warming up your car..., its a bad thing Options

[macavely]

Ok I over heard some guys talking about how they have to warm up their cars. There isn't many things i know, but one thing i do know for sure is, warming up a car is a bad thing. Car engine belive me or not were never made to sit idle.

[aaronc222]

The reason I blew my first engine(well, only one I really blew myself, the GTS already had a blown head gasket) was not letting it warm up. I hit the highway before the needle was even touching the gauge part. Of course it was in KS in the middle of winter(15 degrees out), but I learned a very important lesson. The valve springs were too cold and broke free of the rocker arm, causing the stem of the valve to 'tap' the valve cover. Luckily I got out of it cheap and learned my lesson on a crappy Hyundai.

Between the clearances, fluid viscosity, and even variations in electrical charge between cold and warm, it's always best for the engine to at least give it 30-45 seconds before taking off(I always wait untill the needle is at least above the 'C'). Even if you don't let it warm up, at least give it time to circulate the oil back into the head(when the car is off it all seeps back down to the oil pan).

If warming it up was a bad thing, then my 7AFE would be toast by now. I've put 102k on it myself, and bought it with 89. That's 191,000 miles without a mechanical problem. And it still runs as strong as when I bought it. Sure it has to due with my maintenece schedule as well, but warming it up always helps.