nycebo

I've scoured the net for more information on this topic. Does anyone have a link to an engineer-based site that concretely answers this issue one way or the other? For the record, I used the Riad technique. Start car, wait for fast idle to end, drive off at low RPMs until car at optimal operating temperature....then drive HARD.

nycebo

Lo and behold, I found something just after my post from the Army Corps of Engineers:

http://www.nad.usace.army.mil/cold_w...iving_tips.htm

"Starting: Let your car warm up from one to two minutes before driving during winter temperatures so the oil circulates to all moving parts."

And from the BBC:

"...oil not only settles in an engine, but the cold also makes it coagulate; it takes a minute for the oil to thin out and get pumping everywhere it needs to be, and running high RPMs with cold oil creates an unpleasant metal-on-metal environment which is really quite detrimental to an engine's health. Give it just enough to keep running; wait at least a minute or two before even putting the car in gear for the best results. Once the engine is warm, it can be run just like any other time; except when it's that cold, it's probably also fairly snowy or icy."

wross996tt

You are looking for a definitive answer where none exists (just like in real engineering). I suppose we could practice some scientific method...develop a theory (hypothesis) and go get some data, but that would take all of the fun out of arguing. Mostly people like to techno-babble without any real data (an appropriate, representative data set) then violently argue their point.

Even in the above post...there is no data to support the recommendations. Oh it comes from the Army Corp. of Engineers so it must be good...BS.

The most technical P-car site I have come across is Renntech.org.

Irishdriver

Ask any racing team and they will tell you there is no point sending a car out on the track with cold oil, as the resistance of the cold oil will be visible as power loss in the engine - not to mention the increased wear on the engine !!

Abuse any engine with cold oil and the parts will experience excessive wear because the oil is just not flowing quickly enough. The only question is how long do you need to idle to get the oil just warm enough to drive away. I go for the 2 mins approach:

Start her up, drive her gently 10 meters out of the Garage, leave her idle while you close the garage, and then drive away without abuse until you both reach working temperature. (instructions for warming the car - not the wife)

gota911

Irish - you need to get an automatic garage door opener.



I'm glad you clarified that, because you NEVER want to leave your wife on "idle" while you close the garage!

wross996tt

I don't think this is a question for the "race team", I know their cars are quite warm when the race starts, that's not the question. What is cold oil? How cold? What is the right temperature for oil, lubricants, other parts to be at when you start to drive? SHOW ME THE DATA!!! Not more opinions...even if they are a race team (many of which are not successful). YOU still do not provide any data (my original point).

99_Carrera

Didn't someone mention synthetics earlier? I don't think the ten quarts of Mobil 1 I put in my car a few weeks ago are going to have the clumping effect as previously mentioned.

For me personally, I just wait for the compressor to kick off on cold starting. It drives less with those jolts that you get if you aren't linear with the accelerator when driving it immediately after starting it.

nycebo

After doing a fair amount of reading on the web, I remain convinced that the start the car when cold and drive off procedure is simply a part of the save gas and reduce emissions campaign. However, it would seem that letting the car warm up gingerly until the cold start rpm advancer has ended (usually about 1-2 minutes) is the ideal method.

Put another way, why wouldn't you want to warm up the car this way? It lets the oil warm and circulate to all the parts of the engine before any potential harmful wear during cold usage.

Here's a pretty interesting and somewhat scientifically-oriented article from Canada.

kabel_Boxster

On the subject of engine warming up. I hear a high pitch sound/whine like a small high-speed pump. Not really noticeable because it’s on when the car is started but defiantly can hear it shut off after the car has run for about one minute. Any idea what that is?
(car is a 99 Boxster, have only had it a couple weeks now and my first p-car)

ZX9RCAM

That would be the muffler bearings spinning around until they warm up.....

kabel_Boxster

Really? Bummer, I thought the PO mentioned he had replaced that already. Oh well, my Blinker fluid is low so I’ll order some of that at the same time.

Riad

Be careful not to use just any blinker fluid. If you don't use the Porsche recommended fluid you could wear out your bicoupled flanger prematurely... ask me how I know

1999Porsche911

That noise is the motor of the electric blower that injects air into the engine during the first 1 minute from a cold start. Helps warmup the exhaust. Normal.

kabel_Boxster

ah, thank you.

thewump

Wow.. 6 pages so far. I can't swim though all that to see if this is stated, but it's my understanding that the issue with allowing a car to warm up as it idles is historically because a car just clicking over has less chance of circulating oil around the entire block. While I believe that would be true of my 76 spitfire and 82 jeep, I'm not sure that it would be true of a P car.

Keith