By disco stu on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 12:15 pm: Edit

in cars i've previously owned, the colder it was outside, the longer i'd let it warm up. i've heard people say that rovers aren't supposed to be warmed up. that sounds silly. any help that anyone could give regarding the amount of truth to this statement and maybe some details as to why it's true would be appreciated. thanks guys.

By Jon Williams (Jonw) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 12:39 pm: Edit

Actually, no car is supposed to be idled long periods to "warm-up" on cold mornings. The best way to do it - for any vehicle, Rovers included - is to start it, let it slow down from high-idle (takes about 30 seconds) then drive the car easily until it warms up. That's best for your engine, and it actually helps it warm up faster than if you just sat for 5 minutes and let it idle.

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 08:21 am: Edit

"no car is supposed to be idled long periods to warm-up"


Yeah I heard that one before, but I can't make sense of it. How can this hurt anything? I mean, idling in general does nothing right - we do it all the time on the 287 in rushhour!

Any ideas?
Dean

By jp on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 09:26 am: Edit

idling takes longer to bring engine up to working temp than driving. 99% of engine wear takes place in the warm up period, before things are up to full working temp. As jonw said, normal duty driving (specifically NOT hard driving) until normal temp is achieved is quickest way to bring it up. As for traffic, usually you are up to temp by the time you are idling on the 'slow moving car park', so it doesnt matter by then.
The only important part is the first few seconds getting oil pressure up and circulating everywhere, before moving off.
jp