Warming it up!

[blink]

its been said by alot of the older racers ive met you want from 2-2.5 minutes of warm up per cylinder so about 12 minutes minimum

Don't all the cylinders warm up at once?

[blink]

Yeah I think i will have to just use my auto starter that the old owner claimed just needs batteries =p

some japanese starter

[Skym]

Does anyone remember manual chokes, where you press knob in on dash while engine is warming up, before driving (some might have driven car, pressed knob in while driving)?? With invention of auto choke (IACV), more people started driving while engine was warming up.

[TheHire]

I start it up and let it idle until I see the temp gauge start moving (give or take 5-6 minutes). The car feels like crap if I start up and start driving immediately.

Ya pretty much the same here.

On my previous little 250hp Honda, in warm weather minimum 5 mins until the Defi water temp guage started to move and in winter weather at least 10 mins.

No vtec / high revs until water temp guage was at full normal operating temp.

I will continue to do the same when I finally get my skyline.

[jimBNR32]

Are these answers regarding idling, or warming the car up on the road?
Some answers are a little misleading.

Would be more sensible if people answered

30secs idling, straight out on the road (3k rev limit)
After 10mins oil temp to 50/60c (4k rev limit, introduce some load/boost)
15mins oil temp over 75c, give it some boost and more revs.

[Skym]

On the road -

Warm engine up for 9.60 minutes (idle) on turbo timer (most turbo timers have a 9.60 minute feature).
Drive off boost (0 on boost gauge is around 2500rpm) for 1-2km to warmup gearbox, diffhead, etc.
Drive normally.

Racecar -

Airjacks to raise car off ground and warm engine up.
Then put into gear, spin wheels to warmup diffhead, gearbox, etc.
Drive on racetrack for 1 lap (warmup lap), then thrash it the next lap.

Warming engine up on airjacks -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Cye0GG4TI

[TheHire]

Now that I got my GTST I wait till the coolant temp is at least 40C before driving... About 10mins in winter.

And I take it easy on the car until it gets up to operating temp of 76C.


I was wondering though.... How long should i let it idle before turning the vehicle off? Regarding the turbo bearing damage.

[Skym]

After driving hard on dragstrip, racetrack, etc (usually have an engine oilcooler) it just needs time to drop oiltemps to safe oiltemp (can see via a aftermarket oiltemp gauge) before turning engine off.

If oiltemps are too high (even when thrashing on racetrack) the oil can create deposits that clog oilways to bearings in turbo. Safe oiltemp is usually under 100 degrees C. On some racecars oiltemps can reach max of 90 degrees C at end of main straight. But safe oiltemp can depend on what oil you are running (W30, W40, W50, etc) and what oiltemp it breaks down at. A lightly modified (intake, exhaust, FMIC with stock ECU tune, so fairly lean) RB20DET can reach 90 degrees C with oiltemps after a drive on road (no oilcooler).

My cars auto turbo timer works it out to around 1:30 most times and that's avoiding boost (under 0 on boost gauge) for most of trip (It's got enough pickup offboost, just alot quicker on boost).

[TheHire]

After driving hard on dragstrip, racetrack, etc (usually have an engine oilcooler) it just needs time to drop oiltemps to safe oiltemp (can see via a aftermarket oiltemp gauge) before turning engine off.

If oiltemps are too high (even when thrashing on racetrack) the oil can create deposits that clog oilways to bearings in turbo. Safe oiltemp is usually under 100 degrees C. On some racecars oiltemps can reach max of 90 degrees C at end of main straight. But safe oiltemp can depend on what oil you are running (W30, W40, W50, etc) and what oiltemp it breaks down at. A lightly modified (intake, exhaust, FMIC with stock ECU tune, so fairly lean) RB20DET can reach 90 degrees C with oiltemps after a drive on road (no oilcooler).

My cars auto turbo timer works it out to around 1:30 most times and that's avoiding boost (under 0 on boost gauge) for most of trip (It's got enough pickup offboost, just alot quicker on boost).

Thanks for the reply!

I've been letting it idle for about a minute or two before I shut it off when parking, and I baby the car quite abit when I drive it. Haven't really even had it in high rpms yet since I bought it. It's a 4 door, so it's a nice cruiser. Don't really feel the need to flog it.

The turbo timer that came on the car is turned off atm... But with what your saying and the way I drive the car I may not need to worry about using the timer.

[Skym]

You're welcome. Some factory Skylines had a inbuilt turbo timer on dash (in one of square little panels next to steering wheel with a turbo symbol on it. Same turbo symbol as what you see on stock boost gauge), but I think was an option at factory.