why are Californians still warming up their cars? I thought that was no longer necessary.

[Liberal_in_LA]

comment after article: WTF, this isn't Minnesota in winter. Get in your car start it and drive conservatively for the first couple minutes while it warms up. It will save you gas, $$, and make it harder to steal your car.


Fremont thieves drive off in 2 idling cars


(05-21) 11:54 PDT FREMONT -- Thieves stole two unattended cars that were being warmed up in Fremont driveways Tuesday morning, police said.

The first theft happened about 5 a.m. on the 4100 block of Redstone Terrace when thieves made off with a 2002 Mercedes C32. The car was found 45 minutes later, abandoned several miles away at Cherry Street and Dairy Avenue in Newark, said Geneva Bosques, a Fremont police spokeswoman.

Shortly before 6:30 a.m., a 2008 Toyota Tundra was stolen on the 32400 block of Lake Temescal Lane, about two miles from the site of the first theft. It is still missing.

----------------------------------------

Police warn that drivers should not leave their cars unattended while idling.

On March 25, a woman stole a Jeep Liberty being warmed up in the driveway of a San Jose home - apparently unaware that an 11-month-old girl was sitting in the backseat. The SUV was found abandoned several hours later with the girl still inside, unharmed.

A suspect, 30-year-old Karla Hernandez of San Jose, was later arrested.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Fremont-thieves-drive-off-in-2-idling-cars-4535443.php#ixzz2TyYQO5d3

[Jenoch]

1. Not to mention that it is illegal

to leave a car running unattended in your driveway in Minneapolis and St. Paul, even when it's -5 and the car does need to be warmed up.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. back in the 80s, I recall folks starting their big giant 80s cars in the morning, going back in

for breakfast. This was in California.

[Jenoch]

4. Were they doing that to get the AC going full blast?

Today's cars have engines that do not need to be 'warmed up', except maybe for the extreme cold such as below zero.

[Prism]

3. It can be quite chilly in the morning

I don't warm up my car, but sometimes it takes a minute to get the defrost to clear up the windows in the very early morning.

[Xithras]

10. Yep. All the way down in the 50's this week.

I think it was in the barely-tolerable mid-50's when I got into my car this morning.

California standards: Brr.

[Prism]

14. This state has ruined my immunity!

I spent the majority of my life enduring Chicago winter. Now I become a human rotisserie in front of the furnace if the air has the gall to drop anywhere below tepid =)

[REP]

5. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the defroster to clear the windows, but I'm in the car

I NEVER leave my car running and unattended. Hell, I hate to be very far from it when it's off!

[1-Old-Man]

6. There are some very good reasons to let an engine warm

There are lots and lots of parts that are made of different sorts of metals and plastics in that engine that change size a very little bit as the temperature of the engine comes up to its operating temperature and they expand at different rates. So when you first start up the engine they don't fit together exactly as they will after it warms. By not putting the pressures of use on the engine during that warming period you decrease wear on the parts. So that's one thing. The other is that it takes just a little bit for oil to get flowing through all the little nooks and crannies (galleries, passageways, and small orifices actually) so they can be properly lubricated, cooled, and for some parts sealed as well. All in all its still a good idea to give it at least a little bit of a warm-up before you head on out; thirty seconds, a minute, it all helps.

[Xithras]

13. 15 seconds, tops.

What you're saying was once true, but it's not anymore. Old engines had a lot of "slop" to deal with metal expansion, so you had to let them warm up. Modern engines are built to much tighter specifications and are DELIBERATELY engineered to expand from cold to warm at roughly the same rate. Very few modern cars (and by modern, I mean anything newer than the mid 90's) need to warm up.

In truth, modern cars actually wear out FASTER if you let them warm up before driving. Fuel injection systems compensate for low block temperatures by dumping in more fuel. That leads to build-up in the engines, and will eventually plug the catalytic converter (the cat doesn't operate properly until its hot). The faster you get your engine warmed up, the sooner it will begin to run more efficiently, and the longer it will last. An idling car takes a long time to warm up, while a driven car warms up in a fraction of the time. Ergo, driving a modern car with a cold engine actually helps the engine last longer (I wouldn't recommend racing the engine, but normal driving beats idling).

A modern car that has only been sitting overnight, or during the day while you're at work, will pump oil from the sump to the valves in a matter of seconds. If it's very cold, or the car has been sitting for an extended period, it may take 10-15 seconds for the oil to fully circulate through the engine. It IS a good idea to let the engine lubricate before adding any load, but that simply means a warm-up time of between 5 and 15 seconds. Anything beyond that, in any modern car, is counterproductive, adds extra pollytion to the air, and is a waste of time.

[Earth_First]

7. Why are folks 'warming up a vehicle' in mid-fifty degree weather?

55 is shorts an shirt sleeve weather!

[Cleita]

9. We get below 30 degrees at night here often even on the coast. n/t

[Xithras]

11. Just looked it up.

Fremont has been mid-40's at the lowest for weeks. And that's long before dawn. It's been over 50 by the time for the morning commute.

[Cleita]

8. Because they are stupid. Are they elderly?

My neighbor once asked me why my son-in-law ran his 1956 Chevy on the mornings he drove it to work. I explained to him that old cars had to be warmed up before they could be driven back in the day. He didn't even know that until I told him, so these must be old people who didn't get the memo.

[Travis_0004]

12. I let my car idle for a few minutes at 5pm before loosing work

If its a sunny day, and the car is 100+, I can hit the remote start button, and let the AC kick in, and cool the car down.

Of course with a remote start, it would be impossible to steal. If you drop the E brake or start moving without putting the key in, the car will turn off.

[kentauros]

15. Whereas, I'll happily sit in my baking car,

windows rolled up, doors closed, and the engine off for several minutes to soak up that wonderful sauna-like heat after spending a day in a walk-in refrigerator of an office building. Ahhhhhhh!