piser

I live about 3 miles from work, and it takes me about 12 minutes to get there in the morning (there are quite a few traffic lights). By the time I'm at work my car is warmed up according to the temperature gauge, but I'm a little worried about the longterm effect this will have on my engine. I usually warm the car up for ~30-60 seconds before driving off, but should I be doing anything else? It's nice to not put a lot of miles on my Z, but I'm worried living so close doesn't give my engine enough time to warm up.

Thanks!

RedShft

youre fine, just dont take the rpms past 3000 or so while its still cold. but you dont need for your engine to be up to operating temp before moving or shuting off.....its not a rotary letting it run for 30-60 seconds before driving is good though....allows time to get the oil circulating.

FairladyZ

You should be fine, I think.?.

Reggi914

iTrader: (3)

I do that sometimes to, its not bad. If its REALLY cold i usually let the car warm up for a couple minutes.

ZIABLO

iTrader: (7)

it's not recommended that you warm up your car for a long time (recommended 30 s) but as everyoine else said just dont drive ur car hard until it's warmed up

Dissolved

You're **** just like I was when I got my Z
You're fine. Idealy, you WANT it to get to normal operating temperature before shutting it off. Just baby her on the way there. Remember people, it's not just about waiting for engine to warm up before flooring it. You also should let your rear warm up in this weather too

edit: by rear I mean rear axle. Not your a$$. There are some dirty perverts here, had to clarify

Phatmitzu

iTrader: (34)

Lucky you...I drive 30 miles to work every morning. But yeah, your engine is fine. I usually warm up the car for at least 2 mins tho...til the bar raise to a bit below normal before I drive off

ares

iTrader: (2)

Ive heard warming it up too long at idle forces it to run at cold temps longer than if you got it moving a bit. seems offsetting to me, but whatever.

if it really bothers you, could always consider a remote start. (bit more complicated for the manual, but do-able) depends how you feel about the cold idle warmup thing.

marhot

In your situation; since you’re so close to work and have such a short travel time, I’d recommend you walk to work.

JUST KIDDING.

You're fine…

ares

iTrader: (2)

you know if that were the best solution, I got 5$ that says he'd start walking to work tomarrow.

Dissident

iTrader: (1)

Can't you take a longer way to work? I mean, that's half the fun. My drive home is about 25 minutes, but I often take the 45 minute route through the twisties instead... Of the 1.5 hour way through the mountains (which are Eat of work, and I live west of work ) on my bike.

Nah, I think you are fine.. Just make sure you get her out on the weekend and open her up now and then! =)

Major

I am not an expert on this but several years ago I read an article on this very subject. The problem is with with water due to condensation (creates approximately a cupfull), unless the engine operates long enough, the water does not get a chance to evaporate or burn out of the crank case.

Is this a problem, not sure, I would assume the oil does offer sufficient protection against potential damage. I have never forgotten this tidbit, and ever since I make sure we drive long enough to ensure there is no water left in the engine!

Major

iLLestJrz

iTrader: (1)

Do what I do.... Wake up and the first thing is fire it up . Then by the time your ready to go, its warm.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Do you take longer drives on weekends? I would think as ling as you get some longer drives in every week or so it would "clean out" the engine from your short daily drives.

I think this is a problem that isn't.

Strife350z

iTrader: (4)

all good advice above... only thing i would add is, make sure you have a good synthetic oil in there... i use amsol but i heard mobil 1 is the best...

anyway someone on this forum (or might have been another one, i don't remember - i apologize for mis-quoting you if you're a member here) did a simple test of motor oils by putting out 3 jars, containing 10w30, 5w30 and 10w30 synthetic respectively, and left them out overnight (0 degress F i think). In the morning, he checked on them:

the 10w30 was a jelly-like goop

the 5w30 was highly viscous

and the 10w30 synthetic was the same as it was at room temp.

CONCLUSION? use synthetic... jelly doesn't protect your engine

Beaker02

Give it 30-60sec. to get the oil flowing, then baby it til the heat starts going up, you'll be fine. The Z is a warm running car. It warms up faster than a "normal" car. Your fine.

s9am_me

iTrader: (1)

i thought i was the only one that noticed that. after about a mile, the gauge is halfway up to optimal temperature. it really does warm up fast. besides the point.. you should be fine. just let it warm up for about a min to get all the oil cirrculated. the faster you get it to optimal running temp, the better. and thats by driving it (baby it), not just idling for 10 mins in the morning as my friend does

yobri

iTrader: (2)

Yikes! I see that fairly frequently in SF with older Asian guys...