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How Long To Warm Up Engine In Below Freezing?

Hello. I have a 1999 Ranger with the 2.5L 4. While it has no trouble at all starting and driving when the weather is 0 F or below, what sort of 'warmup time' would you recommend before driving?

The manual says "warming the engine up for extended periods is not necessary", but "extended periods" is pretty open for debate, and it also doesn't say "*do* warm the engine for 5 minutes before driving in below zero weather".

You guys are probably going to kick my ass, but this morning I was late for work and pulled it out of the driveway about 20 seconds after I saw the oil pressure gauge come up. I went through the gears very gently (have to double clutch each shift when it's this cold anyways) and never gave it more than 1/4" of throttle, but nonetheless I was cruising up to 55mph within a couple of miles.

That's still probably pretty dumb, huh? I'm probably just asking for a blown headgasket/cracked head.....

Reply to
phaeton
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No it's not dumb. The rule of thumb is only warm it up long enough until you can drive it away...You did fine today.

After you've driven it a couple of miles, the engine is pleanty warm to drive at highway speeds.

Reply to
Advocate

There is nothing wrong with what you did. All you have to do is be gentle (don't rev) while driving for several miles.

Reply to
Mellowed

I give it 1 minute normally and add a nother one or two when it is below

32F. As the others said, take it easy until it warms up. When you start to feel luke warm air from the vents, you can start normal driving. I'd still take it easy because, I found I get 2 mpg more when I start off gently. John
Reply to
JohnR66

I wait until the revs taper off. Even then take it easy on the gas. It will take more than a few miles for the oil to warm up. What I noticed on my Audi when I had it is that when the heater started to put out lots of heat the temp gauge for the oil was near the normal line. Also my truck sits for days without being started so what I'll do because it has an automatic transmission is to let it coast down the street that way all the fluids get to circulate.

Reply to
pete" <//

Too bad I don't have an oil temp gauge..

However, in the case of an automatic transmission, the torque converter drives the pump, so any time that the engine is running, the transmission is circulating oil. Eventually this will warm up the oil, but iirc they (the transmissions, and the oil) are engineered so that they level still stays within spec even at low temps.

Coasting down a hill without any clutches engaged is typically (depends on transmission) no different than coasting down a hill in drive. The clutches aren't full of oil, true, but there should (note: SHOULD) be oil pressure feed from the pump to any bearings and/or moving parts that matter. There is a little more splash-n-spray action with clutches engaged, but in theory the transmission should be fine nonetheless.

My $0.02 from transmission studies. Engines I'm a little less knowledgeable about.

Reply to
phaeton

Probably 2-3 minutes. If it gets too cold, you will have a block heater which will help with oil movement.

If you wait until the cab temperature no longer has the sharp cold bite to it, you are probably going to be OK.

H.

Reply to
Rowbotth

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