"Frost and sun is a wonderful day" - it is immediately clear that these lines were not written by a motorist. After all, even a novice driver knows about the problems that can be expected from frost when there is a need to start the engine of a frozen car. This is especially true when a person is late somewhere.
And then the question of how to warm up the car faster in winter is literally an edge. In our article, we will provide recommendations aimed at helping those drivers who often have to deal with this problem.
Why you need to warm up the engine
There is no unequivocal opinion on whether there is an urgent need to preheat a car engine before it reaches operating temperature or not, does not exist in nature. However, we tend to be of the opinion that this procedure is necessary. And to substantiate our opinion, we give the following arguments.
- Anyone engine oil tends to thicken at negative temperatures, and this negatively affects its lubricating characteristics, which can lead to premature wear of engine components and parts. This statement is doubly true when the car immediately starts to run at higher revs. Warmed up to optimal temperature the oil again becomes optimally viscous and efficiently lubricates all units and parts.
- On a frozen engine, the clearances between individual parts do not meet the standards. And this again leads to their accelerated wear. The clearances are normalized only after reaching the recommended temperature level.
- The mode of operation of a cold engine is not stable. And this is noticeable on almost all brands of cars, regardless of whether they are equipped with carburetors or the most modern systems fuel injection... As a result, the engine starts to "sneeze", it has a decrease in dynamics and throttle response.
- When driving with an insufficiently warmed up engine, increased consumption fuel due to insufficiently high temperature air-fuel mixture.
The car must be warmed up correctly in winter
When the engine warms up, it should work at idle speed, that is, without applying loads to it that are created during driving. In order to start the car in winter, it is necessary to set the gearshift lever to the neutral position and depress the clutch pedal, which is slowly released after the car engine starts to work.
After that, you need to wait a certain amount of time for the engine to reach operating temperature. In order to speed up this process, you can connect maximum amount energy-intensive consumers, such as high beam headlights and interior heating. This increases the load on the generator, which also helps to speed up the heating process.
This time can be used to remove snow from the surface of the car, its glass and headlights. But even after waiting for the temperature indicator of the engine to reach the operating indicator, you should not move abruptly from a place, but you should do it smoothly. The need for this is due to the fact that the oil in the gearbox is also in a cooled state and it will be better if it gradually reaches the operating temperature.
How to warm up the car faster in winter
To ensure effective and quick warm-up cars in winter time the use of such devices is recommended:
- heating element;
- electric heating pre-heater;
- thermal accumulator;
- heater for fuel lines;
- pre-launch liquid heater;
Heating elements
Finding an element for heating oil in the oil pan is quite difficult, since it is already a rarity. It was first mounted on military vehicles, and it worked from an onboard battery. With its help, before starting the engine, the oil in the oil pan was heated. True, I must say that at the same time a rather serious battery discharge occurred, which is already quite weakened by the effects of negative temperatures.
Prestarting electric heaters
The use of a pre-starting electric heater, which is connected to the power supply through an ordinary household outlet, will allow the engine coolant to be heated up to required level temperature. True, for this he will need at least three hours, during which it is not recommended to leave the device unattended.
Thermoaccumulators
Installing a thermal accumulator on a car will save time for warming up car engine those who have to use the machine constantly. During the operation of the engine in a special device, which is commonly called a thermos, antifreeze accumulates, which has an operating temperature. At the time of launch, this antifreeze is pumped into the cooling system, due to which the total temperature of the liquid located there rises by fifteen degrees. And this, of course, provides an easier engine start and accelerated warm-up.
Automated fuel line heaters
Due to the automated fuel line heaters, the fuel fluidity is improved, the flammability of the air-fuel mixture, as well as its volatility, increases. It removes the frost formed in fuel system in the process with gasoline, especially if it is not of very high quality. Highly good result can be achieved if you use this device in conjunction with a thermal accumulator.
Prestarting liquid heaters
The use of a pre-starting liquid heater makes it possible to warm up the antifreeze due to the combustion of the air-fuel mixture in its chamber. The heated liquid enters the system using a pump, which allows you to warm up the car in winter for sixty minutes, or even faster. It is possible to program the start time of the system, as well as to control it remotely.
After reaching a temperature of about 85 ° C, the system begins to work in standby mode. As soon as the temperature drops below the set parameter, the heating is switched on again. Some attribute the presence of additional fuel consumption to the negative characteristics of this system. But they do not take into account the fact that the system will need no more than one liter per hour to operate, while in order to start and then warm up a cold engine, it will take about two liters.
How long is it advisable to warm up the engine
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Ambient temperature indicator (degrees Celsius) |
Car warm-up duration |
Justification |
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At this temperature, the glass of the car is not yet coated, so there is no need for prolonged heating |
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This time is quite enough for the engine to reach operating temperature in such a frost. |
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from -10 to -20 |
Such frost covers the windows of the car with ice, which must thaw for safe movement. |
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Normal warming up of the car in such frost occurs depending on the technical condition the car is located. |
In conclusion, we can say that the most the best option car operation at negative temperatures is one in which the driver warms up the engine for three to five minutes. After that, a smooth movement begins, excluding sharp accelerations and engine cranking above 2000 rpm. And you should move in this mode until the temperature level reaches 80-90 degrees.
For a long time, there has been a question among motorists - why warm up the car and should it be done at all? Of course, there are both supporters of this procedure and opponents - quite a typical situation. We will delve deeper into this issue and talk about whether it is necessary to warm up the car not only in winter, but also in summer?
Even fathers and grandfathers taught us that in order to extend the engine life, it must be warmed up before driving. But that was at a time when all cars were equipped with carburetors. What is the situation today?
The warm-up problem was not related to the engine, but to its working fluids, i.e. to the oil. The fact is that in winter the oil thickens and in order for it to acquire the required consistency again, it is necessary to warm up the engine.
How long to warm up the car?
Despite the fact that each machine has its own, separate recommendations, a general parameter can be distinguished. IN summer time warming up should be carried out for 30 seconds; in winter, the interval ranges from 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how low the air temperature drops.
A different answer to the question: how long should the car be warmed up? - can be built as follows: ideally, the engine must be warmed up to operating temperature, or at least up to 50 degrees. This is the same 3-5 minutes in winter, or 30 seconds in summer. During this period, the oil liquefies and again begins to fully circulate through the engine channels.
We hope that we have been able to give an exhaustive answer to the question of how much to warm up the car.
How to properly warm up the car?
Warming up means that the engine runs on, that is, without the slightest load. To do this, you need to move the gearshift lever to the neutral position (if it is installed on the car, leave the lever in the Parking position) and start the car. While the car is warming up, you can inspect it, wipe and wipe the glass.
As soon as the engine has reached operating temperature, do not rush to immediately rush at full steam. The fact is that even after warming up, the engine needs a gentle mode, that is, work at low revs, smooth movement. You should, in the literal sense of the word, stroke the accelerator pedal, and not press it with your foot with all your might. Such gentle treatment is enough for the first couple of kilometers of the journey, then you can operate the car in standard mode.
So, we seem to have figured out the question of whether it is necessary to warm up the car in winter, but we will talk further about whether it is necessary to warm up the car in the summer.
Do I need to warm up my car in summer?
As we have already mentioned, in the summer, heating takes place within 30 seconds. More precisely, this procedure even warming up is difficult to call. The fact is that in the summer, the oil is already in a heated state, and provide the engine with a few seconds idle work it is necessary in order to have time to pass through all the channels and lubricate all the necessary parts that are in friction with each other.
Therefore, in the summer, warming up, as such, is not needed, you need to wait a few seconds until the oil begins to circulate, and that's it. There is also no need to wait for the engine to warm up to the desired temperature.
Thus, we considered with you whether such a procedure as warming up is necessary for modern cars. We have read the rules on how to warm up the car. We hope that we were able to provide answers to all your questions.
Remember, winter is just around the corner, start accustoming yourself to the fact that the engine must be warmed up to operating temperature and then the heart of your car will not junk for many years to come.
Most operating instructions modern machines it is said that you do not need to warm up the car before driving - oil and other liquids are evenly warmed up when driving on low revswithout causing damage to the car. However, servicemen warn that this advice does not apply to operation in cold weather. “There are several reasons to warm up the car for 5-10 minutes while you brush off the snow. Firstly, completely frozen gum will be covered with microcracks if you do not let them thaw. Secondly, liquids thicken in the cold, and it is better to let the engine oil and in the gearbox thin out a little.
The concept of "warming up the engine" originates from the middle of the last century. The fact is that cars of that time did not move until the engine warmed up to a certain temperature. In this case, the engine was warmed up at idle... To avoid failures and the slightest possibility of stopping the engine, the motorist has to wait a certain time for the engine to warm up to at least the minimum temperature.
Only after warming up, you can get under way without fear that the engine will stall. Modern cars not so sensitive to temperature drops. In order to start driving after a long stay, it is enough to wait 1-2 minutes for the engine to warm up, working at idle speed. But the answer to the question "to warm up or not to warm up the engine, and is it harmful to warm up the engine in cold weather at idle speed?" we haven't found it yet.
Manufacturers of foreign cars recommend warming up the engine on the fly. What is the reason for this instruction? First of all, this is due to environmental protection. When the engine is idling, there is a significant increase in fuel consumption. Running the engine in heating mode results in exhaust gases with a high content of harmful compounds.
But there is a certain list of conditions under which you can start driving without waiting for the engine to heat up to operating temperature. These conditions in no way lead to a reduction in the service life, otherwise the manufacturers would not recommend such actions. After all, manufacturers are not interested in the quick breakdown of parts, since it acts warranty period, and the reputation of manufacturers is also dear. Their profit depends on demand.
Running the engine at idle speed leads to rapid ignition of air - fuel mixtureand this leads to engine pollution. When the engine warms up while driving, it heats up faster to the required temperature, and the operating time in extreme conditions is significantly reduced.
If you have made a decision not to warm up the engine at idle in cold weather, then you must follow some rules that must be skillfully applied when warming up the car on the move.
The use of expensive synthetic oil.
Warming up the car on the move is carried out only under the condition of using oil filled into the engine with a high viscosity index. If the oil does not retain its fluidity, then when the engine is not heated, it will not be able to fill the necessary channels in the shortest time. This, in turn, is fraught with the formation of scoring on the working surface. In any operating mode of the engine, the oil ages rapidly. In winter, it is recommended to use expensive and quality oilsince in winter period the oil works faster and turns into an aggressive liquid. This has a detrimental effect on the condition and operation of the engine.
Smooth movement, no jerking.
The engine warms up to a minimum temperature (+ 40C) in a fairly short period of time. This interval is sufficient to drive out of the garage or parking space. It is advisable to go this short path at a low speed, keeping the engine stable at medium speeds.
Also, do not sharply accelerate or brake. This leaves a negative imprint not only on the operation of the engine, but also on the operation and condition of the chassis and gearbox assemblies. A sharp change in mode with an unheated engine leads to accelerated wear of mating parts and working fluid... The fact is that the mating parts need some time to thermal clearances completely bounced back. With a sharp change in modes and aggressive driving with an unheated engine, oil consumption increases noticeably. Also, this driving style can lead to bedding piston rings... Winter conditions also negatively affect the running gear, or rather the hydraulic elements (shock absorbers and steering racks). The liquid inside the hydraulic assemblies must be heated to a certain temperature. Only after warming up is it possible to operate the hydraulic components at full strength. After a long parking of the car, after starting the engine, it is necessary to move carefully at a distance of about one kilometer, avoiding potholes on the roadway.
Cars with installed turbo diesel engines, it is not recommended to warm up on the go.
It's all about the turbine. Its inclusion is possible only at the required speed crankshaft... This frequency occurs at a fairly high speed... As mentioned above, on an unheated engine, you should not develop great speed, but it is necessary to move at low speed for some time. Driving with a car diesel engine when the turbine is not working, it will lead to rapid overheating of the engine, which will entail local overheating of the cylinder head and its warpage.
Do not warm up a car with a carburetor engine while driving.
It is believed that carburetor engine you cannot warm up on the go, since normal work it is achieved only at a certain heating temperature. But it is not so. If the carburetor and ignition system are in good working order, the number of revolutions can be adjusted by means of the air damper. In this case, the car will move without failures in 2-3 minutes. After this adjustment, a large amount of fuel will enter the engine, which will flush oil from the piston surface. As a result, dry friction will occur between the rings and the cylinder, which will lead to scoring. From this we can conclude: the carburetor engine is still inappropriate to warm up on the go. Better to warm up the engine in stationary at medium speed and periodically adjust the air supply.
The issue of comfort is also important. If it is freezing outside and the car has been parked for a long time, then it will be unbearably cold in the cabin and driving in such conditions is simply unbearable. So it is simply impossible to do without warming up the car in our climatic zone.
Even advanced technologies in the manufacture of engines and lubricants do not allow the car owner to refuse to warm up the engine in severe frost... In what way you will warm up - it's up to you. But it is worth calculating the time required to warm up the engine, taking into account its condition, the quality of the oil used and the availability of time.
A newcomer to the forum asked - "How does fugion behave in winter?" I hope he sees this post.
Overboard -22 (at night it was -27) Oil 10W30. The radiator grill is covered on the bumper
I did not close the hood grill. Blanket on the engine from priors, the edges are bent.
Approaching the house about a block away, he turned off the stove and slightly opened the window, as a result the glass did not become frosty. Do not forget to just raise the glass in the parking lot. Once I missed it, imperceptibly from under the visor, the wind blew into the cabin a snow-cool snow drift on the seat. In cold weather, it is better not to use the autostart, but to control the process personally (I was convinced myself when I activated the autostart approaching the car - poor starter teeth). In winter, the most important two things are not to plant the battery and not fill the candles. When replacing old, but still live candles, it is worth cleaning and carrying the kit with you, in case the candles become damp when starting up, and for drying, the battery charge is low for scrolling with a starter - candles drying mode. In the parking lot, you need to turn off all electrical consumers, drive the engine at medium speed to charge the battery. Do not turn on anything in winter when the car is not running, even the radio. A forgotten lamp in the passenger compartment that has been turned on for a long time can drain the battery to almost zero. And of course, all the jambs - cleaning the damper, interruptions, unstable speed must be eliminated before frost.
So at night it was -27, start the engine. We turn on the headlights for a few seconds - we warm up the battery electrolyte. We are waiting for 30 seconds for the charge to be restored. We squeeze the clutch so that the engine does not rotate the box and does not receive unnecessary load (auto start, by the way, the clutch will not squeeze out). We turn the starter for 5 seconds to disperse the oil, wait 30 seconds (though I started right away, but this is not the first winter). We turn on the starter again, it is possible for 7-10 seconds. It happens that the engine starts to seize but does not start.Do not turn it for a long time, fill in the candles and plant the battery and you may not have the next chance. Again, we wait for 30-40 seconds, on the third attempt the motor will start for sure, and if not, do not put the battery at the end, look for the reason (you can at least change the same candles and check the battery terminals for good contact, look at the caps and wires of the candles, and what else can you check in a modern car?) What to do if you put the battery down, I wrote in the article "Charger from improvised means": If you "light up", let the battery charge first, otherwise there were cases of failure of the donor's electronics. Ideally, charge the battery from the donor, remove the cigarette lighter wires and only then start. On a cold engine, the controller itself maintains an increased speed.
The movement can be started when the engine speed corresponds to idle (900), and the temperature sensor starts to move a couple of millimeters
But the article is not about how to start, but how to warm up the engine faster. Auto blanket is so that the engine does not cool down quickly, but it has already cooled down. Closed radiator grilles from the circulation of cold air, on standing car they do not give much, but when moving, the benefits from them are great. The main radiator is closed with a thermostat, if the latter is working properly. There is one more radiator - a heater radiator or stove in the people. Personally, I do the following. I put climate control to a minimum.
To prevent the windows from becoming indifferent from breathing, Soviet drivers opened the window (brrrr), I translate the selector to blow the windows
And turn on the ventilation
I am heated by purely heated seats. When driving under load, the engine warms up faster, closer to 70 degrees I translate the climate control selector to heat and turn off the air intake from the street
So that the frosty air does not pass through the radiator and the coolant temperature returns to normal faster. Of course, with such a circulation, the glasses will begin to fog up after a while, but by this point the engine usually has time to heat up and the air intake can be switched to normal mode. Why is it worth doing this? To quickly defrost the windows, and you are cold, you turn on the stove from which a little living air comes out. The engine does not warm up because antifreeze passes through the heater radiator and is driven through it cold air, the interior does not warm up because the engine cooling system is not gaining operating temperature. The conclusion is obvious, just a little patience so that the engine warms up faster and, as a result, you warm up the interior faster.
I always warm my car before the trip. For convenience, I start the engine from the signaling a few minutes before the exit (usually from 5 to 15). In very severe frosts (-25 and below), sometimes I run it 2 times. Also, in very severe frosts in the evening, I leave the car on periodic autostart, so that it can start in the morning and so that the morning cold start is not so difficult (and harmful) for the engine. Further point by point:
1. If you want to get into an already warm car in the morning, leave the stove in the on position. But not at the maximum, but at one (a strong stove blows cold longer, in fact, not warming up the interior and interfering with engine warming up). In this case, as a rule, I direct either legs + glass, or face + legs (the glass will warm up in the slightest degree from the air in the cabin to a state of transparency). I consider it undesirable to give a full stream to the glass purely from a practical point of view - if snow falls overnight, it will partially melt on the glass, and when you try to brush it off with wipers or a brush, part of it, once it gets into a still cold zone, will instantly freeze and stick. forming an ice crust, which can be removed only with a scraper, or wipers, but only after everything is completely warmed up windshield... And when the glass is cold, the snow is brushed off it easily and without residue.
2. When warming up the passenger compartment, it makes sense to leave the air recirculation button pressed. This will lead to the fact that the stove will take already partially heated air from the passenger compartment for heating, and not from the street. On my small car, the car warms up extremely slowly, so pressing this button can reduce the warm-up time of the cabin by 30 percent.
3. If there is a task to warm up the engine as quickly as possible, then it is better to turn off the stove altogether. With the stove off, the engine warms up (in my car) about 2 times faster. And only then, with a hot engine, you can quickly warm up the interior too, turning on the stove to the maximum, pointing at the face + legs, and internal recirculation to a pile. In this situation, it is better not to point at the glass so that it does not crack. It is important that from the point of view of the efficiency of heating, this option is more effective, when the stove is turned on only after the engine has warmed up. With this method, you can get hot engine and a warm interior in less time than if the stove is turned on from the very beginning. But, unfortunately, autorun does not know how to control the stove - so you have to turn on the stove while sitting in the car.
4. It is better to turn off the stove completely in severe frosts (at -18C and below). Since in severe frost the grease thickens in the stove fan, which can lead to overheating of the fan motor. This is my personal guess. In addition, when I turn on the stove to a cold one, I hear a certain bad sound from the stove, from which I understand that the stove is now very bad. And when the engine is warm, this sound from the stove when it is turned on appears only in the first 5-10 seconds, and then completely disappears.
5. Also, the stove should be turned off when using the periodic autostart function by timer or engine temperature. A switched off stove will allow the engine to warm up better in the allotted 15 minutes, which in turn will allow it to start less often, or start it less cold. Plus see point 4. I have no temperature trigger in the signaling, there is only a timer. When frosts are promised from -23 and below, I put the car on periodic autostart every 3 hours for 15 minutes. That is, the machine runs for 15 minutes, rests 2h45m, then again. This is enough for an easy launch at any temperature that only happens in our Urals.
6. For the winter, I cover the engine with an "auto-heat" blanket. I can't say that it somehow significantly accelerates the warm-up (it does not accelerate at all), but the engine cools down with it a little more slowly (by 20-30 percent). This is the only plus of this blanket. Also, sometimes, when I'm not lazy, for the winter I install a cardboard box in front of the radiator. It also cannot be said that this gave any really tangible results, but when the stove is turned on in frost, the engine cools less on the move. The main thing is not to forget to remove this cardboard later in the spring before it gets wet and turns into mush.
7. I try to have time to get into the car and insert the key before the autostart timer expires, so as not to start it again. If I didn't have time, then I start it off the key, at the same time I squeeze the clutch, and after starting, I release it smoothly. When warming up, I do not gas, I do not turn the steering wheel. I start moving slowly, slowly. If you need to turn around in the yard, then I do it slowly, turning the steering wheel smoothly. The first 5-10 minutes of driving on bumps I slow down to almost zero.
