i thought warming up at idle would be the safest..........no?

 

yeh i think i read that too. dont know what the heck they are talking about.

 

The owner's manual clearly warns against letting the car "warm up" when cold and to drive right away after turning on the engine. Reason? I have no idea.

Maybe MINIDIVISION can help us answer this question

 

If I dont sit and let my car idle for a few minutes, i get this weird thing...
When i'm coming to a stop, my car stalls... Doesnt happen when i let my car warm up just a lil, sometimes it doesnt stall, but "stumbles" i guess... RPMS drop very low, sometimes i have to do the old "gas-brake" at the same time so it doesnt die.

I had the car looked at, they said its common, and wait for the new update to come out, which was in december, now to find time to go do it :???:

 

>>If I dont sit and let my car idle for a few minutes, i get this weird thing...
>>When i'm coming to a stop, my car stalls... Doesnt happen when i let my car warm up just a lil, sometimes it doesnt stall, but "stumbles" i guess... RPMS drop very low, sometimes i have to do the old "gas-brake" at the same time so it doesnt die.
>>
>>I had the car looked at, they said its common, and wait for the new update to come out, which was in december, now to find time to go do it :???:


Yeah that is a very "old" software related problem in the Cooper/Cooper CVT. Our CVT used to do this to us when new and the problem was fully corrected last May when software CD 33.2 was installed. I will have the dealer update the CVT to CD 36 in the next few weeks.

 

depress clutch... rev it to 6000... put it in first... drop the clutch. That should heat things up beneath the bonnet. ... oh yeah, and hold on. Actually, it doesnt dip below 80F here so we don't have that problem.

 

The reason they say that in the manual is for the catyletic convertor to warm-up quicker and work at its effective heat range to stop toxins from entering the atmosphere. I usually let mine sit for about 30-45 seconds before I get going and then I never go past 3,000 rpm until a few minutes after the water temp has reached proper operating temp.

 

>>depress clutch... rev it to 6000... put it in first... drop the clutch. That should heat things up beneath the bonnet. ... oh yeah, and hold on. Actually, it doesnt dip below 80F here so we don't have that problem.


Where are you in Miami?

Minis of Miami would like to invite you to participate in our weekly Thrusday night meet, tonight @ 8PM sharp in the parking lot in front of "Best Buy" store located in West Kendall (Kendall Dr SW 88th Street a few blocks before SW 127th Avenue going in a west direction)


If you would like more info, please send me a PM.


See you there!

 

Today's line of thinking is, go ahead and start driving it when you start it up. Don't put a "load" on it until it hits normal operating temps. Letting it sit and warm up is just wasting fuel. If it wants to stall, something is wrong with it. Any "new" car these days should be driveable as soon as it is cranked up. The important thing is, just go easy on it until it warms up. Just my opinion.
MB

 

>>The owner's manual clearly warns against letting the car "warm up" when cold and to drive right away after turning on the engine. Reason? I have no idea.
>>
>>Maybe MINIDIVISION can help us answer this question

I am a slave to my shifter cables being frozen. While I wait...and wait...and wait for those to come in I have at least a 10 min warm up.

 

I believe that the reason you're not supposed to let a car warm up is because it's bad for the engine. Reason being is that all of the oil has settled into the oil pan and that the parts that need to be lubricated have dried up – to a point. So if you just idle, the parts that need to get the lubrication aren't getting it as quickly as they would if you were in gear. So potentially you could be getting metal to metal contact. Now this is what my autos teacher told me in high school and I haven't been in high school for like 13 years and cars have advanced beyond that of of the late 80's so basically I could just be talking out of my neck. I don't know for sure. I personally let the car warm up for a few seconds and throw it into gear. I haven't had any problems yet. Yet. :smile:

 

Jack Daniels or Old Grandad always warms ME up...

...Me and a side of Captain Morgan always warms the ladies up :smile:

 

grab a hair dryer, warm that sucker right up.

Hey, makes me think of an engine block heater, hmmmmm

 

>>>>The owner's manual clearly warns against letting the car "warm up" when cold and to drive right away after turning on the engine. Reason? I have no idea.
>>>>
>>>>Maybe MINIDIVISION can help us answer this question
>>
>>I am a slave to my shifter cables being frozen. While I wait...and wait...and wait for those to come in I have at least a 10 min warm up.

You had frozen shifter cables too? Thought I was a loner!

Mine froze right at the beginning of winter, when the temp dipped to -10C. Weird I thought, and called my dealer. They said see if it does it again. It did. Then they said let ir run for a couple minutes. I did, and they were still frozen solid. They replaced the cables.

As you can see by the pic below, it gets MIGHTY cold in my parts

 

>>I believe that the reason you're not supposed to let a car warm up is because it's bad for the engine. Reason being is that all of the oil has settled into the oil pan and that the parts that need to be lubricated have dried up – to a point. So if you just idle, the parts that need to get the lubrication aren't getting it as quickly as they would if you were in gear. So potentially you could be getting metal to metal contact. Now this is what my autos teacher told me in high school and I haven't been in high school for like 13 years and cars have advanced beyond that of of the late 80's so basically I could just be talking out of my neck. I don't know for sure. I personally let the car warm up for a few seconds and throw it into gear. I haven't had any problems yet. Yet. :smile:

So out of this thread we have two possibilities as to why you're not supposed to let the engine warm up--a) insufficient oiling (above) and, as ZAMIRZ posted, b) the catalytic converter.

I don't know which one is correct. If b, I'd say let the car warm up. I care a lot more about the health of the engine than the converter.

If a is indeed the official explanation, I think I'd want an additional explanation from someone knowledgable about the MINI engine as to why the oiling system either can't lubricate or shouldn't be able to lubricate the engine parts properly at idle, bearing in mind that we run synthetic oil. Does the oil pressure need to be higher from the start? If we're keeping it below 3000 under load until it warms up, is that making much of a difference?

I recall that the 351 Cleveland was known as a poor oiler 30+ years ago.

 

Letting a cold engine idle too long is not healthy for it. I let it idle for a minute, then just try to drive it gently until it warms up.

I had an electric dipstick for my 66 Mini, it warmed things up and insured the oil was getting around right away. But that really was an antique engine even then.

Regards,
Red

 

my MCS's been garaged for the last 3 weeks due to off/on snow.

I ocassionally start the car and let it idle for about 8-10min with
the AC on to cycle it. I blow a large fan into the radiator area
to keep temps lower. I would rev it 4-5 times to 3k rpm to rid
the water accumulation in the midpipe, let it idle for another
10sec or so and shut her off.

extra: then i roll her forward or aft a couple of feet inside the
garage to rid any flatspots on the tires. :smile:

I do the same thing on my weekend car too.

 

I start it and drive it. But a cold morning for me is 50.

I hate it when my wife starts her Civic in the morning and revs it a bunch then takes off. I've tried to tell her that I don't think reving is the way to let it warm up but...

 

In the winter months.....

I start my MCS....
let it warm up for a minimum..... of 15 minutes
with the heat/defroster/heated seats on....
then get in and drive away :smile:

It works for me

 

My take on why they don't want you to sit too long is that if the engine is fully warmed up, the trans and other components are not. The engine is putting out its full amount of power, but the trans oil, wheel bearings, etc., is still thic or cold.

By driving within a minute or two, the drive train warms up as a whole more evenly, and is less stressful on the car.

 

I let my car warm up for 2 or 3 minutes. There is no way I could just drive off cold without it wanting to stall. i suspect that you SHOULD be able to just zip off like "regular" cars do, but that fact that there is a question about this at all makes me wonder. My previous cars were get in and go, if I warmed them up at all it was to just get some heat in there.

 

drive it like you stole it
(that will warm it up)

 

Summer or winter, my procedure the same.
1. Turn key on, wait for dash lights and ABS pump to cycle.
2. Depress clutch, start engine.
3. Make sure trans out of gear, slowly release clutch.
4. Wait about 30 seconds while scanning dash for indicator lights while at the same
time putting on seat belts.
5. Depress clutch, put it in gear and drive off.
6. Avoid exceeding 3000 rpm unitl up to normal tempature. (coolant will get up to temp befor the oil)

 

This "procedure" of driving right off was in response to EPA concerns. It's not oil starvation - the bmw manuals say the same thing and if you don't have oil in the vanos units, you know right away. I hardly think warming an engine up for a minute or two is going to hurt it. On the other hand, they have improved engine designs a lot over the past 20 years - perhaps to the extent that warming up doesn't provide as much benefit as it used to.

On the other hand, oil does flow more slowly at idle and it doesn't warm up much, so an extended warm up period probably doesn't do any good.

Personally, I won't drive an engine that is still in full "choke" mode. I wait until the idle drops at least the first step and then drive gently for 15 mins or so.

I have noticed that this engine will have the coolant at normal operating temperature before it drops the idle all the way down to normal . . . I don't wait that long in this car. I do in the others, but they drop pretty quickly.

 

I crank it up! Turn on the seat heaters & off I go! I've never had a car that warm's up & takes off like the MINI does. It doesn't stall or give me any problems what so ever. What can I say!!!


Lois