Finally Hit 6000 Miles and Did the Second Oil Change

[ExpeditionAndy]

Some habits are hard to drop, this being one of them.

Todays engines do not need a "warm up" time before loading them. The old "warm up" period was geared towards finally being able to open the choke and not killing the engine. We no longer need that...the engine takes care of itself now.

Show of hands....how many folks here have never seen a manual choke knob in a car?

Today, once you see you have oil pressure, you're good to go.

Yes but since I park outside I like my car to be warm when I get in it.

 

[Plati]

Yes but since I park outside I like my car to be warm when I get in it.

Warm cab is "nice" but melting the freezing rain snow ice buildup off the windshield and door windows is essential. My 2014 Expy takes about 5 minutes of running to get a head start on that. Sometimes its so cold that if you don't get it mostly done in the driveway it wont happen while driving. I also made up a witch's brew concoction of rainex, rubbing alcohol, antifreeze, and Jack Daniels Green Label in a spray bottle that I use in certain situations to speed up window clearing. It also helps to park it pointed into the sun on those frosty mornings.

 

[bobmbx]

Yes but since I park outside I like my car to be warm when I get in it.

I'm with ya there.

 

[bobmbx]

Warm cab is "nice" but melting the freezing rain snow ice buildup off the windshield and door windows is essential. My 2014 Expy takes about 5 minutes of running to get a head start on that. Sometimes its so cold that if you don't get it mostly done in the driveway it wont happen while driving. I also made up a witch's brew concoction of rainex, rubbing alcohol, antifreeze, and Jack Daniels Green Label in a spray bottle that I use in certain situations to speed up window clearing. It also helps to park it pointed into the sun on those frosty mornings.

Try an old blanket. When the news says ice is coming, I break out the old rag. Works like a champ. The best part is I can just drop it right there on the driveway. No muss, no fuss.

 

[deweysmith]

My routine is after I start it, let the engine idle come down which takes maybe 30sec to a minute then back out and head off.

This is all the warmup it needs, really, and it's mostly for emissions' sake. It idles really high for the first 30 seconds or so to get the pre-cats warmed up so it can start running off oxygen sensor input and enter closed loop as soon as possible. That stage only takes about 15-30 seconds and then it will drop the idle a bit until it's warmed up completely and it's in closed loop.

Putting it in gear cancels this process, as operating under load will warm it up faster than idling anyway, and idling that high in gear is likely to cause unintended movement.

Crazy as it sounds, the guys that build the computer control systems for these engines really do know what they're doing.

 

[JExpedition07]

Yep I agree with most of the points being made here. I generally warm mine up 5-10 minutes or until the temp gauge starts moving in the winter mornings and then until it idles down the starts after the first one. On single digit mornings though my RPMs will sit at 1,200 for a few solid minutes, I would never advise anyone to start putting load on an engine that doesn't want to idle down yet, it's no good to shift into gear at 1,200 and that engine is not warm enough yet to be under load as it is still running a rich mixture trying to heat up to run properly. 30 seconds minumum is a good rule of thumb until you put it into gear.

 

[gixer2000]

Yep I agree with most of the points being made here. I generally warm mine up 5 minutes or until warm in the winter mornings and then until it idles down the starts after the first one. On single digit mornings though my RPMs will sit at 1,200 for a few solid minutes, I would never advise anyone to start putting load on an engine that doesn't want to idle down yet, it's no good to shift into gear at 1,200 and that engine is not warm enough yet to be under load as it is still running a rich mixture trying to heat up to run properly.

I remote start for the same reason. Once that idle drops were good to roll

 

[deweysmith]

Got my report back from my nearly 10,000 mile oil! The results may surprise you...

 

[Plati]

I remote start for the same reason. Once that idle drops were good to roll

honestly, I never thought about that ... never noticed the idle
now i'm a convert, wait until idle drops before shifting into gear
I like that idea

it also may come in handy in the future
i'm more aware of a baseline level of vehicle performance
so if it changes ... i'll have something new to be paranoid about
(sounds like a wisecrack but true kinda sorta)