How long to warm up my r33 gtst

[KRiMiNaL]

How long do i warm up my car for, i used to warm it up to the needle was when it would stop almost half way in between hot and cold. But now im told i should only warm up my car no more than a minute, wats right?

[R31Nismoid]

i'd let it warm up till the needle starts to move between then C/H and then you should be right. Just take it easy for a few more km's and get heat into everything else too.

[benl1981]

Cars aren't meant to be idled for long periods. I just drive mine straight off but limit revs to below 2.5k and only small throttle openings for atleast a few minutes. Wait about 5 mins till you start going much harder than that. I usually let it idle for about 1 min after a trip. But most of the time I take it easy at the end of the trip (coast in neutral down hill or driving quietly through car park) so may not even idle it.

Some say it warms up quicker if you drive it softly for a while rather than idling which can be of benefit, without thrashing it of course..

[leech_]

benl knows the score. everyone has their own thoughts on the matter but i reckon maybe 20 - 30 seconds just to let the oil move around a little then drive off but keeping revs really low and no boost till the oil gauge starts to drop a bit

[knore]

Well obviously it takes a little time for sufficient oil to reach the top of the engine (Cams etc)

I leave mine untill the revs are in the 800 range then drive it easy till the temp needle is at operating temperature. So probably idle for around 3min.

Sometimes ill idle longer but theres nothing wrong with that, idle is idle, its certainly not bad for your engine

[LiQuid IcE]

yeh i idle untill the revs drop below 1G... u can hear it.

takes prolly around 3-4 mins??

thenew neightbour next door came and complained last week when I was leaving for work telling me to turn it off... wtf

[GTRman1992]

They covered this in a magazine a month or two back. They said that because the block is cast iron and the head is alloy the metals have different thermal properties. They are designed to be at tollereance when hot. So the recommended procedure was to do light driving to warm it up as this was quicker and caused less damage.

[Duncan]

and you can't tell an engine is warm by looking at the coolant guage. What you really need to knowis when the oil is warm.

Wasy to spot in a skyline because the oil pressure gets heaps lower once it is warm. When the oil pressure is normal (low) at idle its ready to give it some

[Cubes]

I previously used to let my engine warm up until the idle drops from fast idle.

Since the new engine build with forged pistons the builder said it is best to drive it gently straight off, don't idle it around when cold too long as it takes way to long to warm up and essentially will do more damage.

Basically idle it for the amount of time it takes to put your seat belt , put the stereo's face on etc..

Short shift and the car will come up to operating temp within 2km's, providing the thermostat is working correctly.

Then drive it normally but wait around 7-10 minutes until you give it a bootfull as that is roughly the time it takes for the oil temp to come up to operating temp and lube properly.

If I sit and idle the car I can still hear a slight piston slap after 10minutes of idle.

Drive the car and the piston slap disappears after the first 1-2km's.

Its only a real real mild piston slap that you would mistake for a slight bit of top end noise.

Any piston slap is slight scuffing piston slap so I would prefer to keep it to a minimum.

[SLY33]

interesting posts, i often like to let it sit and idle a few minutes when possible, but i do know that the engine definitly warms up faster when driving it gently compared to sitting idle. It only makes sense that the oil will start protecting best once its in its operating temp, so the method which gets it there fastest is the thing to do. I think i wont be idling it to warm it up anymore, just drive straight off!

as far as getting heat into everything else is concerned, i wonder how critical this actually is? as anyone whos been to the strip on a busy day will know that huge waits between runs will have you launching and running a pass on a pretty much cold driveline!

[(B1) MR_fanny]

there was a long thread a while back about this. what i remember and too heed to was that the car is not ment to be left at idle for long periods because "glazing" of the engine might occur. ive stopped warmming up my car in the mornings now and like others just take it easy till the oil guage warms up.

[knore]

I love whenever there is a thread or discussion about warming up an engine that everyone seems to think idling is bad for your engine

All i have to say is you want oil on moving parts before you put load on them

Theres no right or wrong way to do it, idle for a bit, then drive. Its that easy

[Cubes]

Thank god for long gone are the days of carby's and cold mornings..

My injectors have just started playing up big time.

Massive hessitations on a free rev from idle.

It is very very noticable when cold, smoothing out when warm.