CRZYPWR

I let it idle for about 1 minute than drive it and keep it below 2200 rpms. If it`s cold - below 55 degree I dont drive it...It`s usually right before winter and during the winter...my car is in storage.I jsut fire it up once or twice a week and let oil move around for about 4mins.
Take care

hrtbeat2

I let mine warmup until i see the temp rise about 2mins.

pg318

As soon as there's oil pressure it's safe to drive, but not at full throttle/high rpm until the bearings' and piston/cylinder clearances have settled at ther operating values when warmed up. The main reason for avoiding idling cold is that the rich mixture needed for starting and the cold sylinder walls and heads can cause the oil film on the bores to get washed down. Driving off sooner warms the engine quicker.

locosteelersfan

If letting it sit for a few was useless,
why does piston slap stop after a little?
The metal isn't as compressed for lack of
better word.

ULTIMTEORANGESS

piston slap will go away regardless.it has nothing to do with warming up your car properly.theres 0 benefit from idling your car for an extended period.

Z28x

Because once the engine is warm, the piston expands and there is no more room for it to loosly slap.

Lt1 and Ls1

wow I learn something new everyday!

locosteelersfan

This is exactly what I mean. If internals aren't
expanded to there intended proportions I'm not
operating it. You can say that that is pointless but
what's the hurry. I'd rather play it safe.
My.02
Treat you car as you wish, hell put a
3 foot wing on it I don't care.

Greed4Speed

I don't have time in the mornings to sit and wait for the car to warm up, not that I would anyway. I pretty much crank it up, sit for a few seconds and leave, but don't get on it until its warmed. Not like I'm going out to race in the mornings.

Capn Pete

I agree with you. IMO, it's better to let the piston slap die down before you put load on the engine, otherwise I think there's potential for unnecessary wear?
Sure piston slap will go away eventually, but like I said above, why put load on it? Why not let it warm up 'til that excess play is taken up??

Oh, and don't say that there's ZERO benefit to idling your car for a long time before driving ...................if the windows are frosted up and fogged up, I ain't driving anywhere 'til I can see.......even if that means I let my remote starter warm the car up for 15 minutes.

..........that's right, I said 15 minutes!!!

However, I put a lot of miles on my car, and they're mostly highway, so the engine has lots of time to burn off any carbon build-up and crap off the plugs when I'm cruisin down the highway.

locosteelersfan

We are talking about cars that sit outside in subfreezing
weather correct. I start work at 6am getting up 4 minutes
earlier so I can start it, come back in the house and watch
sportcenter for a couple minutes or turning off all the lights
isn't that big a deal. I mean theres a whole lot of other
things you could cut out of your morning that you don't
brush teeth, change underwear etc...
If its better on my car(which I think it is) I'm going to
do it. Think of all the other car things you don't skimp on
Zaino, Mobil, 93/94 gas, mods.....

ULTIMTEORANGESS

piston slap doesnt hurt anything so warming it up does nothing because its not causing damage.



with FI you dont need to warmup your car.just let your oil pressure get up and get on your way.theres a writeup on this.if you want to prematurely wear out your motor let it idle a long time when its cold.its fact driving your car causes less stress on it then letting it sit.this is normal driving not stomping it.of course stomping when its cold is the worst thing you can do.letting it idle is just as bad.do what you want but realize how much a motor costs you or repairs or something easily avoided.

Capn Pete

ULTIMTEORANGESS, have you heard much about or had any experience with Chevy Trackers? Well, my parents had one (almost 10 years ago now!) but it had 220,000 - 230,000 miles on it when we sold it (obviously 95% highway) and it still ran like a top when we sold it. A lot of those cars were blowing engines around the ~100,000 mile mark (remember, just a 1.6L in a 4X4!). In the winter time, we would warm that up every morning for at least 5 - 10 minutes, or usually until there was heat coming out the vents, which is the same that I do with my Camaro.

***Let me clarify*** --- I don't idle my car for more than a minute or two in the summer time, but in the cold weather is when I will allow a lot of time for the car to warm up, and I don't see any harm in it. Neither does my dad who has been a licensed mechanic for 25+ years. In fact he is who recommended I buy a remote starter so that I could start the car from inside while I'm getting ready for work because he doesn't believe that the piston slap noise from my engine is a good thing, so he said it would be good to let the engine warm up for awhile before driving it.

ULTIMTEORANGESS

alot of things have changed in 25 years.the need to warm your car up for an extended period is one.no one has has been able to prove to me piston slap is harmful.theres guys spraying and running tons of HP on the stock bottom ends of these cars and theyre holding up just fine.if this is hurting the bottom ends i guess all these people must be lucky.

Capn Pete

OK, maybe there's no proof that NOT warming up the engine will hurt it, but unless I see proof that warming it up TOO LONG will hurt it, then I'm warming it up long enough every morning so that there's heat coming out the vents when I get in and the windshield has cleared!