FollowupID: 549681 Submitted:
Friday, Feb 01, 2008 at 09:47
splits posted:
I was taught at TAFE in the early 1960s to never warm an engine up by leaving it idling. You should drive off immediately but don't let it labour or work hard until you have driven at least about 20 to 30 ks.
About 75% of wear in an engine occurs when it is
cold so the quicker you warm it up the better. This is why taxi engines last so long, they are always running at normal temperature. It is also why engines used for commuting to work over short distances or doing short trips around town for most of their life wear out much quicker. They rarely reach the correct temperature.
You must keep in mind that an engine has not reached normal temperature just because the temperature gauge says so. It is only measuring water temperature, usually in the cylinder head, and this area warms up rapidly. It takes a lot longer for parts lower down in the engine like the crank shaft, bearings, con rods, timing chains etc to reach normal temperature.
Brian