I live in Southern California and my dealer told me there was no need for the standard 5 minute warmup for my 2010 Fit, unless I was someplace where it was very cold or if it hadn't been driven in a long time. Do you warm up your Fit before driving?

 

Don't wait to drive it, but don't go over 3500rpm for a 5-10 minutes.

 

What do you do during the "standard 5 minute warm-up"?

Any car cold: start it, drive it easy the first couple miles. This is true whether you're in S. CA. or AK.

Pre-fuel injection, some cars had terrible automatic chokes and had to be babied to stay running until warmed up a bit, but those days are long gone.

 

Today's cars - start them and go on your way. All will be good.

 

The only time I warm up my Fit is when I pee on the tires...and I only do that to prevent wheel theft.

Standard 5 minute warm up period? With modern engines and oils I think unnecessary in most vehicles made since the mid 90's.

 

Start it up and gently drive away.

 

With aluminum head and block these little jewels warm up and cool down very quickly and aren't prone to as much moisture build up that isn't dissipated in short time. We are able to allow the engines of our cars to idle in first gear downhill for 150 yards or so before having to use the throttle and by the time we reach the pavement 1/2 mile away the engines are at operating temperature except on the coldest days of the year when it takes up to another 1/4 mile of driving... I believe that with the temperature range of todays low viscosity synthetic oils a shorter warm up period before things are thoroughly warmed isn't all that hard on the engine but it takes a bit of slow driving under light drive train load for the transaxle to get the lubrication it needs before doing any hard acceleration..... The engine will warm more quickly if the heater is off.

 

standard 5 minute warm up?

who the heck is this dealer?

I've never seen anyone, anywhere, warm up their car for 5 minutes. It's always start the car and go.

Also, I'm still surprised about how many people don't read their car manual. For me, it's a part of the fun of car ownership.

 

Coyote - our little Fit's, and most all cars these days, have continuous loop coolant systems. Coolant is flowing thru the heater core all the time.

Back in the day you could use the heater to warm the engine quicker or, like I did crossing into California through Needles once, use it to cool the engine. Got fuel in Needles @ 1AM and the air temps were 100+. My 69 Alfa Spyder wasn't sure she liked that and we drove thru the desert in the middle of the night top down with the heater on. Couldn't imagine doing that in the daytime - crazy hot it was.

 

I usually wait about 60 seconds and then go on my way.

 

^ ditto.

crank, get situated, pick the wedgy if needed, check the mirrors and be out.

 

LOL standard 5min warm up? hahaha!!! wat year are from?


my car is rolling down the driveway in neutral while i start the engine and just drive off.

 

just dont get on it till its near operating temperatures

 

i just drive it very gently for the first 3-5 kilometers or so... (since theres no temp gauge)

 

When it's really cold (like -25 celsius), it's good to wait 30seconds, 1 minut, would it be only to have the defroster make it's job a bit, and be really smooth on the shifts (the gearbox feels like it's in almost dry cement).

I have a carbed civic wagon 4wd '87, I just have to keep on the gas for like 20 seconds, then it holds fast idle pretty well until it's warm. Just got the carbed rebuilded, it's almost smooth

 

We [GE8] do have a cold engine indicator that stays lit till operating temps are reached. 130F coolant temp more or less. Once that little blue symbol goes off the engine is at operating temp.

 

[QUOTE=Krimson_Cardnal;905717]Coyote - our little Fit's, and most all cars these days, have continuous loop coolant systems. Coolant is flowing thru the heater core all the time.

That is something I am not sure I have ever heard of before... I guess I am going to have to buy a Helms manual so I will know about things like this..

 

Surprised me too when I learned it w/ my 96Deville.

 

So, I guess that those small radiators in the JCWhitneys ads that hook into the heater hoses really would work with a closed cooling system like we have.

 

Just drive around lightly for a few minutes and you'll be in the right temp in no time. The car will warm up faster driving around than idling... I live in socal and I hit 125F coolant (where the light turns off) before I've even driven out of my neighborhood. If I sit around idling it'll take a while just to hit 125F