Immigrants to Canada who have arrived in the country should have already experienced the early winter in Canada. Due to the drop in temperature during winter, it is necessary to warm up the car after starting it. Because the car has been parked for a long time, the engine oil has flowed back into the oil pan at the bottom of the engine. Therefore, after ignition, the upper part of the engine is in a state of lacking oil and lubrication. It takes about 30 seconds after starting for the oil pump to circulate the oil to the pistons, connecting rods, crankshafts, and other components that need lubrication the most.
However, most car owners believe that it is best for the car to start it up and let it idle for three to five minutes before hitting the road, especially early in the morning or after the car has not been used for a long time. Influenced by some veteran drivers, this sounds quite reasonable. However, these veteran drivers have forgotten that the Santana cars they used to drive were carburetor models, which required higher water temperatures to prevent the engine from stalling. But most modern car engines are fuel-injected or direct-injected, and the engine operation is controlled by a computer, so it is perfectly fine to warm up the car while driving.
According to statistical data, more than 90% of engine wear occurs within the first three minutes after a cold start. Therefore, in winter, especially in extremely cold winter, idling to warm up the car can easily damage the engine. It is recommended that car owners use the method of driving slowly at low RPMs to warm up the car. The correct way to warm up the car is to hit the road 30 seconds to one minute after starting, but do not drive at high RPMs at this time. Maintain a low speed, with the engine RPM not exceeding 3000~3500, and generally, 2000 RPM is appropriate. After the engine temperature rises to the normal operating temperature, which takes about 3 to 5 minutes or a distance of 4 kilometers, you can resume normal driving.
Why you should not warm up the car while idling:
People believe that warming up the car is very necessary, especially in the cold winter. However, while this idea is not wrong, with the application of electronic fuel injection technology in car engines, which has completely replaced the old carburetor-based fuel supply technology, warming up the car by idling has become the culprit that exacerbates engine wear, increases engine carbon deposits, and increases fuel consumption. In other words, there is absolutely no need for fuel-injected cars to warm up while idling!
Why do people have the habit of warming up the car while idling? This stems from what veteran drivers with long-term driving experience have said. Because these veteran drivers have relatively long driving experience and have driven many types of vehicles, many of them have driven old carburetor cars, such as the old carburetor Santana.
Due to the structure of the fuel supply system in these old models, it was necessary to warm up the car while idling to raise the engine coolant temperature to the normal operating temperature so that the engine would not stall easily and would run more smoothly. The experience of these veteran drivers did indeed bring us great convenience when driving in the past. But with the use of electronic technology in cars, the engine structure has changed dramatically, and idling to warm up the car has become a bad driving habit. Old experience has become outdated today!