The real reason you should warm up your car before starting a trip in cold weather

Should I warm up my car before driving?

The big argument against warming up the car before driving on a cold morning is that, essentially, modern cars can do it without a problem. And it’s not wrong: a modern fuel-injected car with today’s sophisticated engine management systems can take care of starting in very cold weather quite quickly.

So far fine, but if you don’t have a new fuel-injected car and you drive one of those old carbureted relics like me, then there’s no question: warm it up. Let it sit for a minimum of five minutes before you start driving, allowing the oil to splash around inside. Give him some carbohydrates to wake him up and stop freaking out. Don’t be in a hurry.

There are a few compelling reasons why a carbureted car should have more time to warm up in very cold weather: First because it’s older, and that means it’s even more important to get a less viscous oil for the most engine. possible. The same applies to heating all the connectors, probably frozen.

The main reason is that in low temperatures, gasoline does not evaporate as well, so it is more difficult to vaporize when cold and can enter cylinders as a liquid drop, where it will stick to the walls and do no good. by our vehicle.

When the engine is cold, the combustion is uneven and quite poor; the carburettor removes some of the air to compensate and runs brighter, but less efficiently. As things heat up, everything starts to get better, and once the car is warm enough, the fuel can properly vaporize and the car starts running smoothly. This really doesn’t take any time.

What about new cars?

Even in a new car, you probably want to wait 30 seconds or so for that cold, thick oil to develop, although it is usually true that you can start and drive, and the car will heat up faster by doing so.

In fact, I agree that this is accurate and correct, but I also think that it is still a bad idea and that you should leave the car stopped for at least a couple of minutes, maybe five or more.

Why do this when the car can technically run and start almost immediately? Because being able to do something and actually being good are two very different things. If we go back to what we said in the first paragraph of the merkin and the hamsters, yes, I could employ a hamster to act as a surrogate pubic wig, but that does not mean that doing so would benefit me in any way.

The same goes for not letting your car get a little warm. Even if you can start and drive almost immediately, every rubber and rubber part in that engine is still hard and cold, those fluids are still very viscous, and putting any load on the engine while driving isn’t doing you any favours.

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