I start it, get settled in the truck, and when the rpms go down, put it in gear and go.. About a minute or so...

Do this in Winter, Summer, just before I'm going to pull out with the trailer..

When you start driving, it's going to warm up faster in 5 minutes then it will in 10-15 minutes of idling.

The only cars I've let idle for any length of time in the cold was my old carbureted ones. Took that long for it get to a stage where it wouldn't die.. (these were old cars BTW...)

Anyway, all my cold starts in the F150 and any other FI engine is to start it, get settled, rpms go down and then go. 219,000 miles, never any sludge issues (there is another post recently talking about this guys experience with this and he was a 'start and idle for 5 minute guy')

Do whatever makes you feel right about the situation however... The opinions of an internet forum should only be taken as lightly as what that opinion cost you..

Mitch

 

The major problem with cold starting is the wear on the cams and valve train.
When I was in school, shell sent us a vhs (remember vhs kids ) on different weight oils vs cold temps. They had 3 of the exact motors with clear valve covers runing 15w 5w and 0w at -20F and timed how long it took the oil to reach the cam. The 0 weight took 2 minutes, the 5 took 7 min and the 15 weight took a crazy 25 minutes to reach the cam.

So take it as you will, I let my truck warm up in the colder temps but if you dont have time I wouldnt be rodding on her

 

When the RPMs settle to idle speed I am out of there. No warm up needed.

 

I think it's more important to defrost those windows, no matter how long it takes. Mine is parked in a garage, and I start right off - no waiting, but I will admit it takes a few seconds to get my seat belt on, and a few more to back out of the garage and then push the button to close the door, watch it to make sure it closes. This could all add up to more than 30 seconds before I ever hit the gas pedal.

I believe those cams are still lubricated by a thin layer of cold oil left behind.

 

Hmmm....Maybe i screwed my motor up then....

 

^ This ^

 

Wow....just WOW!. And here I thought a lot of you had a clue about engine technologies. NEVER start and idle a cold engine for longer than 30 seconds....unless you just like doing damage to engine components. These are fuel injected engines, there is no carb or choke. The injectors are controlled by the computer to spray more fuel into the cylinders when cold. Not all of the fuel is vaporized and some of it condenses on the cylinder walls. That means that it is being washed into the oil. Ever seen an oil report with high fuel in the report- here's the number 1 reason why. You also have emissions systems that depend on heat for them to work. Idling means the engine and components will warm up slowly, just exactly what you don't want. The converters MUST have high heat exhaust to make them work and to keep them clean. Idling, which doe not burn all of the fuel when cold, will harm and eventually kill a converter because it does not yield high exhaust temps. Start the engine, wait 30 seconds at most, put in gear and drive gently. No full throttle starts or major rpms until you see the heat of some kind on the temp gauge.

This ranks right up there with the moron that used a gallon of water and a cup of Dawn to flush the crankcase on his Hemi. There is nothing accurate about this at all. Shifty, do yer self a favor and never repeat this. I have no clue who gave you this info but you need to be more particular about the friends you keep. If anybody thinks an OHC engine will last minutes without MAJOR damage, I have some ocean front property for you in Arizona.

 

I agree 100% !! 30 sec. tops just to get the oil circulating good..then be sure to drive far enough to burn off the condensation that will accumulate in the engine during cold weather

 

OMG!!! im surprised my engine hasnt blown up yet, i mean, there are MILLIONS OF PEOPLE who do that to their engines EVERYDAY and they still last HUNDRED OF THOUSANDS OF MILES!!!

 

It was a Shell Canada video my friend, it was to advertise their 0 weight oil for use in cold temps. I never said the motor will calf if not warmed/idled for a period of time. Yes you can drive off as soon as the starter disengages, all I said I wouldnt be hammering the throttle right off the hop and that at -20F oil viscosity is thicker than at plus 20F.
Ill let my truck warm up in -30F temps so my 2 kids under the age of 2 are comfortable in the cab and the frost has somewhat left the windshield.

 

No, it wasn't. Nobody at shell is stupid enough to make any comments even close to that. You may have misunderstood minutes for seconds. No engine will live for minutes with repeated lack of lube. The oil system on a Triton pressurizes in milliseconds to close to 100lbs cold depending on the CCS of the oil. Lubrication is almost immediate and is designed to perform function in milliseconds, not minutes.

And yet this forum and many others on the net are full of people with sludge issues, excessive oil burning, engines that misses but can't understand why the cats would have anything to do with it, why the valve train makes noise. Yeah, intelligent commentary there.

 

Ok ok, we get it!!

Thanks Labnerd, that's why I posted this because I've heard 2 sides of the story. Now I know to quit letting it idle thinkin I'm helping it.

Thanks again, you always have the info!!

 

I think we need to keep this in perspective. Today's engines allow less blow-by than your Grandfathers 66 Oldsmobile no matter how you warm it up an drive it. Plus today we have Auto-Rx available which I believe will dissolve away all the problems of idling a cold engine. There's less you can do wrong with today's engines. The point is this. The best way to warm up a cold engine is with normal driving, and WOT is not normal. Even if you normally drive that way, that does not make it normal. On the other hand, defrosting the windows is very normal, and warming it up for your wife's butt just to keep her happy, or for the kiddies, is as normal as it gets. It's a part of the things we do to provide for our families, but when I get off from work I'm by myself, and even though it's cold, the sun has been shining on my truck all day, and the windows are all clear, I start the engine, put in my seat belt, and I'm shifting into drive and I'm gone.

 

Im the "start and idle 5 minutes guy" that your refering too. I am gonna have to disagree with people saying that idling for 5 is bad. I have ALWAYS idled in the winter to warm my vehicles. My sludge situation has two factors that are different from any other vehicle/situation that I have ever ran before-
1- Motorcraft oil. I cant say this is directly related to the issue, but I have never used it til this truck. However, a TON of people on here use it without issue.
2- Laid off last spring and still not working. Now how that fits in is this- I dont drive to work no more and we only live a mile from my daughters school. I wake up, get her ready, warm the truck, take her to school (2 mile round trip), come home and shut the truck down. And from all the research that I have done, #2 IS my issue!

The reason that I make sure to clear that up is this, I have a buddy who has a 94 F150, 5.0 V8. He has owned it for 15 years. He warms his truck up EVERYDAY in winter, and lets it at least idle down is summer. The highest mileage vehicle I have ever owned is my Explorer which currently has 160,000 on the clock. That gets warmed up every day. And actually does the same routine the truck used to 85% of the time, and has no issues (not even sludge).

 

You seem smart and informed about the situation. You dont need to act like we are "beneath you" over it though. On a side note, I dont know how much life you are taking away by idling for longer than 30 seconds, but for me its worth the comfort. Besides, I usually trade LONG before I have high enough mileage for the issues to start (like the 260k+ issue free miles my buddy has on his truck). Hopefully some nice guy like yourself is the one that buys my mistreated truck, so you can reverse all the damage I have done and maybe even tear it down and prove I was wrong.