Question

Should I let my car warm up for a few minutes in winter before driving off?

In the cold weather should I let my cars engine warm up before I drive off down the road or can I just start the engine and drive off?

Answer 1

In the winter time you should allow your engine to idle and warm up for at least a couple minutes before driving off.

If you drive off too soon without the engine warming up the engine oil can be too cold yet and thicker and not flowing as freely through the engine.

This results in poor lubrication of the engines bearings and other engine parts so you could have a spun bearing as a result or just lock the engine up.

Allowing the engine to warm up at idle for a few minutes allows the oil to get up to enough temperature to flow more freely so it lubricates the bearings and other components.

Then after a few minutes you can drive off easily but I would not push the engine too hard for at least 4 or 5 miles until the engine really gets up to temperature.

Allowing the engine to warm up for a few minutes also gets the engine coolant hot to allow the heater to begin working and also your defroster.