So, I was always under the impression that warming up the engine was for the purpose of getting it up to normal temp before running it hard. So I thought that if you cut off the car, then get back in it 20 minutes late to drive again while the engine is still warm, you don't need to warm it up again..... A Mazda tech told me the other day that this isn't right. He said that you need to warm up the car by driving at low rpms for a little while (he said five minutes) before running high rpms every time you crank it, even if it has only been off for a short while and the temp gauge is still at normal operating temperature....... So my question, is he right about this, or if the car has only been off for a short amount of time is it fine to go ahead and drive like normal?


I wasn't even gonna bother with asking but it has been bugging me ha.

Thanks

 

as long as its warmed up, you dont need to warm it up again...

 

this should be in the "dumb questions only" thread :P
j/k na it's ok to drive the bejesus out of it, as long as you've warmed up your engine before hand. "normal operating temp" is more of a guide line... besides, the temp gauge isn't even accurate...

 

The mazda rep might have a point when it come to this time of year. I've found that sometimes I would drive around to a friends place, arrive with the coolant temp needle in the middle. Chill with my friend for 15-20min and then when I go to start my car it was idling at around 2k and the tem needle was all the way to the cold. Of course, this is under extreme conditions. If I recall it was about 0º F with windchill. So I guess it would make sense to re-warm it. But on a summer day....... it would take hours before the coolant temp drops a good amount.

 

Seasonal adjustment, the needle is good enough to tell you what you want to know. I monitor my coolant and oil temps with gauges, so for you............IMO..............let the needle at least get some distance beyond the "C" and then don't drive high RPM's until it reaches normal operating temp.
When I go out today, I will actually see what temp the needle is when it passes the "C", but I think it's right around 120F or so.

 

Ok good deal, thanks for the info..... Yeah I live in alabama so its never really cold enough to make the engine temp drop that fast. That tech was saying that even if the needle was where it normally is after 20 minutes of driving I still needed to warm it up again ha.....

I have a feeling it was the same guy that told me the coolant I was using had too much water in it and would only keep fluids from freezing at 34 degrees and up. When I informed him that things don't freeze at 34 degrees, and there there was a negative sign infront of the 34, he said "Oh thats right I thought that the little dash meant "through" 34 instead of negative 34" haha. And if you are wondering, no I am not kidding, yes I am being dead serious.