looking after cold engine

[jgcsteve13]

looking for some advice 

 

i have a 2.0 cr tdi vrs 

 

with winter coming car is parked outside & i leave for work 5.30 / 6 am . i only drive about one mile & then its 30 miles of motorway driving . obviously engine soon warms up . just dont want to damage engine before it get up to temp . try my hardest not to press the go peddle too much other than that what else can i do .

[Dean-]

idle a few minutes before setting off

 

Thing is though I wouldn't worry too much... Engines have been designed to just get in and go.

[rogerzilla]

Never idle a cold engine - it's one of the worst things you can do to a car, although admittedly it's less harmful in a diesel where the unburnt fuel is a reaonable lubricant (on a petrol engine the fuel washes the oil off the cylinder walls).  Engines warm up much quicker when doing a bit of work, so drive it gently and avoid high revs until it's done about 5 miles.

[clmcarp]

I set of Between 4 and 5 and drive on a roads for the first 10 miles then on to the bypass so going to work isn't a problem.

The problem I have is I work right next to the bypass so on my way back I'm on it within 1 minute so I tend to drive it between 50-55 for the few miles till it warms up a bit and fingers crossed all been well so far.

[keith3289]

Never idle a cold engine

 

In that case, any tips for cold days on preventing the screen misting over on the inside (or re-freezing on the outside) before the glass has a chance to warm up?  Parking in a garage is not an option!

[Defenderben]

I have watched/kept an eye on my oil temp and it seems to get to 50deg after about 3 miles driving steady on normal A roads (always pops up around the same point each day on the maxidot).

With the colder mornings it has increased to a few hundred yards on from a point that it seemed to first register on a normal day of around 11/13 degs C.

[neil_f]

A diesel engine will never warm up just idling. From previous experience with diesels the temperature gauge would actually drop from normal operating temperature to cold when sitting stationery and the heater is on high. One advantage of now having switched to petrol.

[mattcut]

I have 2 miles then 25 motorway.

 

There are loads of suggestion but I never rev mine above 2000rpm until the car has got some movement on the gauge. Never done my motors any harm doing it that way

[adamal]

Same as mattcut with no obvious issues. Partly as the traffic never allows it anyway!!

[ethos]

If I'm joining a dual carriageway soon after starting the car I'll tend to stick at ~60mph for a few miles before increasing to a decent cruising speed. 

 

Normal driving, I'll change gear before 2-2.5k and try not to engage or spool the turbo until the car is warmed up. I used to be a lot more anal about it, but I think as long as you're sensible you're unlikely to cause any damage. There are a lot of people who are far far less sympathetic with their cars without any issue.

 

My last mk1 vRS is still going strong at 141k, I had it from 50k and it was remapped at ~55k...

Edited 18 November, 2013 by ethos

[ryan-re]

A lot of horror stories here.

My works van, 1.6 caddy derv, has done 36k with no issues. Most days 2 mile then motorway for half hour. Never let it warm up specially etc and it runs like the day it was new

[zacherynuk]

Despite what people say about cold idling, I think it's the most effective thing to do.
I brush the snow and loose hoare frost off (with a floor brush), lets the coils warm up and start her.  Then turn everything on max with recirculation, rear heater, lights etc to force the engine to work 200-300revs harder.  I then lock the door manually and have a coffee.

 

When I return the car is happy, warm, dehumidified and safe to drive.

 

For a car parked on a driveway, in my humble opinion, this is the only safe way of doing it.  I seathe when I see pricks ambling along, freezing cold, wiping their windows with a sponge, unable to use their side windowes, mirrors or anything: they aren't fit to drive as they are doing too many things, are cold, stressed and are not in a position to operate the vehicle safly.

 

Alternatives to idling the car (Which I do not see as a problem with modern engines and engine management) is an electric blower in the vehicle and if extreme enough, you can get detachable magnetic sump warmers.

 

The important thing is that when you leave your drive that both you and the vehicle are ready for the journey.

 

 

Edit: An important thing to do is to unstick your wipers from the window - loads of people have had their spindles stripped or wiper motor pop.  Also bear in mind that once the oil temp starts registering your are pretty much there, you need +12 air flow into the cab really you are literally just waking her up not warming her up.

 

EditEdit: Thinking about it, if engines being at idle in cold were bad, why do we do it in our planes ?  Typically we will taxi out to hold, bring the revs to something just above a rattle and wait for the temp guage to twitch before doing our brake and throttle tests - if this was gonna break engines in planes I doubt all the manufacturers would make us do it....

Edited 18 November, 2013 by zacherynuk

[nickguzzi]

Your planes got Jumo's in them then?

[zacherynuk]

Jumo ?

[Aspman]

Get in drive gently until it reaches temperature.

 

Drive with the windows open if it starts to fog up. Not pleasant but effective.

[silver1011]

Do what the young lad in our street does...

 

Scrape windscreen,

Start engine,

Set off red lining it in each gear into the distance for as long as his wide bore exhaust can be heard.

[ruiatalmeida]

I dont really understand the screen issue. Where I live temps get very low and what I do is spray screen wash (graded to -30 c) and I have no build up of frost on the windows. About the engine warming up there are several theories, I just drive it gently until it warms up and then drive normally. For the inside or the windows normally I just do a proper cleaning with some glass cleaner every once in a while and they do not mist up on the inside.

[Wardy-]

I normally just try not to rev about 3k RPM until it reaches 90degrees.

 

Takes about another 5mins to get up to temperature in the winter it seems

[rogerzilla]

In that case, any tips for cold days on preventing the screen misting over on the inside (or re-freezing on the outside) before the glass has a chance to warm up?  Parking in a garage is not an option!

 

Warm water (not hot!) and wipers always works for me.  Aircon to stop the windows misting, if this starts to happen.