Cold starts

[Skywalker]

Ive got a problem where on cold starts sometimes the "coolant temperature" light flashes on/off and beeps a few times. Driving for a little while then switching the car off and on again the light stays off...

Anyone experiencing the same problem?

[Petrina Polo]

Mmmmm...Which bit of advice will I take...??


Petrina, you need to clean out that filter that exists beteen you brain and finger tips before you engage them again.

The filter between my brain and finger tips only traps bull****. Where is the distinction between thrashing your car and driving it moderately. How many RPM can you drive without causing excessive wear when its cold "Mr Expert"

I would warm up the car when its cold. The engine has a optimum operating temperature, so has the oil. It makes perfect common sence not to stress the engine when its outside of its optimal temperature.

I dont care anyway, Ill continue to heat mine up before I drive, if you dont care about your car its up to you.

[Bluey9N]

I drive it as soon as the lights on the dash go off. Never seemed to matter with any turbo car ive had before and the Polos newer then any of the previous cars.

Dont take it over 3500rpm until its warmed up.

What about cool down after a good strapping? I used to have a turbo timer on some of my other turbo cars but as the polos standard is a 'cool down' neccesary?

[break]

Warming up a car by idling it is NOT good for the car.

See, the wear that occurs on start-up is because the oil is not yet at operating temperature and therefore not lubricating properly. Thus, what you ideally want is the oil at operating temperature as quickly as possible without any significant friction on components that need the lubrication to avoid wear.

Therefore, the best way to warm up a car is to immediately drive it normally. In the case of my Polo, I keep it off boost (well, as much as possible), but shift at 3000rpm in order to avoid laboring the engine (which is also quite bad to do when the car is cold... hell... it should be avoided at all times)

Also note, your the temp gauge on your dash is your coolant which will reach operating temperature quicker than your engine oil. Therefore, ensure you wait a reasonable period of time before the oil is definitely in its lubrication range before doing any 'hard' driving.

[Petrina Polo]

Warming up a car by idling it is NOT good for the car.

See, the wear that occurs on start-up is because the oil is not yet at operating temperature and therefore not lubricating properly. Thus, what you ideally want is the oil at operating temperature as quickly as possible without any significant friction on components that need the lubrication to avoid wear.

Therefore, the best way to warm up a car is to immediately drive it normally. In the case of my Polo, I keep it off boost (well, as much as possible), but shift at 3000rpm in order to avoid laboring the engine (which is also quite bad to do when the car is cold... hell... it should be avoided at all times)

Also note, your the temp gauge on your dash is your coolant which will reach operating temperature quicker than your engine oil. Therefore, ensure you wait a reasonable period of time before the oil is definitely in its lubrication range before doing any 'hard' driving.

what happens when you are trying to heat your oil as quickly as possible?? Remember the oil is still cold at some point. Driving it at 2000-3000rpm whilst cold is worse than idling. That doesnt increase wear at all??

the oil will heat up in about the same time at idle or if driving at 2000-3000rpm. So why labour the car excessively whilst still cold..

[break]

what happens when you are trying to heat your oil as quickly as possible?? Remember the oil is still cold at some point. Driving it at 2000-3000rpm whilst cold is worse than idling. That doesnt increase wear at all??

the oil will heat up in about the same time at idle or if driving at 2000-3000rpm. So why labour the car excessively whilst still cold..

That's incorrect. I'll dig up the article that one of the Ferrari tech's wrote on oil, but they agree that idling is a bad idea to.

What you're doing is giving the oil a longer heat up period, therefore increasing the period in which your engine is not properly lubricated.

The higher rpm of driving normally to heat up the oil will, of course, create slightly more wear than idling, but the fact that the oil operating temp is achieved MUCH quicker greatly offsets the downsides to this method.

The end product is the least wear on the engine is achieved by getting the oil to operating temp as quickly as possible WITHOUT excessive rpm or load on the motor.

Here is the ultimate article in question I was talking about:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136052

[Petrina Polo]

using your own research...

"Now you can see that the difference between the desired thickness your engine requires ( = 10 ) is closest to the 0W-30 oil at startup. It is still too thick for normal operation. But it does not have far to go before it warms up and thins to the correct viscosity. Remember that most engine wear occurs at startup when the oil is too thick to lubricate properly. It cannot flow and therefore cannot lubricate. Most of the thick oil at startup actually goes through the bypass valve back to the engine oil sump and not into your engine oil ways. This is especially true when you really step on that gas pedal. You really need more lubrication and you actually get less."

So who thinks its a good idea to drive off cold and not idle for a while It also says it doesnt take long for the oil to thin so at idle it can do so just as good as if you drive it. also if you drive it, your adding load at the wrong time..

checkmate friend.

[Spec83]

I wait until the air pump turns off, then nothing above 3000rpm until the water temp reaches ~90deg

[break]

So how much of that article did you read, as opposed to skim reading until you found something that sounded like it supported your claim?

Yes idling for a few seconds to get components coated with oil (~10s) is fine, but long period of idling to warm up like what's being suggested (60s+) is excessive and doing less good than driving normally.

Either situation, the oil won't be lubricating properly until its at operating temp.

[Petrina Polo]

I wait until the air pump turns off, then nothing above 3000rpm until the water temp reaches ~90deg

thats a sensible answer.

[Jmac]

thats a sensible answer.

Case closed for me , im more than happy what ive posted amongst others, for those who chose to gun it cold straight off stop at the servo on the way for the kleenex. Again all it takes is common sense, gun it cold = no sense.
Cheers and lets face it its like most topics everyones opinion is the right one, plenty of different points of views gives everyone a chance to make up thier own mind,
Have fun
Jmac

[Blitzen]

I'll close this one now. I have had a good day, and don't want to spoil it...
By the way Petrina, Definition of an Expert...X is an unknown quanitity, and a Spurt is a drip under pressure...I think I maybe an unknown quantitiy, but I'm not quite a drip under pressure just yet...