GoPackGo wrote:
smkettner wrote:
WyoTraveler wrote:
So are you saying at 14 below zero just jump in and take off driving highway speeds is OK? I'm no engine professional but common sense tells me it isn't a good idea.
Start it up and drive at a moderate pace for best warm up.
If you are camped right on the on-ramp maybe 55-60 MPH is enough until you see the temp gauge move off the lower pin.
Engine will spend way less time being cold if you put it to work.
JMHO
Apparently you have not lived in a place where you had sustained temps below zero at night. Starting an engine in those temps is quite different even then in single digit temperatures. At 15 or 20 below zero, you will hear engine compartment noises that you've never heard before right after start-up. I'm pretty sure the engine would stall if I tried to start it at those temperatures and immediately put it in Drive. Just can't start em and drive em, although I have seen people try to do just that.
I once had a Toyota 4-cyl and remember driving to town via interstate one night in well below zero temperatures. After I got to town, I pulled up to a stop light and watched the coolant temp gauge as the needle started moving to the left. The air temperature was cold enough that the running engine could not keep the coolant at normal temps when stopped and waiting for the light to turn to green. Bigger V-8s probably would not have this problem.
I live in a place where there are sometimes sustained sub-zero nightime temperatures, and smketter's advice jives with my experience pretty well. Especially with fuel injection, an engine in halfway decent shape will be drivable within a half minute or so of starting, even in very cold conditions. Yes, there are noises that you don't hear in warmer temperatures (or as much), some from the engine and some from the rest of the car; but they'll go away much more quickly if the engine is operated under a modest load than left to idle away for a long time. Driving around local roads for a few minutes is sufficient.
Your Toyota probably had a defective thermostat that was partly stuck open, I suspect, or other similar problems with the cooling system. I took a memorable road trip in very cold weather in a car with the thermostat stuck open once. I ended up putting a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator and driving with my sleeping bag over my legs in an attempt to stay somewhat thawed.
