In contact with
04.12.2017, 22:49 70049 1 Assembly of Motorists
One of the most discussed topics among motorists is necessity. This issue is relevant for power plants with turbine and "aspirated" equally. Almost all drivers are divided into two camps - those who warm up the car, and those who consider it a waste of fuel and time.
Question Do I need to warm up a diesel engine in winter? manufacturers today give an unequivocal answer - "the engine does not need to warm up." It is worthwhile to understand what this assertion is based on. Why did the same manufacturers earlier advise warming up the engines, but now they have dramatically changed their point of view.
Many car engine manufacturers claim that their products are so perfect that they work flawlessly even without warming up. They begin to explain that earlier engines were primitive, and mineral oil, that scientific and technological progress does not stand still. Well, they don’t say about the water that it was wetter.
Where is the dog actually buried? First, it is not profitable for manufacturers to have the engine run longer than the warranty period. The faster the car becomes unusable, the faster the owner will buy a new car. Sales of spare parts and repairs are additional sources of income for corporations. Why waste this profit? Therefore, it is beneficial for manufacturers to tell fables that "ultra-reliable" modern diesel engines do not require warming up.
The second reason why experts from large companies do not advise warming up engines is concern for the environment. During the time that the diesel engine warms up, a large amount of exhaust gases is released into the atmosphere. In cities, it is not uncommon for the owner to warm up the car for 30 minutes in order to drive 10 minutes to work. In Europe, issues of environmental safety are ahead of economic feasibility. We have the opposite. We're not saying this is good or bad, we're just stating the facts.
Interestingly, the same experts confirm that the main wear of engine parts (about 75%) occurs at the time of a cold start. That is, they know that it is not useful for the motor to work while it is cold, but they are not advised to warm it up either. Weird and incomprehensible.
Theory of warming up a diesel engine in winter
Engines are made of metal. Pistons are usually made of light aluminum alloys, cylinders are made of steel or cast iron. When heated and cooled, these parts expand or contract respectively. All engine components are precision engineered to ensure minimum clearance between piston and cylinder. This is the key to efficient use of fuel energy.
When the engine is cold, the clearances between the pistons and cylinders do not correspond to the design parameters. Until the temperature rises to the operating level, the motor does not work in the mode as provided by the manufacturer. If full load is given, the wear of parts will increase, which will lead to a reduction in the working life or an accident.
In addition to the thermal expansion factor, there is another problem. Oil viscosity. This parameter greatly affects the operation of the engine. If the grease thickens in the cold, it cannot fully lubricate the parts, which leads to an increase in the friction force in all pairs. Wear increases many times if the engine is running under load.
Obviously, driving with a cold diesel engine is not a good idea. Another question arises: Can this be done at idle? What is the optimal duration? Let's figure it out together.
How long does it take to warm up a diesel engine in winter
There is no consensus on this issue among the "diesel producers". This camp is arguing about how much to warm up a diesel engine in winter as well as among owners of cars with gasoline engines.
Warm up to victory
Some car owners believe that diesel engine necessary warm idle until the coolant temperature rises to 70°C. Another option is until the speed drops to idle. The feasibility of such an approach seems doubtful. Let's figure it out.
Due to the design features, a diesel engine heats up less at idle than a gasoline engine, and the whole car warms up worse. To achieve a noticeable increase in temperature winter have to fulfill diesel engine warm-up within 30 - 40 minutes. During this time, a significant amount of fuel is consumed. For example: a three-liter diesel engine will “burn” about 200 ml of fuel in 20 minutes of warming up at idle.
A noticeable increase in the temperature of the power plant occurs in the first two minutes after starting. There has been very little progress since then. Should I waste fuel and time for a small improvement in performance? Doubtful.
Warm, but without fanaticism
Other drivers to the question " how to warm up a diesel engine in winter", answer briefly and clearly:" with the mind. In their opinion, it is enough to let the engine run for a couple of minutes to warm up the oil in the crankcase, and then start moving. The main thing is not to give the engine a full load until its temperature rises to the optimum level. You can monitor this indicator by the coolant sensor.
Proponents of this method warming up a diesel engine in winter It is believed that the engine warms up faster in motion. Also, when the car is moving, the transmission and chassis heat up more actively. Everything looks reasonable.
Objectively: how to properly warm up a diesel engine in winter
From a technical point of view, warming up a diesel engine in winter vital. If you take into account the technical features and mechanics of the car systems, you can figure out how to warm up diesel engines.
The engine at low temperatures should be started with a full supply of fuel. Clutch pressed out. A running engine warms up for two to three minutes. The crankshaft speed rises gradually to the average. When the device shows that the coolant has heated up to 40 ° C, it means that the engine is ready for loads.
To make it easier to start a diesel engine, you need to turn on the glow plugs several times. These devices are built into the design of modern diesel power units. They help warm the air entering the combustion chamber. In a diesel engine, ignition occurs as a result of heating the fuel-air mixture that is highly compressible in the cylinder. Warm air will make starting easier.
What do we get when executing such an algorithm for warming up a diesel engine? In the first two minutes after starting the engine, the oil in the crankcase warms up enough to fully lubricate the cylinder-piston group. A smooth start of movement helps to warm up the transmission lubricant, “develop” the suspension. On the move, the diesel warms up faster. Fuel consumption is reduced. After 5 minutes of movement, you can turn on the passenger compartment heater, which will accelerate the heating of the engine.
From the point of view of the operation of the engine, "hodovka" and other car systems, this method is the most logical. Practical observations show the effectiveness of this method. The gentle start-up mode helps protect the diesel engine from breakdown in frosty weather.
How to warm up a diesel engine with a turbine in winter
Recommendations for turbocharged diesel engines are no different from those for atmospheric counterparts. In the same way, you should start the engine, warm it up for a few minutes, and start moving from low speed in first gear. The duration of warming up on the go is about 5 minutes, during this time use no higher than third gear. Control the heating of the diesel engine by the temperature of the coolant.
A good result is the use of special pre-heaters. Also, it will not be out of place to make life easier for your engine by using special additives - antigels. They do not allow diesel fuel to thicken in the cold. Many car owners have difficulty starting diesel engines precisely because of the thickened fuel. It is especially difficult in winter if the car is filled with summer diesel fuel.
We have tried to give a complete answer to the questions why and how to warm up a diesel engine in winter. We hope you can draw the right conclusions to protect the “heart” of your car from breakdowns on frosty days.
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 heats up the longest, and with it the toxicity of the exhaust gases reaches the working 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. At the same time, 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 over 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 that they compare with, 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 the liners will turn
It seems that everyone does this: they start the car in the morning and sit inside, not moving, until " the engine warms up«.
If you are one of those who think this is important and right, be sure to read this article!You are probably doing this to protect the engine. So, they became a victim of a myth that actually brings more harm than good.
Business Insider spoke with former University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering doctoral racer Steven Chiatti about the pervasive myth of warming up your car in the winter.
For the last 26 years, Chiatti has been studying internal combustion engines, i.e. motors that burn liquid fuel to produce energy. Currently, he even oversees the work of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.
In short, the conclusion of the expert is as follows:
Running a car engine idling in cold weather not only causes you to waste extra fuel, but also harms the engine.Because when the engine is running and the car is stationary, the frozen oil does not have time to get to the cylinders and pistons in time. The result is an increased, unacceptable load on them.
How it works.Under normal conditions, your car engine runs on a mixture of air and vaporized fuel - take gasoline as an example. The mixture enters the cylinder, the piston compresses it - and this leads to a micro-explosion, which gives energy to the engine.
But when it's cold outside, gasoline doesn't evaporate well. Initially, your car compensates for this by adding more gasoline to the mixture, which is why the engine revs up at first. And this is where the problems begin.
Here is an animation that shows how the cylinders in a car work to get energy:“The problem is that when too much fuel enters the combustion chamber, some of it remains on the cylinder walls. Chiatti says. - Gasoline is a great solvent, and it really washes lubricants off the walls when you start the engine in the cold. This is especially important if the car has been standing on the street for a long time and will not start.
This leads to insufficient lubrication of the piston rings and cylinder liners. And they are crucial for starting cylinders and pistons, i.e. in order to " breathe life into your car's engine.
Now again and in a simple way". The main problem with frost is that it thickens the oil. As a result, friction units run “dry”, the wear of mechanical parts in this case occurs much faster than usual.
But in which case will the engine warm up faster - if you drive or if you stand?
Conclusion: contrary to popular belief, idling the engine does not extend its life, but only shortens it.By the way, this is what manufacturers of modern cars are talking about: none of them NOT recommends warming up the engine in the parking lot.
And further. If you have Automatic transmission, then you need to warm it up. Of course, the only way to do this is to drive slowly with gentle throttle control. A couple of tens of seconds is enough for this: just as much is usually required to leave the yard.
A simple solution.After your engine warms up to 4.4 degrees Celsius, the rpm will start to drop. And you will see it on the tachometer scale. Along the way, you will notice that warm air has begun to flow into the cabin. But don't confuse heat from the radiator with engine heat!
“Idling will cause the engine to warm up more slowly than usual. This means that the electronics of the car will continue to actively saturate the cylinders with the fuel mixture,” says Chiatti.
So the fastest and best way to warm up the car is to wait 30-60 seconds after you have started the engine, and calmly start driving. Or maybe not wait at all.
The main thing at the same time is not to press the gas pedal too actively in the first minutes of movement.
“Be gentle with the car for the first 5-15 minutes of driving. So you save the motor from unnecessary stress, ”recommends the expert.
Plus, it's just plain unprofitable. An insufficiently warmed up engine spends a minimum 12% more fuel, than usual. If you press hard on the gas pedal immediately after entering the road, then you are just wasting extra fuel without getting any benefits. A mechanical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology assures us of this.
Roots of this myth.Some myths are very tenacious, and this one is no exception. The basis for it was the era when all gasoline engines were carbureted. But back in the 1980s they started using electronic fuel injection, which made it rule "5 minutes" irrelevant.
The key difference here is that electronic fuel injection regulates the composition of the air-fuel mixture that enters the cylinder. The carburetor did not know how to do this: it did not have a special sensor for this.
But since cars with carburetors are no longer made, there is no need for idling.
The engine is considered warm when all its working elements reach the desired temperature. The coolant heats up first. This process can be controlled by the arrow on the operating temperature indicator. Then the elements of the upper part of the motor begin to warm up.
To what temperature to warm up? The slowest heating of the oil in the sump. That is why, even when the cooling liquid has reached the desired temperature, fuel consumption is carried out at idle and may decrease for some time. The heating of the neutralizer takes the longest time.
In general, the rate of vehicle warm-up depends on the mode of operation of the motor. The average warm-up time of the engine is 10-15 minutes at -20 degrees. Warming up must be carried out to operating temperature.
Do I need to warm up the engine in winter? All drivers know that the engine has a negative attitude to frost. This is due to the fact that when exposed to low temperatures, engine oil thickens. And when critical temperature levels are reached, it stops flowing altogether. This leads to the fact that the friction units begin to function "dry". Mechanical losses increase significantly.
Many drivers in the winter begin to warm up the engine before the trip in different ways. Each driver sets his own engine warm-up interval. Some wait half a minute and move off, others wait 5-10 minutes.
There are also motorists who try to warm up the engine in the summer. Do you need to warm up your car engine in summer? In addition, there are people who believe that it is not necessary to warm up the engine before a trip - this is a relic of the past and, on top of everything else, leads to additional fuel consumption. Why warm up a car engine? What should be feared?
Negative and positive aspects of engine warm-up
Is it worth warming up the engine? Consider the main negative and positive aspects of the situation when the driver did not warm up the car engine in winter:
- Experts believe that engine oil is the "blood" of the car. When the engine is turned off, oil begins to penetrate into the sump. It remains in the pan until the next engine start. Oil flows from the walls and other elements. Before the start of the trip, the oil must fill all the channels, lubricating the valves, shafts, cylinders and more. In winter, the oil is thick. The car doesn't start well. It goes through all the channels with great difficulty. That is, if you do not perform a high-quality warm-up of the engine, then its wear will be high. A warm engine runs better. It needs to be warmed up.
- Oil scraper and compression rings are located on the piston grooves. They are designed to remove oil, compression. They are located close to each other. They touch the cylinder and carry a considerable load. We know from physics that when heated, expansion of the cylinders is noted. As the temperature drops, the cylinders return to their original dimensions. If we do not warm up the engine, then the rings in the cylinder will be clamped excessively. When starting the engine, it is difficult for them to climb the surface of the cylinder. The heating procedure helps the metal to expand and make all the above operations easier.
- The oil filter is a complex device. Its main element is a special paper located on a metal case. If the oil is liquid, then it passes through the filter element unhindered. The filter protects the motor from dirt and dust. Grease is very difficult to pass through the paper. Unfiltered oil enters the motor. When the engine warms up to 60–70 degrees, the oil becomes liquid, it easily passes through the filter without closing the bypass filter. The increased level of dirt contributes to the rapid wear of the engine.
- Hydraulic compensators and a hydraulic tensioner are necessary to adjust the operation of the valves. These devices pump oil into themselves and perform chain tension, aligning the valves. If the lubricant is cold, then the work of these devices is of poor quality. What might be required to fix the problem? By warming up, we increase the efficiency of the engine.
- Oil sensors also need to be warmed up. If this is not done, then you may encounter a situation where the engine is "squeezed out". This is due to excessively thick and unheated oil. The machine begins to inform that the oil level in the sump is critical.
Why can't the car engine be warmed up? Are there any positive aspects in the absence of high-quality engine warm-up? They exist, but, unfortunately, they cannot close the abundance of negative aspects.
In the absence of heating, fuel energy is consumed much less. "Cranking" the car in a short time without warming up emits less toxic substances. Without heating the engine, we contribute to the environmental situation. In the process of heating the engine, a large amount of harmful substances is released into the atmosphere.
Diesel and gasoline engines are different from each other. The diesel engine runs smoothly in the summer. In winter, this is very difficult to do. The fact is that the ignition process is carried out not with the help of a spark, but by heating diesel fuel and compressing it under pressure. In this regard, winter and summer diesel fuel are distinguished. Summer diesel fuel is thicker than winter fuel.
A diesel engine needs a warm-up period just like a gasoline engine. However, warming up a diesel engine during the cold season will take much longer. If the temperature approaches zero, then it is necessary to think about replacing diesel fuel. Do I need to warm up the injection engine? The answer is yes. Heating is carried out in the same way.
If the motorist decides to drive on a cold engine, then the car should drive slowly. The number of revolutions should not exceed 2000 per minute. The oil needs to be fully warmed up. All parts must be well lubricated with engine oil.
What is the best thing to do - warm up the engine or not?
Do I need to warm up the engine in winter or not? Each driver must decide for himself whether to warm up the engine in winter or this is not necessary. Do not forget that there are two periods - summer and winter. How to properly warm up the engine? How long does it take to warm up the engine? Winter is famous for the presence of negative temperatures, which sometimes reach -30 and below.
In such a situation, it is advisable to warm up the running engine of the car for at least 15 minutes. This time will be enough for all the working components of the motor to reach the desired temperature. At a temperature outside the window - 15, -20 degrees, the amount of time for warming up can be reduced (5-7 minutes).
Do you need to warm up when it's warm? Experts say that in the summer you should not pay special attention to warming up the vehicle. It will take 5 minutes to warm up the car. If it is excessively hot outside, then one minute will be enough to warm up the car.
Thus, in winter, it is necessary to warm up the vehicle for at least 10-15 minutes. Even if you notice that the load on the pistons has decreased, it is necessary to withstand a certain period. It is important that the cylinders, all shafts and other working elements warm up to the desired temperature. By warming up the engine, the motorist protects it from premature wear.
It is advisable to warm up only after a long standing machine, for example, in the morning. If you leave the car for 30-60 minutes, then, upon return, a warm-up of 3-4 minutes will be enough. If the car has been in the cold for more than six hours, it is advisable to warm up the engine.
Daily warming up and harm to the environment
Manufacturers and experts of many cars recommend not to focus on warming up the vehicle. And here it's not about saving the budget of buyers. They are guided by such an argument as ecology. Triggers contain high levels of toxic substances. So, in European countries it is forbidden to warm up the car.
If you do not have enough time to warm up the car every day, then you can install an automatic start system. It starts remotely, the driver gets into a heated car.
How many drivers, so many opinions. It must be remembered that the engine is the heart of the car. It needs to be taken care of with special care. Whether it needs to be warmed up is up to you.
Helpful Hints
Each new generation of drivers is wondering if it is worth warming up the car before setting off, especially after a long idle car.
Many environmentalists believe that if the car is in a parking lot, then you should start driving immediately after starting the car. Thus, less poisonous gases will be released into the atmosphere.
We can agree with environmentalists, especially considering that when driving, the engine warms up faster and fuel is burned more efficiently. However, it is worth noting that this method can affect the health of the engine, and not for the better.
Car companies reassure car owners, believing that after they start the car, they need to go right away, since everything was calculated at the factory and the engine can work quite normally in this mode.
In fact, this refers to the operation of the engine during the warranty period. After that, they are not responsible for the car.
Whether to warm up the car
Both in summer and winter, if you start the car and immediately go, the engine life is significantly reduced.
It is worth clarifying that for the most part, the operating temperature of car engines is 90 degrees or higher. That's the temperature they're designed for. This temperature allows the engine oil to better lubricate the gaps between the rubbing parts of the machine.
Even if it is +25 C outside, this is not enough for oil, which means that the engine still needs to be warmed up. Well, even more so in winter.
As a result, the answer to the main question is simple: you need to warm up the car.
Regarding the indignation of environmentalists, it is worth saying that in a big city where there are a lot of cars, the main air pollutants are not exhausts, but dust from the rubber of the wheels, which is rubbed off on the asphalt, and abraded pads.
And in rural areas, warming up the car does little harm at all.
An interesting fact: Erwin Rommel, a German field marshal general and allegedly one of the conspirators of the assassination attempt on Hitler, always demanded that the troops warm up the engines for 10 minutes.
This rule even extended when he commanded troops in the deserts of Africa. As a result, his motorized troops showed, on average, a lower percentage of breakdowns compared to other troops.
Warming up the car in winter
How long does it take to warm up the engine?
If you have a relatively new car, then you do not need to warm it up for a long time. The average warm-up time is 3-5 minutes. It is worth noting that while driving, the engine warms up faster.
How long to warm up the car
* If the outside temperature from +5 to 0 С, then the warm-up time is 1-2 minutes.
* At air temperature from 0 to -10 C, engine warm-up time 2-3 minutes. During this time, all technical fluids will have time to warm up.
But to warm up the interior of the car at this temperature, you need 5 minutes or even a little more.
* If outdoors from -10 to -20 С, then it is worth warming up the car 3-5 minutes. In such a frost, the windows of the car freeze, which means that it will take a few more minutes to defrost them. The best option would be to warm up the engine first, and then start defrosting the windows.
* If the air temperature below -20 C, then it is worth warming up the engine at least 5 minutes, maybe a little longer. This time depends on the technical condition of the machine. A more modern car means less warm-up time.
In this case, the interior should be warmed up from 10 minutes or more.
Do I need to warm up the car (video)
How to warm up the car (video)
Warming up a diesel car
The best option is to warm up the engine in winter - from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the air temperature. The colder it is outside, the longer it takes to warm up.
In summer, the diesel engine warm-up time is 1-2 minutes.
After warming up (at an engine temperature of 40-50 degrees), the oil liquefies, the parts in the engine heat up, and the fuel in the cylinders burns out completely.
When you have warmed up the engine, start a smooth movement. While driving, the engine warms up faster to the desired temperature.
It is also worth noting that it is worth warming up not only the engine, but also the transmission. This applies to an automatic transmission, where special gear oil is poured.
Automatic transmission warming up
Warming up the automatic transmission is necessary in order for it to serve you longer. To warm it up you should:
1. Warm up the engine.
2. After the engine has warmed up, apply the brakes and put the transmission into "Drive" mode (D).
3. Wait 2 minutes.
4. Start moving smoothly and start moving several kilometers at a speed of no more than 50 km/h.
How to warm up the automatic transmission
How to warm up a car with automatic transmission (video)