Never warm up the car, just ignite it and drive away. Is it really wrong?

There are indeed many people who are very confused about the topic of whether to warm up the car after it has been parked for a period of time and the water temperature has dropped before starting it again. The habit of experienced drivers is to warm up the car, which takes a relatively long time. They usually start the vehicle first, then walk around the car to check its condition, then get in and drive away. New drivers are generally at a loss and don't know what role or impact heating a car has on the vehicle.

Why do you need to warm up your car? Because after the vehicle is parked and the engine is not running, all the oil will sink to the bottom, resulting in no oil in the upper half of the engine. If you drive the vehicle as soon as you start it, it may cause wear and tear on the engine. This is the first reason to warm up the car, but now the engine manufacturing technology is becoming more and more advanced. The time it takes for the oil to re-lubricate from the bottom to all parts of the engine is very short, about ten or twenty seconds.

Another reason is that when the vehicle is driving, the gasoline needs to be vaporized by temperature to work properly. A newly started vehicle does not yet have the temperature to completely vaporize the gasoline, which will cause the gasoline to burn incompletely during use and easily form carbon deposits.

Through the above analysis, we can understand that in fact, it is best to have a warm-up process before starting the vehicle after it has been parked for a period of time, but this process does not take a long time. In summer, In about half a minute, only 1 minute in winter, you can see that the tachometer has dropped, and you can drive at a low speed instead of heating the car in place. When the engine water temperature reaches above 60 degrees, you can basically drive normally.

Proper heating of the car is beneficial to maintaining the condition of the vehicle. However, if the heating time is too long each time and the idle speed is too much, it is actually not a good thing. It will also cause incomplete combustion of gasoline. The formation of excessive carbon deposits should also remind car owners to pay attention to this.

This question is difficult to answer, because it depends on your starting point. I think you can look at the following points:

1. From the aspect of environmental protection, it is correct

I remember that the Volkswagen manual mentioned: After starting the engine, you should start immediately when you have a suitable line of sight, otherwise it will increase the emission of pollutants. Translated into human language, heating the handlebars in situ wastes the oil that could be used to drive the vehicle forward. When you finish heating the car and then leave, you will waste more oil. This has increased pollutant emissions.

2. In terms of driving experience, it is beneficial to warm up the car properly

If you tell car owners in the north, especially Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and the three northeastern provinces, you cannot If you are talking about a geothermal car, I think they are willing to kill you. In winter, the temperature is low. If you do not heat the car properly, it will be uncomfortable to drive. It will be extremely cold. Moreover, the engine takes a long time to warm up and the idle speed remains high. The automatic transmission does not upshift due to cold protection. , the manual gearbox is stiff and jerky in gears, which makes it uncomfortable in ten thousand ways, so it is really unrealistic for them to just drive away in winter.

3. Regarding the health of the engine

Although there is no exact data, I feel that the oil reaches the parts that need lubrication very quickly after the engine is cold and started. I think this time should No more than 10 seconds. So oil supply shouldn't be a problem after a cold start. Idling and warming up the car for a long time will theoretically increase carbon deposits, but I think this amount is minimal. After the engine temperature is normal, increase the speed and let the intake air flow flush it. There should not be much accumulation. So idling in place doesn't hurt the car that much. You can ask those drivers who are dedicated to driving for leaders. In summer, as long as the leaders go out, the car will almost never turn off. Otherwise, the boss will be angry if the car is too hot after getting in the car. Just ask them whether the car they drive has serious carbon deposits.

I think under normal circumstances, it can be driven once the idle speed stabilizes after starting, which usually only takes about ten seconds, except in winter. If there is really an emergency, there is no problem at all in just leaving. If you are afraid of the cold when you go out in winter, you can heat the car in situ. It doesn't matter if you wait for the heater to warm up before leaving. When the temperature comes up, just turn the speed to high.

Strictly speaking, it is necessary to warm up the car, but it must be appropriate.

It is not good to run away after ignition, because the oil is still in the crankcase and has not wrapped the original metal parts inside the engine. In other words, there is no oil film. In this state, especially in winter, the chance of engine wear is very high.

Therefore, it is very necessary to properly heat the car. My method is to start the car and heat the car in place for 30-45 seconds, allowing the oil to completely wrap the metal parts in the engine and form an oil film. In fact, there is a 30 Seconds are enough. Then travel in D gear, keep the engine speed at about 1500 rpm, not 2000 rpm, and then drive gently for a certain distance. When the temperature comes up, you can drive normally.

Speaking of heating the car in situ, it takes at least five minutes for the temperature to come up in winter. Rather than producing so much carbon deposits in situ for five minutes, it is better to drive gently for a distance, and the temperature will rise faster without damaging the car. , but remember not to exceed 2000 rpm.

Yes, there is really nothing wrong with it. You must know that in Germany, it is illegal to heat your car in situ! According to German laws, heating a car in situ is equivalent to emitting pollutants. Once discovered, a fine will be imposed. Has it subverted your understanding?

On the one hand, this German law is related to the global control of pollutant emissions. On the other hand, strict Germans believe that modern cars that have passed through the carburetor era no longer need to heat the car in place.

Let me first talk about the dangers of heating the car in place. When the engine is idling in place, the air flow entering the engine is very small. At this time, the engine temperature is not high enough. What is needed for combustion is air and temperature, both of which are not up to standard. Incomplete combustion occurs and carbon monoxide is produced. In severe cases, it turns into carbon particles, that is, carbon deposits, which adhere to the surfaces of the valve and cylinder. With the accumulation of carbon deposits, engine performance and emissions will be seriously affected. And idling in place for 3 minutes is equivalent to the fuel consumption of driving 1 kilometer. While wasting fuel, it also emits more polluting exhaust gases, which is not good for you (wasting time), the car (generating carbon deposits), or the earth (emitting pollutants).

As for why there is always a saying about hot cars? Let's start with the carburetor. The carburetor requires a certain temperature to work properly. Based on physical principles, through the narrowing of the intake pipe, the cylinder generates negative pressure to suck the gasoline out of the carburetor. Let the gasoline and air mix freely, atomize, and enter the engine cylinder for combustion. The reason why veteran drivers say that the car is heated in situ is because the carburetor does not work well at low temperatures, and the gasoline sucked out remains in the form of water droplets. The small water droplets of gasoline directly affect the normal operation of the engine. If the car is not hot and goes on the road, there is a danger that it will not run after refueling, brake and stall at any time, which seriously affects driving safety. Therefore, cars using carburetors must be heated in situ before they can be safely on the road.

Fortunately, the carburetor was eliminated as early as 2001. It was replaced by an electronically controlled gasoline injection system. It precisely controls the injection of gasoline to ensure good atomization. Even at low temperatures, the atomization efficiency is not affected, small water droplets of gasoline no longer appear, and there is no danger of unstable speed and flameout. However, heating the car in situ not only causes carbon accumulation but also pollutes the environment, so we have no reason to heat the car in situ.

However, I am not telling everyone not to warm up the car. In fact, what we need is to warm up the car at a low speed.

In today's highly electrified world of automobiles, every factory car is equipped with electronically controlled fuel injection or a more advanced gasoline in-cylinder direct injection system. The operation of these systems requires controlling the fuel injection status through the fuel injection applet.

We are worried that the car will be damaged if it is not heated in winter. We are mainly worried that the engine oil will not lubricate the main parts of the engine at low temperatures.

But when the car is ignited, the oil pump takes less than 1/10 second to push the oil into the engine oil pipe. Allow the oil to circulate in a circuit between the engine oil line and the oil pan. Through the heat energy generated by the engine operation, the temperature of these engine oils rises very quickly. As the temperature increases, the lubrication effect of the engine oil will become better and better.

Here I have to talk about the standard by which everyone measures whether the car is hot enough - water temperature.

The water temperature actually refers to the temperature of the antifreeze. In addition to the oil pipelines, the engine is also filled with antifreeze water channels. When the car is cold, the antifreeze flows back to the lower half of the water tank. At the same time as the car is ignited, the water pump works at the same time, instantly allowing the antifreeze to form a water circuit circulation in the engine water channel. The heat of the engine is taken away. In the water tank at the front of the engine, it is dissipated through corrugated tiny thin metal pipes and then flows back into the engine waterway to continue taking away the next wave of heat. When the water temperature is constant at 90 degrees, it means that the engine operating temperature has stabilized and reached the best working condition. However, when waiting for the water temperature to reach a constant 90 degrees, you should not wait where you are, but choose to heat the car at a low speed.

What is considered a low-speed hot car? After we light the ignition in the morning, fasten our seat belts, pay attention to the surrounding traffic, and then we can start walking! ! ! The whole process only takes 15 seconds at most.

Yes, it’s so refreshing. But please note that if you want the car to be durable, the speed should not exceed 2,000 rpm when driving at low speeds. Continuously driving at low speed for 2-3 minutes can allow the engine oil to reach normal operating temperature. As for why low speed is needed? Because the friction between metals is intense, and the lubricating effect of engine oil is not very good at low temperatures. Don't let the metal rub too hard first, after all, it takes time for the engine oil to reach normal temperature. 2-3 minutes is enough.

What are the benefits of heating the car at such a low speed?

1. Save your precious time. Compared with heating the car in place for 3-5 minutes, I have already driven 1 kilometer further.

2. While stepping on the accelerator, although the engine is still at low temperature, the throttle opening angle becomes larger, the air flow into the engine is increased, and the incomplete combustion of gasoline is greatly reduced, which means carbon monoxide and engine carbon deposits The amount of production is greatly reduced, and the car naturally becomes more durable and more environmentally friendly.

In fact, there is also a way to warm up the car to warm up the gearbox. Yes, the reason for jerky shifting during a cold car is because the transmission oil flows to the lower half of the gearbox when the car is cold, and the gearbox gears are not fully lubricated. But if you don't let the car start, the engine and gearbox are not engaged. It is not running and is still at low temperature. How can the gears be lubricated without running? How can it achieve a preheating effect?

Germany has explicitly banned in-situ car heating. There is no need for us to make stupid mistakes again. Just remember to heat the car at a low speed.

First, let me talk about what I did. After starting the car, the engine oil warning light went out, fastened the seat belt, checked the car condition, and the road conditions. At this time, if the engine is running smoothly, start driving, and the speed is 50 in 3rd gear. Within km/h.

In alpine and cold areas, below -20 degrees, if the engine oil and transmission oil are not properly configured, when you need to depress the clutch to start the car, you should depress the clutch and wait for the engine to run smoothly, then slowly lift the clutch. Drive the gearbox to run. When the engine runs smoothly with the gearbox, start driving and the speed is within 50 km/h in third gear.

In any case, driving safety is the first priority in alpine and cold areas in winter.

Those who are interested can continue to look down. If you don’t have time to see this, just go here.

It’s winter, and everyone has different opinions on the issue of hot cars. Let’s take a look at what the national automobile testing agency does!

Let me first talk about the misunderstandings of those who support the idea of ????heating cars in situ.

These friends believe that when the car is cold, the engine load increases, the surface stress on the parts increases, and the wear increases. In fact, after a cold car is started, as long as the oil pressure warning light goes out, it means that the oil has been sent to the friction surface. What needs to be done at this time is to allow the engine to warm up as soon as possible while avoiding rapid acceleration at high speeds.

If the car is heated in situ and the engine is running without load, the coolant temperature will rise slowly and it will take a long time for the engine to reach normal temperature.

Therefore, two unfavorable situations will occur during the warm-up period:

1. The running time at low temperature will be longer and the amount of wear will increase;

2. Gasoline mist will occur at low temperatures. If the gasification is poor, more fuel injection is required to maintain combustion. The ungasified fuel will wash away the cylinder surface, destroy the oil film formation, and cause parts to wear faster;

3. Pollutant emissions increase;

4. It is easier to form carbon deposits.

Everyone must understand that driving at low speed is to allow the engine to warm up as quickly as possible.

Every model of the automobile factory must pass the national emission standards. The fifth phase document is "GB 18352.5-2013 Light Vehicle Pollutant Emission Limits and Measurement Methods (China Phase 5)", (GB 18352.5-2013 replaced GB18352.3-2005 (implemented on 2018-01-01).

In this standard there is a test cycle at minus 7 degrees. Vehicles are required to be stored in an environment of minus 7 degrees for more than 12 hours and less than 36 hours, and then tested. Regarding the standard pictures, I pulled them from the standard documents.

After starting the cold car, it goes through 4 small cycles, each cycle is 195 seconds, and the maximum is 780 seconds. The small driving cycle also simulates the driving process of our actual car. The graphs and tables of the small cycle are as follows.

There are three sections in each small loop.

1. After starting the car, idle for 11 seconds, then shift to first gear 15 km/h, and return to idle;

2. Idle for 21 seconds, upshift to second gear 32 km/h hour, return to idle speed;

3. Idle for 21 seconds, upshift to 3rd gear at 50 km/h, and gradually return to idle speed;

See the table for details. Here is just one example, the national driving method for measuring vehicle emission levels. You can start after a short 11 seconds after getting into the car, which is the time it takes to fasten your seat belt, check the condition of the car, and check the road conditions after getting in the car.

Nowadays, there is really no need to heat the car in situ, just ignite it and drive away. However, it should be noted that the cold-start engine oil of the car does not lubricate the engine gearbox and other parts enough, so do not drive violently.

A more reasonable approach is to go around the car to check it after igniting it, then get in the car, fasten your seat belt, and leave. Cars have been developed for hundreds of years, and engine technology is relatively mature and not as fragile as we imagined. Therefore, as long as it is maintained properly, there is no problem with safe driving. There's really no need to worry about that minute or two of warming up the car.

Warming up the car is a bad habit left behind by veteran Chinese drivers when they drove carburetor cars, so much so that they are now rumored to believe that they need to warm up the car before driving in winter.

What kind of car needs to be warmed up before it can drive

20 years ago, most cars still used carburetor engines, and the carburetor was a device that atomized gasoline. Mechanical device, when the temperature is extremely low, the gasoline concentration is high, it is difficult to atomize, and the combustion is insufficient. It requires fire extinguishing and black smoke. Therefore, when starting in winter, you must heat the car in place, and the oil temperature is up before you can drive. But this habit can be completely abandoned in the EFI car era.

Do current cars need to be warmed up?

In terms of working principle, any mechanical device needs to be preheated, but in the carburetor era, the car needs to be warmed up manually. In the EFI era, the on-board computer will help you coordinate the preheating of all components, and you just need to drive forward step by step. At this time, you will find that the engine idle speed is relatively high and the speed increase is relatively slow. This is actually the result of the car warming up automatically.

The most important thing that cars need to predict now is the engine oil temperature. Only when the engine oil temperature rises can it have a lubricating effect and protect the engine. If the engine oil temperature is low and relatively viscous, the engine protection will not be enough. But this job doesn’t require you to wait where you are, you can just drive forward.

The hazards of in-situ car heating

The biggest hazard of in-situ car heating is the production of a large amount of pollutants. Due to the in-situ idling heating, the engine speed is low and the amount of air inhaled is insufficient. , resulting in incomplete combustion and a lot of pollutants eliminated. In addition, due to insufficient combustion, it will also cause carbon deposits to accumulate in the engine.

No car’s instruction manual clearly states that the car needs to be warmed up after starting the ignition! So why do we have the concept of hot cars? That's because we know the engine too well. We all know that the best condition for the engine to run is when the water temperature and oil temperature rise! It is the best operating mode of the engine, so we have the concept of hot car, thinking that hot car will be good for the operation of the engine!

This is indeed the case. There is nothing wrong. Warming up the car after we start it will greatly help or protect the engine operation! (Generally, we only need to wait 30 seconds to warm up the car), but I want to tell you, we start and leave immediately. This situation has no big impact on the engine, such as wear and tear on the engine! These can basically be completely ignored! Because the design and production of an engine has long taken this issue into consideration! If the engine is damaged just because the car does not warm up when starting, it would be a big joke!

Warming up the car is actually to ensure that the oil temperature and water temperature of the engine reach an ideal value. This concept is not wrong! We need to be aware of what to do correctly, start the car and wait 15-30 seconds before moving. In fact, it is completely fine! In fact, it is completely possible to start the car without heating it up. Originally, when the engine starter is running and ignited for the first time, the entire oil circuit of the engine has already started running! So don’t worry at all! The car engine is not as fragile as everyone thinks!

When driving, many novices are accustomed to turning on the engine and setting off directly, but is this correct? Is warming up the car necessary before driving? Will not heating up the car be harmful to the engine? Let’s discuss it together today.

The concept of car heating originated more than 20 years ago. At the beginning, most of the engines used were low-speed engines. However, in winter, in order to ensure the lubrication of the vehicle engine and transmission system, it is often necessary to slowly accelerator , let the car fully heat up before starting to hit the road.

But in fact, with the development of the economy, technology is also updated and iterated. Looking at today's cars, most of them use high-speed engines and short connecting rod transmission systems. As soon as the engine is started, the oil is sent to every corner. , the slowest thing is only three or four seconds, and igniting the car when it is cold will not damage the machine, so there is no need to warm up the car now. In other words, warming up the car is not a necessary step before starting.

Looking at it now, when the car is heated in place, the engine needs to idle in place. At this time, the air flow entering the engine is very small. At this time, the engine temperature is not high enough. What is needed for combustion is air and temperature, both of which are not up to standard. Incomplete combustion occurs and carbon monoxide is produced. In severe cases, it turns into carbon particles, that is, carbon deposits, which adhere to the surfaces of the valve and cylinder. With the accumulation of carbon deposits, engine performance and emissions will be seriously affected.

So in general, the current engine does not need to be warmed up in advance, but it does not mean that there is no need to warm up the car. You can warm up the car at low speed while driving, which can not only ensure that the engine has sufficient power, but also It can reduce the possibility of carbon accumulation. Therefore, while we love our cars, we must also care for the environment and truly achieve energy-saving, low-carbon, and environmentally friendly travel.

As a maintenance technician who has worked for many years, I personally think you are indeed wrong! The reason is simple.

As a car owner, everyone knows that there are necessary oils such as engine oil, antifreeze, and transmission oil in the car to maintain the normal operation of the engine and transmission. Among them, engine oil and transmission oil mainly serve as lubrication. Antifreeze plays a major role in cooling; when our vehicle has been left for a period of time, the temperature of the engine and gearbox will drop to the same temperature as the outside air. Often the temperature at this time is lower than when the vehicle is operating normally. The temperature is much lower. If the temperature of the vehicle during normal operation is set to the normal temperature, the temperature after it has been left for a long time is called the cold car temperature. Starting the engine at this time is called a cold start!

Why can’t you drive immediately after a cold start? Based on my many years of maintenance experience, there are two main reasons!

First of all, after being left for a long time, the engine oil and transmission oil will flow back to the oil pan of the engine and transmission along the oil passages of the engine and transmission due to the influence of gravity. Therefore, under normal circumstances, during cold start , various parts inside the engine and gearbox that need lubrication are lacking engine oil and gearbox oil; after a cold start, the oil pumps inside the engine and gearbox begin to pump oil into the oil passages. This process takes a certain amount of time! Especially at the moment of startup, although the oil pump has started to operate, the amount of oil pumped at the beginning of operation cannot fully meet the lubrication needs of various parts of the engine and gearbox! If you drive with the accelerator immediately at this time, the load on the engine and gearbox will be increased. Due to insufficient lubrication, there will be a certain amount of wear inside the engine and gearbox. Over time, their service life will be greatly reduced! This is also the reason why many cars will make an obvious clicking sound for about 5 seconds when they are started after driving for a long time. This is due to insufficient lubrication during cold start and the lack of oil in the valve hydraulic tappets in the engine. And issued!

Secondly, many car owners will find that every time the vehicle is cold-started, the engine speed will remain at around 1,500 rpm for a period of time, and will slowly drop to around 750 rpm after a while; this This is because the theoretical air-fuel ratio of current engines is designed to be 14.7:1. The meaning of this ratio is that theoretically burning one kilogram of fuel requires 14.7 kilograms of air. The greater the air mass, the more fuel is required! During cold start, the mass of cold air around the engine is much larger than when the car is warm. In order to achieve the theoretical air-fuel ratio and make the exhaust gas produced by combustion cleaner, the fuel injection amount can only be increased accordingly, which corresponds to the engine speed. It should also be relatively improved! However, at this time, the oxygen sensor that detects engine exhaust emissions is still in open-loop control due to the low temperature. It cannot detect the concentration of exhaust gas in time and participate in the engine's fuel correction, which will lead to relatively rich exhaust emissions when the car is cold! At this time, driving with the accelerator immediately will not only consume more fuel, but also cause the engine to burn insufficiently and produce a large amount of carbon deposits and exhaust gas! These carbon deposits accumulate and adhere to the engine valves, pistons, three-way catalysis and other parts for a long time. The minor consequences are engine jitter, misfire, and inability to accelerate. In serious cases, the engine may pull cylinders, burn engine oil, or even be scrapped!

To sum up, igniting and running away is indeed harmful to the engine! I personally recommend that car owners pause for about 15 to 30 seconds after starting the car to allow the engine and gearbox to have sufficient lubrication time before starting to drive. This can effectively protect the engine and gearbox, extend their service life, and reduce the risk of driving. Carbon deposits occur!