Does it really take 45 minutes to warm up your car?

[bif]

Our lazy-ass neighbors use a remote starter to start their car at the crack of dawn every morning. Then they let it run for 45 minutes until they leave for work. Pretty damn annoying. I've read that a car doesn't need to be warmed up.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

1. 5 minutes at the absolute MOST.

The rest is just polluting.

[bif]

2. Yeah, noise pollution!

[lildreamer316]

7. Sorry, but my older Honda takes at least 10 to 15

to get warm on the inside.

Now, if we're just talking about warming up the engine so you don't put too much strain on it, yes, 5 min.is fine.

[nickinSTL]

15. And you need it warm on the inside?

I just wear a coat when it's cold...I warm up the car just briefly...at most, while I'm removing snow/ice/etc. so I can see.

[Shell Beau]

36. Nothing wrong with wanting to be warm.

[barb162]

34. that's what the local newspaper auto guy says

but even that's a bit long. I start driving almost immediately, like a few seconds after it's started

[WhollyHeretic]

3. I heard the guys on Car Talk saying that it really doesn't need to be done

anymore with newer cars.

[AllegroRondo]

4. Especially with new oils

its just a waste of gas.

[ileus]

5. You mean they stay warm and defrost themselves overnight?

[WhollyHeretic]

6. No, it's that people don't need to waste gas by warming up there car for 45 minutes

With newer cars there is no danger to the engine by not warming it up for a while.

[lildreamer316]

8. I think the OP means getting it warm on the inside.

Which, depending on the car, does take longer than 5 min. But, 45 is a tad much. I would think 20 would be a nice medium to give older cars a chance to kick the heater in.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Correct! The only reason to warm it up is just to warm up the interior.

The engine don't need no warming itself, and it's a goddamned waste of gas to do so. Especially to run it for 45 minutes - cripes!

After a few minutes, my car's heater is blowing warm air.

[LSK]

11. yeah, its called a garage

:P

[LSK]

10. i usually give it 30 seconds

[Sequoia]

12. You must be my neighbor too.

Because that's what these guys do across the road. Used to wake me up at 4:30am. All these adult men live at home with ma Barker. Like to drive me crazy I'm telling ya.

[cobalt1999]

13. It doesn't take 45 minutes to warm up my wife! n/t

[snacker]

22. LOL

[taterguy]

14. In my country they have an amazing invention

It's called a coat. Wear one and you don't need the car to be toasty warm. Maybe I'm just still bitter about the lack of heat in my old VW Beetle.

[barb162]

35. with no heat, lucky you're in NC versus farther north

[madinmaryland]

16. Collossal waste of fuel!

Most newer cars take less than a minute to warm the engine up. Anything more just wastes fuel. Depending on the temperature outside, it may take a bit longer until the inside of the vehicle begins to warm up.

[meegbear]

17. Mine runs for 10 minutes then shuts off ...

I thought they all had timers.

[Kajsa]

18. 45 minutes is way too long.

Your neighbors are very inconsiderate and should be reminded
that their "warm-ups" are waking up the entire neighborhood.

Hey- it's obvious that they don't give a crap about anyone else,
so you need to hit them over the head with this fact.

Good luck.

[Little Wing]

19. Find something nice and stinky

slip out late at nite/early morning and slide it under their car. 45 minutes of air vent intake over said stinkiness should make them think twice about every running their car in one spot

[warrens]

20. This time of year?

The only time it needs to be warmed up at all is when it's well under 20. Motor oil gets kinda stiff below that, so letting it sit for five minutes is a good idea. Anything more is just wasting gas.

[Divameow77]

21. I have remote start

and it shuts off after 15 minutes. I typically use it when it's cold outside to have a toasty interior, but usually only for 5 to 10 minutes.

[bif]

23. I think they do it to warm up the inside.

But it's just a real waste of fuel.

[azmouse]

24. My car is warm all year.

I live in AZ.

[AngryAmish]

25. How does the car annoy you?

[u4ic]

26. Coming from someone who dealt with -55

weather (not including wind chill), NO.

I used to have to warm my jalopy for about 20-25 minutes in that weather (even though it had been plugged in all night, and also had a battery warmer; any less and I risked it stopping which I didn't want it to do - batteries die very quickly in that weather), but 45 minutes? No way.

[Swede]

27. Just start it up and drive it,that's what we do in Canada.

And it gets cold up here.

[PVnRT]

28. Hell no, that just wastes gas

Your neighbors are morans.

[ganeshji]

29. When it is cold, our car won't start

so I like to warm myself by kicking and cursing at it.

[Burma Jones]

30. Only when I do it by vigorously rubbing the car until warmed........

[Lochloosa]

31. A potato in the tail pipe will end that problem.

:evilgrin:

[Nikia]

32. My car takes a while to defrost sometimes

With the right kind of frost it can be almost impossible to effectively scrape it. It might take 10-15 minutes for it to become easy to scrape.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

33. They used to say long idling could damage the catalytic converter.

[yvr girl]

37. It's illegal in Vancouver

You can only idle your car for 2 minutes, then you need to turn it off. Pretty hard to enforce, but they are trying to combat pollution.

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. It doesn't just waste gas and pollute the air

Letting an internal combustion engine idle for long periods is the second-worst thing you can do to it. (Well, short of over-revving it or shoving weasels into the crankcase or something.) Engines are least efficient at idle because exhaust gases aren't being sufficiently purged from the combustion chambers at low RPM, and because the cooling system isn't getting any air intake from the car's forward motion. That equals excessive heat, and heat is an engine's worst enemy.

The worst thing we do to our cars is start them. Boom, metal against metal with insufficient lubrication. That's only for a couple of seconds, but over several thousand starts the effect builds.

I don't know why automotive engines don't have pre-oiling systems like some airplane engines so the cylinder walls are slick when the engine is started. Could it be that Detroit doesn't want to make them last longer because then we'd buy new cars less often? :eyes:

Edited to add: The rule of thumb is to get moving no more than 20 seconds after starting the engine to prolong engine life.