8 Dec 2010
Do you need to warm a diesel car engine before driving off?
Author: admin | Filed under: MotorsMy husband has just bought a diesel car and before we can drive off anywhere he insists on sitting for a good 5 minutes or more to “warm up the engine”. Is it really necessary or is he just being annoying?
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My whole family drives diesel cars and we don’t sit for 5 mins at a time we wait a couple of seconds for light to come on (i’ll find out which one and get back to you on that) but as far as i know not for 5 mins at a time i think he just taking the mick lol
He’s just being annoying. Both me and my partner have diesel cars and they don’t need to be warmed up. He’s just trying the whole ‘man knows about cars thing’.
God forbid that a woman should tell him otherwise!
No , just turn the key and away !!
No,the car is not designed to sit with no cooling.You should just get in and drive off,obviously if you want to look after it then keep the revs low for the first 5-10 mins of driving.To let the oil circulate properly
no just make sure the heater plugs are set.when you turn on the ignition,wait for the little light that looks like a coil(spring)to go out.
annoying! just drive away, you don’t have to wait at all.
no…wait for the glow plug light to go out and start the car and drive away….
He has the wrong end of the stick!
When you turn the key, there is a little light which probably looks like a coil. This heats up the diesel and you need to wait for it to go off before you start the engine (this takes just a few seconds).
After that yuo are good to go.
In fact, just sitting there with the engire running is not doig your car much good as it is not being cooled, and you are just polluting the environment for no reason.
it’s best for any car engine to ‘warm up’ for a couple of minutes before it’s first trip each day.
no he is just acclimatising himself for the occasion-was he a little bit slow in school
Totally unnecessary for any engine that’s in good nick. Just drive off as soon as it’s running properly, but be kind to it to start with, ie. avoid full-throttle takeoffs etc. It’ll warm up better that way, the way it’s supposed to.
I had heard from a diesel 4WD enthusiast that 5 mins rest should be done in conjunction with a minimum 15 mins of driving to give the injectors time to burn excess corrosive substances in the diesel. Short trips in diesels can be bad news, but that may have all changed with the new generation direct-injection-diesel motors.
Read the owner’s manual.
In any modern car it will say that you should drive off immediately, to save fuel and to minimise total wear on the engine.
In extremely low temperatures (below -20°C) it might be necessary to sit with the engine running for a while, to bring the cabin up to a bearable temperature and defrost the glass, before driving off.
I wish people who are not qualified technicians or have not read vehicle handbooks would stop giving opinions on here. It is not good for any type of engine to delay driving off after starting. If you want long engine life and especially economy, just avoid hard acceleration at all times. Finally cheap engine oils are a false economy.
Ex technician and race engine builder.
I saw thousands of them a day before I retired and when they came off the end of the line, I don’t remember them sitting there for any time at all. Once the engine fired, they put it in gear and drove it off the line.
I don’t think it hurts to give it about 10-15 seconds to get the oil flowing and give the turbo a little time to spool up to speed.
Good luck
5 minutes is excessive for a cold engine. Just allow long enough for the oil to start circulating but you should remember not to put any strain on the engine by hard acceleration till you see the temperature gauge has come up. A more important point if your car is a turbo diesel is to give it 5 minutes when you end your journey.The turbocharger revs much faster than the engine and the bearing inside needs to cool and get fresh oil through it otherwise burnt deposits will form which will shorten the turbo’s life significantly.
newer diesels do not need warming up, just start it up and go
tell him how much it costs he might stop doing it.
there shud be an orange lite that cums on in your dash to let you know that the glow plugs are heating it goes out in a few secs then you can drive……..if car is turbo dsl when stopping after long drive allow a min be4 turning off car to avoid blowing ur turbo….well at least this is what i was told dont know how true it all is…………..
just wait for your glowplug light to go out( the one that looks like a coil) and then drive.
You are both right.
He is annoying but there is some logic. It takes time for the engine catalyst to heat up to an operating temperature, this heat up period is where almost all the Nitric Oxide and Carbon Monoxide are emitted from your engine. It heats up faster if you drive but during that time more pollution is pumped out. So there is no real clear winning solution.
Older diesels needed to be given time to warm up particularly on colder days. Modern engines are much better and it is not necessary unless it is a very very cold day. It is also a waste of fuel.
Engine wear is also important and is worse if the engine is cooler. There is no easy engineering answer to the question both sides have benefits, I suppose if you drive smoothly and dont rev the engine too hard for the first few minutes there is no argument for waiting 5 minutes. It is just too annoying.