Traveling in your car with comfort is the dream of any driver. In summer, you want it to be cool, and in winter, on the contrary, warm. But in addition to amenities, it is imperative to control the technical condition of the vehicle. And in this regard, a person sometimes has to sacrifice his comfort for the sake of extending the service life and durability of the "iron horse".
One such perennial topic of discussion is warming up the engine before driving. All motorists were divided into two camps. One - for warming up, others categorically deny it. For many years, drivers have not come to a consensus. Which of these two camps you are in is entirely up to you.
Do I need to warm up my car engine?
Each owner of his own vehicle annually (most often in winter) asks the same question. Do I need to warm up the engine before driving?
This concept has come to us since the last century. This is due to the fact that the vehicles of that time did not budge until the engine reached the desired temperature. Warming up took place at idle. And in order not to stop the engine while driving, it was necessary to wait a few minutes before it. And as soon as the minimum required temperature was reached, it was possible to go on a trip without fear of stalling. In order to warm up the engine, it is turned on at idle for one to two minutes. And rightly so or not, everyone decides for himself.
Today's cars are being made more resistant to lower temperatures in the environment.
pros
Decide for yourself whether you need to warm up the vehicle engine, having learned all the pros and cons of this process.
- Comfort. This is an important moment in our climate zone. Indeed, after a long parking it will be very cold in the car, and driving a vehicle is almost impossible.
- Engine oil acquires the required viscosity.
- Stable engine operation. After all, jerky driving inspires few people.
- Gaps between parts narrow.
- Reduced fuel consumption.
Minuses
The main disadvantages of warming up the engine before a trip, which car owners talk about:
- Pollution of the environment with exhaust gases.
- Extra fuel consumption.
- Modern engines are prepared for instant start.
- Oil, spark plugs and converter are damaged.
Proper heating of the engine
The process of raising the operating temperature in the internal combustion engine is simple. To get started, read the instructions. Manufacturers sometimes build in special programs that the driver should not interfere with. In other cases, the engine starts and heats up until the coolant arrow starts to rise. And in cars with fuel injection, the tachometer readings will decrease to idle. After that, you can gradually start moving. The time required to warm up each car is individual.
Warm up on the go
Today, many manufacturers advise warming up the engine while driving. First of all, it is connected with the protection of the environment. Environmental guards have become a dense wall against warming up the car at idle. Such a confrontation is based on increased pollution of nature during this process. During warm-up, the engine produces exhaust gases with an increased amount of harmful compounds. It should be noted that fuel consumption also increases. After all, the engine is wasted.
To warm up the car on the go, a certain list of conditions must be met. They should not shorten the life of the engine, because otherwise the manufacturers would not recommend doing it. Since manufacturers are not interested in quick and frequent car breakdowns. After all, this is fraught with repairs during the warranty period. Numerous returns and breakdowns affect the reputation of the manufacturer, and profit depends on it.
So, while idling, the engine gets pollution due to the rapid ignition of the air-fuel mixture. And during the warm-up on the go, the operating time in extreme conditions is significantly reduced.
If you decide that warming up on the go is the most rational for you, then you will have to fulfill several conditions:
- Use of synthetic oil. It should have a high viscosity index. It is this type of oil that is able to fill all the necessary channels in an unheated engine. And you thereby avoid the appearance of scuffs on the work surface. It is especially important to purchase high-quality oil during winter. This is due to the fact that it is in the cold season that it works in the shortest possible time and becomes an aggressive liquid. And this, of course, will not add years to the service life.
- Smooth ride. To the minimum required temperature, a very short period of time is required to start the movement. These are exactly those few minutes in which you leave the garage or parking lot. Therefore, this distance should be driven smoothly, evenly and without jerks. Keep your speed low.
- Drive carefully for the first kilometer after a long stop. Avoid all sorts of potholes and bumps.
Warming up the engine depending on its type and type
In the course of trial and error of motorists, based on the recommendations of manufacturers, information was gradually collected about the need to warm up one or another type of engine.
An urgent question for owners of cars with turbodiesel internal combustion engines: is it necessary to warm up? It is recommended to hold a diesel engine with a turbine at idle for several minutes. And after that, hit the road. The fault is the turbine. It can be started at a certain speed of the crankshaft. It is achieved at high speeds. If the turbine is not running, the movement will affect the engine in the form of overheating. This, in turn, will lead to an increase in temperature in the cylinder head and its warping. Therefore, it is better to warm up a turbodiesel engine for a couple of minutes while standing in a garage or in a parking lot. So you protect yourself from costly repairs.
Information about the need to refuse to warm up the carburetor type of engine on the go is quite common. The opinion about the possibility of its normal operation only at a certain temperature is not entirely true. So, with its excellent performance, the ignition system with the help of an air damper has the ability to build the number of revolutions. Thus, the engine is able to run without jerking after three minutes. But after such an adjustment of speed, fuel will flow into the engine for some time, washing oil from the piston surface. As a result, dry friction is formed between the rings and the cylinder. And as a result - the appearance of scoring. Therefore, it is still better to warm up outside the movement with regular control of the air supply.
Another common question among car owners: is it necessary to warm up the injection engine? And he's not entirely correct. After all, regardless of the type of fuel supply, the operation after warming up is carried out according to the same scheme. If you decide to wait until the engine is up to operating temperature, do so with both the injector and the carburetor.
What happens to the engine in cold weather
To understand the question of whether it is necessary to warm up the engine in winter, information about what happens to the car at this time of the year will help.
The parts that make up the heart of the machine are different in material. Each of them reacts to cold in its own way - the gaps become larger, and the parts, on the contrary, fit closer to each other. Both of these lead to wear and tear. Plus, the viscosity of the oil changes. In the cold, it becomes more dense. And before the time when the engine warms up, the engine has "oil starvation". The result - serious damage and overhaul of the internal combustion engine. Therefore, it is important to let the oil warm up evenly and without unnecessary loads in cold weather.
Common misconceptions
Inexperienced motorists sometimes take a rumor for truth and unknowingly break their vehicle.
To prevent this from happening, learn the most common misconceptions about warming up your car:
- Once the engine has reached operating temperature, you can use it to its full potential. This is not true, since, in addition to the engine, other parts also need to be warmed up.
- Using high RPM for a quick start.
- A new car does not need to be warmed up. Undoubtedly, an engine recently rolled off the assembly line reaches operating temperature faster than a worn one. However, warming should not be completely neglected.
With the advent of cold weather, motorists are interested in: how much do you need to warm up the car in winter? And when to warm up - in motion or in place. We will tell you how to properly warm up a car in winter and how long to warm up a cold engine - how many minutes and to what temperature.
Points for and against
Proponents of warming up argue that a cold engine is more susceptible to mechanical wear. When testing a cold engine, no noticeable wear was noticed. This is due to the fact that in motion, i.e. under load, it warms up faster and reaches the optimal operating mode.Why do motorists continue to warm up the engine in winter? This is a habit and experience of bygone years. In the past, a cold engine was warmed up to reduce wear. This is not required now. Modern motors warm up quickly, prolonged warm-up is an excess of the past.
Note that when the car warms up before driving, the spark plugs suffer. At this point, the air-fuel mixture is re-enriched, i.e. it contains a large amount of gasoline. This leads to a bay and, consequently, to an early replacement of candles.
The question remains: How does a car drive with a cold engine? Modern cars are equipped with an injection system that independently changes the parameters of the motor, depending on the situation. Those. electronics will do the rough work of warming up for you. The only rule that must be observed is not to spin the motor to the maximum speed and try not to give it maximum loads. This is necessary for warming and reaching the operating characteristics of process fluids: motor oils, lubricants, fuels.
How many minutes to warm up the car
Modern cars do not need to warm up for a long time, three to five minutes are enough to drive quietly and not worry about increased wear. The engine warms up faster while driving than when idling. Let's figure out how long it takes to warm up a car at a certain air temperature.From + 5 o to 0 o 1-2 minutes are enough. At this temperature, the windows of the car have not yet had time to be covered with ice, so a long warm-up is not needed.
At temperatures from 0 o to minus 10 o - it takes approximately 2-3 minutes. During this time, the engine will reach operating temperature, all technical fluids will warm up for further movement. In turn, it will take at least 5 minutes to warm up the car interior.
At temperatures from -10 o to minus 20 o - the warm-up time is from 3 to 5 minutes. At this temperature, the windows of the car may freeze and until they warm up, further travel is dangerous. The best option is to wait 2-3 minutes, and then turn on the stove and wait another couple of minutes until the car windows are defrosted.
At a temperature of minus 20 ° and below - warming up should be at least 5 minutes. Sufficient time depends on the technical condition of the vehicle. The more modern the machine and the better the stove works, the less time. To warm up technical fluids, no more than 5 minutes is enough, for the cabin - at least 10 minutes.
What to do if you do not want to wait a long time for the engine to warm up? In this case, an alarm with auto start (or a Webasto system) helps. Without leaving the house, they start the engine from the key fob, and while getting dressed and leaving the house, the car will be warmed up.
How to determine that the engine is warm? The engine has an operating temperature range and the criterion is the minimum temperature of the operating range, not the idling time. This is due to thermal gaps in the motor parts. They come to an acceptable rate only at the minimum temperature from the operating range. After that, the motor can safely take the load.
What happens if you don't warm up the car? If you drive carefully, without exceeding the engine speed above 2000-2500, nothing bad will happen. A modern car with the help of an injector will warm itself up in the direction of travel. If these rules are violated, scuffing is possible inside the engine and, as a result, premature repairs, fuel consumption will increase sharply. It happened that on an unheated car in severe frosts, oil seals and other rubber seals were torn off.
From experience I will say: 90 degrees is rather the optimal temperature for engine operation in all operating modes. And its operating temperature fluctuates from 60 degrees, so 3-5 minutes of warming up will not be superfluous. And 5 minutes is the maximum time. This refers to the warming up of the car itself, and not the interior.
MOSCOW, November 15 - RIA Novosti, Alexei Zakharov. Do I need to warm up the car engine in cold weather to operating temperature? Can I drive immediately after starting the engine? And how will idling affect engine life? The answers of automakers, automotive experts and technical specialists are in the material of RIA Novosti.
Automakers: started and drove
Many car companies recommend that the engine not be warmed up at idle during the cold season to operating temperature. Many of them even write about it in the instructions for their cars. But representatives of a number of brands pay attention to the fact that it is still recommended for the engine to idle for some time. This can be done, for example, while cleaning the car from snow and ice.
“It is recommended to start driving a car at a negative ambient temperature no earlier than 30 seconds after starting the engine,” an AvtoVAZ representative told RIA Novosti with reference to the instructions for the Lada Vesta car.
Time is also required for partial warming up of the oil in the gearbox. If necessary, warming up can be done while driving, but only at low speed and when using lower gears and low engine speeds. As it warms up, you can move to higher gears.
Similar information is contained, for example, in the instructions for the Volkswagen Polo, which does not recommend warming up the engine on a stationary car.
“Start moving as soon as viewing conditions through the windows allow. So the engine warms up faster and emits less harmful substances with exhaust gases,” the document says. The representative of Kia Motors in Russia also agrees with AvtoVAZ and Volkswagen.
"You can not wait until the engine is fully warmed up in a stationary state, and start moving at moderate engine speeds. In this case, sharp accelerations and decelerations should be avoided," RIA Novosti was explained in the Korean company. Chery also assured that the company's products do not require engine warm-up in winter.
“You don’t need to warm up the car especially. It warms up for a minute and you can drive. If you warm up a cold engine at idle, this affects its resource,” Nissan representative in Russia Roman Skolsky told RIA Novosti, but added that the company does not recommend using the car when extremely low ambient temperatures.
The company BMW RIA Novosti reported that mandatory engine warm-up for BMW and Mini cars in winter is not required.
“Idling is harmful to the engine and the environment. You can start driving immediately after starting the engine without warming up,” explained Vasily Melnikov, a representative of the BMW group, and added that a high load on a cold engine is not recommended for a long engine life.
“During normal operation, it is not necessary to warm up the car. You should not use the car in extreme conditions until the engine reaches operating temperature,” Mercedes-Benz spokesman in Russia Andrei Rodionov told RIA Novosti.
Immediately go or warm up
Not all automotive experts and technicians interviewed by RIA Novosti fully agree with the manufacturers' recommendations.
Oleg Chirkov, chief technical expert of CarFix, supports the recommendations of car companies. “Start the engine, brush off the snow, buckle up and drive. This minute or two is already enough, but without afterburner,” he told RIA Novosti.
“Warming up the engine at idle is not recommended even in winter. At this stage, the wear intensity is high, it is recommended to start moving smoothly, avoiding increased speed,” says Evgeny Grishkevich, head of after-sales service for the AvtoSpetsCentre group of companies, but specifies that fast driving on a cold engine reduces the resource of the motor.
Some of the experts advise warming up the engine to operating temperature before driving. At the time of engine warm-up, minimal damage is caused to all vehicle systems, while in motion immediately after start-up, “abnormal” friction occurs, and it reduces the engine life, said Roman Kozanchuk, technical director of Pelican-Avto.
Engine oil becomes more viscous at low temperatures, and a cold engine has to work in conditions of lubrication deficiency, which affects the cylinder-piston group, crankshaft and camshaft bearings, as well as the turbine (if any), the RIA Novosti specialist explained.
Denis Rem, an automotive expert and video blogger, agrees with him, who believes that warming up the engine before driving is desirable, but not necessary. He told RIA Novosti that in some countries, for example in Germany, it is forbidden to warm up the car at idle, as in Russia. The fine for parking in residential areas with the engine running for more than 5 minutes is 1.5 thousand rubles (in Moscow and St. Petersburg - 3 thousand rubles).
Experts pay special attention to the fact that the operation of an unheated engine in winter significantly affects its resource.
"According to various estimates, 5 minutes of operation of a cold engine, depending on the quality and composition of the engine oil, equates to a run from 20 km to 300 km," Alexander Dobin, an automotive expert and host of the Auto Plus TV channel, explained to RIA Novosti.
The aspect of wear and tear on a cold engine while driving is of absolutely no concern to the automaker, he said.
"Warming up the engine in winter should be small and balanced. It is necessary to warm up, but not for long - 3-5 minutes," he clarified and added that it is possible not to warm up the engine at all, but only those drivers who are going to drive a car can afford it only during the warranty period.
“In order to extend the life of the car, which is important in our economic situation, not by 3 years, but by 5 or 10 years, with all due respect to the environment, you need to warm up the engine before driving,” he concluded.
The engine will be fully warmed up when all its parts and working fluids reach operating temperatures, that is, with a fixed mode of operation, they stop changing. The coolant warms up the fastest - this is the process that we see by changing the position of the arrow on the temperature gauge. It also warms up the details of the upper part of the engine (pistons, cylinders, head) - the pace is almost the same. But the oil in the pan heats up much more slowly. Where is this visible? Anyone who has an on-board computer has probably noticed that even after reaching the normal temperature of the coolant, fuel consumption at idle may decrease for some time. This is just due to the slow warming up of the oil. And finally, the converter takes the longest to heat up, and with it the toxicity of the exhaust gases reaches the operating level. But all warm-up rates depend on the engine operating mode.
RESISTANCE TO MOVEMENT
Why doesn't the engine like frost? The main reason is that any motor oil thickens in the cold. And at certain temperatures it can stop flowing altogether. Mineral oils - already at minus 20 ... 25 ° С, the best synthetics - at minus 45 ... 55 ° С. As a result, the friction units work "dry", the power of mechanical losses increases sharply, which require excess gasoline. But when will the motor quickly reach the normal level of mechanical losses? If you stand and warm yourself, or if you go on the road immediately after launch? This will give an answer to the question of economy - after all, extra losses require additional fuel.
Let's check how much fuel a conventional injection engine eats with the same mileage, but different warm-up algorithms. A little about the patient. Net "European" 2005 release, 1.6 liters of working volume, declared as Euro-4. He spent his entire conscious life in Russia, but, apart from maintenance, nothing was done in it. So, three warm-up programs. The first option is "grandfather's": fully warm up the engine and only after that go. The second - according to the instructions of modern cars: "let it go and go." And the third one is the one that can most often be found: they started up, brushed off the snow, waved a shovel (in general, they pulled time), and we warm up the car already on the trip. On the street - minus 15. The battery is good, in the pallet - expensive synthetics. Mileage - from parking to work: it's about 5 kilometers, and without traffic jams! You can dream...
So, option 1. Let's start. The tachometer needle is set at "1200", the computer shows an instantaneous fuel consumption of 2.5 l / h. After a minute, the flow rate drops to 1.9 liters, after 10 minutes - to 0.9 liters. Then the visible changes on the on-board computer end - the arrow on the temperature gauge does not even reach 50 degrees and stands up tightly. For reliability, we wait another 10 minutes - fuel consumption decreases to 0.8 l / h, which is still more than the usual 0.6 observed when the entire engine is fully warmed up. The best result can not be achieved - let's go! We are driving in fixed mode, third gear, 50 km/h, there are no traffic lights on the road. Consumption on the computer - 6.4 ... 6.6 l / 100 km. In total, they spent 0.45 liters on warming up, about 0.33 liters on the road. Total - about 0.8 liters.
Option 2- sat down, wound up and immediately drove off. The car did not like it very much, and for a start it gave out a flow rate of more than 10 liters. Then he began to decline rapidly, but due to a short run, he did not crawl to the previous 6.5 - he stopped at 6.8 liters. Total spent only 0.45 liters. Plus saving 20 minutes of precious time. Savings, it seems, are there, but it seems impressive only at low runs.
Option 3- after starting, the engine was warmed up for 5 minutes, while the ice was scraped off the windows. We started with an idle consumption of 1.3 l / h. The beginning of the run was marked by the figure of 7.6 l / 100 km, by the end of the race they returned to 6.6. Total, taking into account the mileage - 0.55 liters. Better than the first, but slightly worse than the second.
IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
It is clear that the unwillingness of automakers to warm the car is not caused at all by concern for our wallet. The main argument is ecology. After all, modern toxicity standards Euro-4 and above impose severe restrictions on the content of toxic components in starting modes and during the warm-up period. So let's see what will happen to the toxicity before the neutralizer (in professional slang it is called "raw") and after (this is "dry" toxicity).
So, the "raw" toxicity during cold start is very large. The reason is the need for a sharp enrichment of the air-fuel mixture. The fuel should be evaporated, and with a large "minus" on the street, it does not really want to evaporate. And the air enters the cylinders cold, dense. This means that in order to compensate for the low volatility of the fuel and the low air temperature, much more gasoline must be poured. And what has not evaporated or has already evaporated in the process flies into the pipe. "TseO" and "TseAshi" - well, very big! And catalytic converters should crush them. But the trouble with most modern converters is that they work effectively only in a narrow range of temperatures and mixture composition. The temperature must be high, and the composition of the mixture must be stoichiometric, that is, there must be exactly as much air in it as is necessary for complete combustion of the fuel. Otherwise, the efficiency drops sharply.
It is curious that at low temperatures during the warm-up process, a higher concentration of toxic components can be observed behind the converter than at the inlet! Where? Most likely, this is the unburned gasoline on the first start-up cycles - it "sits" on the cells of the active element of the catalyst. As it warms up, the efficiency of work increases, and, finally, the hot catalyst, with the working composition of the mixture, crushes almost all toxicity. In other words, in starting conditions and during warm-up, if a modern externally heated catalyst is not used, the toxicity of an engine with a converter will not differ much from its earlier counterpart, which does not have one. Therefore, the main task is to bring the temperature of the active zone of the catalyst into the operating range as soon as possible.
The converter is heated by the flow of exhaust gases, and the faster, the greater their consumption and temperature. But when the process has begun in it, it begins to warm up itself - the afterburning of toxic components proceeds with the release of energy. Therefore, the temperature in the active zone of the operating catalyst is higher than that of the exhaust gases. And our experiment showed that even at normal temperature in the box, at the minimum idle speed, the converter does not enter the operating mode! Especially in the cold. Therefore, it will not work to suppress toxicity in the warm-up mode, if you warm up the engine in the parking lot: it means you need to move.
What is the difference in emissions? The initial content of CH is very high, under 1000 ppm, which, however, is expected. As the engine warms up, it begins to slowly decrease. But even after 20 minutes of warm-up, when the temperature of the coolant has already reached the operating level, the content of residual hydrocarbons remains high - about 180 ppm. - it warmed up, but the converter is cold, it works inefficiently.
Now we are trying to warm up the motor immediately under load, simulating the second warm-up option. The beginning is the same, but the pace is different: at the end of the race, the output was somewhere around 15…20 ppm. The neutralizer worked! It looks like there is an answer...
But not everything is so simple! We looked at the relative concentrations of toxic components, but we breathe in their absolute values, that is, not in “peeps”, but in grams and kilograms! That is, these concentrations must be multiplied by the consumption of exhaust gases. At idle during warm-up, it was about 15 kg / h, but when driving, if taken on average, it will be about 80! We multiply one by the other and we get: when warming up in the parking lot, along with the further road, we rewarded nature with a number of grams of residual hydrocarbons, almost twice as much as when driving immediately after launch (4.5 grams versus 2.8).
But the third option - when we warmed up a little, and then went - gave an even greater reduction in the absolute emission of CH: up to 2.1 grams. By the way, in this variant, when driving for 5 km, we threw out a little more than a gram of CH, which is close to the Euro-4 standards.
The figures are very indicative and generally understandable. When driving on a cold engine, we work for a long time at high toxicity, while the consumption of exhaust gases is high. And blowing the converter with cold air while driving also slows down its warming up. When warming up in the parking lot, the converter does not reach its normal mode, but when you start driving at high costs, it quickly begins to effectively extinguish toxicity. And with a short initial warm-up, the engine doesn’t have time to pretty much “harm” even in the parking lot, and when warming up in motion, it works much better: after all, it has already gained some kind of temperature. Here is the result.
But what we did not take into account. A car stinking in a parking lot envelops the space around it with a cloud of smoke, and it is disgusting to live there ... And a moving one, as it were, blurs its “good” over space. Globally - it turns out comparable, and at a single point - the damage from one moving car is several times less. But after all, one or two carriages are puffing at the same time in the parking lot, and crowds of them are crawling along the road ...
DEATH TO THE MOTOR...
Only the lazy did not write about the fact that it grows sharply during start-up and warm-up. Not so long ago, a bearded professor from the screen convinced people that one cold start is equal to 100 km of run! Of course, he knows better, but we would never give such EXACT figures - they are completely different. And the motors are different, and the temperatures overboard, and the oils poured into the sump, and the mileage with which they are compared can also be either outside the city or in city traffic jams. Therefore, in our opinion, the equivalent of 20 to 200 km is more fair: the main thing is the trend. And it is important that movement without warming up does not allow engine parts to prepare to receive heavy loads. They have a bad time - and not only bearings.There is such a detail in the motor - a piston, and grooves are cut on its side surface in order to install piston rings. So, these grooves are the most sensitive to loads and are the first to collapse when they become excessive. And this is exactly the situation here. If you immediately start and even skid a little, getting out of a snowdrift, the load on the motor will immediately become large. Heat flows from the working fluid quickly heat up the piston bottom, and the groove zone touches the cold cylinder, which is slightly warmer than antifreeze. There are large temperature differences, and with them - exorbitant stresses. And a piston without grooves is no longer a piston ... And the better the engine warms up, the less danger of such a disaster.
But what about automakers? They know everything, but frankly, they don't care. The motor must go out of warranty, then be sold and shipped somewhere in the third world. Otherwise, the market will overstock. Recommendations dance from there - ecology is primary, savings are also somewhere out there, and the resource - who is interested in it?
STILL WARM!
We believe that the third option is the most preferable. And in terms of fuel economy, it is acceptable, and in terms of toxicity, it is generally the best. The preheated engine is ready to take on loads and well protected from wear. By the way, in fact, we most often follow this recommendation: the engine heats up while the windows are scraped off and snow is swept away ...And one more thing ... Suddenly you have to rev sharply on a completely cold engine - you never know how the situation on the road will turn out? And here it’s easy to fly into a very bad situation - the valves can hang and meet the piston, or crank
Literally screaming for people to stop warming up their frozen engines every time the car is idle. It seems to us that the information is worth attention as a topic for discussion. Therefore, we present it to our readers.
Harsh winter conditions are a tough test for your car, but you can make it even more challenging if you spend some time warming up the engine each morning when starting your car before you start driving. If that's the case, then you're just another one of the many drivers who thinks it's important to warm up a car's engine at idle, and that's important to protect the engine when it's cold. which will do more harm than good!
So, peremptorily, this article-advice begins. Move on. Note. author.
We spoke to mechanical engineer and former drag racer Steven Chiati about this pervasive myth that you need to warm up your car in the winter.
For the past 26 years, Chiati has worked - mostly in gasoline - and currently oversees all work done on internal combustion engines at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.
Getting straight to the point, Chiati explained that when idling in the cold, the car not only consumes more fuel, but also during this, oil is washed away, cleansed of oil, the critical components with which the engine actually works, namely from the cylinders and pistons.
At this point in the reading, it became clear that this theory is something new, and it is worth listening to. So I continued reading and found out interesting points.
Theory. Why it is not advisable to warm up the engine in winter
Under normal conditions, it runs on a mixture of air and fuel vapors, gasoline in our case. When the mixture enters the cylinder, the piston compresses it, at a certain moment, a spark jumps, which eventually leads to the combustion of fuel, setting the engine in motion.
But when it's cold outside, it will evaporate worse. The car itself initially compensates for this by adding more gasoline to the air mixture - what any experienced motorist knows is called a "rich fuel mixture", and this is where the problems begin.
"It's a problem because you're actually putting extra fuel into the combustion chamber to burn it off, and some of it hits the cylinder walls, more than it should," explained mechanical engineer Steven Chiati. "Gasoline is an excellent solvent and will easily wash away a thin film of oil from the cylinder walls if you leave it to run in cold conditions at idle for an extended period of time."
Over time, the cleansing properties of the fuel can "have a detrimental effect on the lubrication and life cycle of things like piston rings and cylinder liners," which are critical to the operation of the cylinder-piston group, to the normal operation of the engine.
Outcome: Contrary to popular belief, warming up your engine and idling it in cold weather does not extend the life of your engine, it shortens it.
As can be seen from a short theoretical digression, gasoline, under certain conditions, is a serious enemy of some engine elements. In fact, there is a rational grain in this. In theory, everything is correct. But what practical advice would an American mechanical engineer give?
The simple solution for engine protection
Luckily, your car doesn't run rich all winter. This only happens when the engine is cold. As soon as your engine warms up to +4 degrees Celsius, the car switches to a normal rate of fuel consumption.
Are you sure that you are productively and safely warming up the engine at idle? , the engine is still cold.
"Idling will take the engine up to operating temperature for too long, and until it does, the brains of the engine will continue to send a rich mixture of fuel into the cylinders so that it can be ensured that there is enough fuel in the cylinders for normal evaporation and proper combustion of the fuel."
The fastest way to warm up the engine is to use it for its intended purpose, in other words, drive!
Many will object, but how can you drive an unheated car right away ?! In sub-zero temperatures, all lubricants, oils and technical fluids (transmission oil or fluid in a hydraulic booster, for example) are very cold, so they cannot perform their working or protection functions 100%.
As an example, the article shows the operation of a hydraulic booster on an unheated car. Like, the liquid in it is cold, which means it is thick, which means that the hydraulic booster will not work correctly and may even fail. Is not it? To which Steven replies everything will be fine and here's why...
You will warm up the oil faster when it starts to “work” and flow in the system if the car slowly drives a short time after starting the engine. Steven replied that warming up for 30 seconds or 1 minute is enough and you can go.
Unfortunately, no temperature limits were given. After all, going to -25 is not the same as starting at -5. But most likely, temperatures do not drop below -10, -15 degrees, so the authors of the article did not have any questions about this.
Yes, you will feel that the car will behave a little differently, it will be all too smooth in its work, "rubber". But the same feeling will arise during the usual long warm-up of the car in the cold.
Again, it is logical that the car consists not only of the engine, it also has a lot of useful and important parts. All rubbing or rotating surfaces are lubricated, which, like engine oil, thickens and temporarily loses some of its protective abilities when cold. These parts also have to do the work to disperse the grease. It can only be done while moving.
Thus, the beginning of the movement in advance (the MAIN THING OF SLOW AND CAREFUL MOVEMENT) will be able to warm up the engine and disperse the oil in the gearbox, grease in the CV joints, hubs and other parts of the car.
Stephen Chiati's conclusion: It is worth taking exactly as much time to warm up the engine as you need to clean the windows of your car from snow and ice.
Don't run horses!
This point of the American article is highlighted. As we said, a little higher, it is IMPOSSIBLE to give a load on an unheated car.
Be careful with the operation of the gas pedal immediately after leaving. Your engine will take some time to warm up to operating temperature. It usually takes 5 to 15 minutes for the vehicle to move within the operating range. If you immediately press the gas pedal to the floor, nothing good will happen to the engine, it will experience serious loads, which, if systematically encountered, can lead to premature breakdowns.
Plus, a warm engine will increase fuel consumption and overall your car will run at least 12% less efficiently.
Therefore, do not try to fit a cold car. You will get nothing but increased fuel consumption and wear.
From myself, we recall once again, in warming up NEED ALL ITEMS OF THE VEHICLE, so even if you have warmed up the engine at idle as usual, to almost ideal operating temperature, the speed of your movement for the first few kilometers on the road should ideally not exceed 40 km / h - 50 km / h. It is especially important to monitor the gear shifts in order to avoid damage to it.
The roots of the myth about the "mandatory warm-up of the engine in cold weather"
Some myths are tenacious, the obligation that the car needs to be worked out in cold weather is no exception. The myth originated in those days when car engines were powered by carburetor systems.
Until 1980, carburetors were the main engine fuel system. A little later, more sophisticated electronic fuel injection systems began to develop.
The key difference between the power systems is that electronic fuel injection has a sensor that constantly supplies the correct air-fuel mixture to the cylinders. Carburetor cars didn't have this important sensor.