Flooring it from cold!

[Westicles]

just a noobish question, but can u damage your engine at all from flooring it from cold start?

ive read that the rev limiter is reduced when its cold to its hot., altho im not talking about flooring it to the rev limiter all the time, just thinking about when i give it some beans on my way back home from work etc...

 

[Ali]

Yeh it is reduced. 5.7k or something?! Same goes for most cars, i don't get any power until oil temp is about 50, optimum being 90...

batter on tho.

 

[aucky]

As I'm looking at keeping my car for a few years I'm pretty religious about being gentle with it when cold. Never sees above 3k til the needle is in the middle of the guage.

 

[Malachi]

I don't go past 2.5k... and it being all country roads in here Essex, it takes ages to get anywhere!

 

[Ali]

On a highly strung motor it's more important, for an RS, sure don't cain it, but you can drive it normally. It's not like a TVR where you have to do 2500rpm till it's 35deg, them 3500 till its 45deg etc etc.

 

[alex-avfc]

Taking it to 3-3.5k should be no problem, I wouldn't go chasing the limiter right after turning the key though!

 

[The Boosh!]

On a highly strung motor it's more important, for an RS, sure don't cain it, but you can drive it normally. It's not like a TVR where you have to do 2500rpm till it's 35deg, them 3500 till its 45deg etc etc.

I was always lead to belive it's not a good idea in any car.

Oil that isn't up to temp doesn't lubricate at it's peak efficiency or something!? Either way I'm really gentle with the car until its got a bit of heat in there.

 

[Ali]

I'm not sayin cain it...Chances are most people will turn the key and then commence driving in a 30mph limit...So you can't exactly cain it can you? Bit of common sense required and you'll be reet.

 

[Insideout]

Engine wear is increased if the oil isn't up to temp (which takes about an average of 7 minutes of normal driving I once read), but to be honest I've never driven my cars much different when they're cold to when they're warm.

Obviously don't go bouncing off the limiter ten seconds after starting it up on a frosty morning, but if you need to rev up to 5k to join a fast flowing road, it's not going to matter, for a few seconds.

You're not going to damage an engine by driving it in a 'sporty' manner when it's cold, you may increase the wear rate slightly though, but to be honest you won't own the car when that becomes an issue.

 

[Christopher]

Bear in mond that the Clio's temperature gauge is for water temperature.

Oil takes much longer to warm up.

 

[Insideout]

Bear in mond that the Clio's temperature gauge is for water temperature.

Oil takes much longer to warm up.

Oil temperature can even be below what is considered 'operating temp' even after hours of driving on some cars. I know from experience from a few cars with oil temp gauges, especially if you're cruising at 70mph down a motorway on a cool night.

 

[Curtis!]

I'm not sayin cain it...Chances are most people will turn the key and then commence driving in a 30mph limit...So you can't exactly cain it can you? Bit of common sense required and you'll be reet.

National road to the motorway is at the end of my street, bit of a pain really!

 

[Silent_Scone]

90% of engine wear is done when the engine is cold. There is a cold limiter for a reason

 

[jack_kemp]

I'm sure something like 90% of engine wear is from cold starts? I definitely wouldn't be giving it the beans until it's warm. The oil doesn't flow round the engine properly until it's warm as it's more viscous when cold. I never take mine above 3k til it's warm, just out of mechanical sympathy

 

[mr bognor]

3k rpm max till its warm 15-20 mins and then 5-10 mins cool down

 

[jack_kemp]

3k rpm max till its warm 15-20 mins and then 5-10 mins cool down

I'm not so fussy with the cool down on the Clio, more important for turbo cars so i do it for the brabus roadster.

 

[mr bognor]

Yeah only for turbo and its a pain in the ass planing everything about the cool down

I'm not so fussy with the cool down on the Clio, more important for turbo cars so i do it for the brabus roadster.

 

[Mark One]

In my view a gentle rev after starting - hold it at 2k for a little bit - is a good thing. Just to throw a bit of oil up the the cams. Too many revs and cold oil will create silly pressure. Too much throttle and you could argue that increased cylinder pressure causes increased blowby of rich air-fuel and increases oil degradation.

 

[Goodj]

I'm sure something like 90% of engine wear is from cold starts?

That's exactly what Castrol used to say when Magnatec first hit the scene.

so long as you dont keep head-butting the limiter from cold you should be alright?

 

[The Boosh!]

In my view a gentle rev after starting - hold it at 2k for a little bit - is a good thing. Just to throw a bit of oil up the the cams. Too many revs and cold oil will create silly pressure. Too much throttle and you could argue that increased cylinder pressure causes increased blowby of rich air-fuel and increases oil degradation.

Ha, if I did that every morning i'd be evicted

 

[Eddyg]

Its the crankshaft bearing that can get a lot of wear from cold. The crankshaft rotates on a seal of oil from a groove in the main bearing. When the oil is cold and the pressures not up it does not create that seal so you can have some metal on metal contact. So yes, it will do damage from cold. Then again leaving your car to idle sometimes isn't as good as driving it with a few more revs (2K-3K) to warm it up!

 

[Goodj]

I read, I think in Evo once, that it's best to fire the car up, red-line it a couple of times, then switch it off again, like is done on the F1 pit-lane.

can't imagine it being the most socially acceptable method, but if it works on those engine, it cant be bad.....can it?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I have never given 2nd thought to oil temps. If you realised how hot an engine gets in a short period of time you wouldn't be too worried.

 

[Gandi69]

I used to know a guy who'd batter his VVC metro gti to the limiter from stone cold and never had a problem. I have more mechanical sympathy though so I'd not do it but sometimes it seem if you are pig ignorant of problems they'll never happen to you.

 

[Finny]

my old mans always swore dont take any engine over 3k for the first 12-13 miles it can cause premature wear on it!!!

 

[akaboogie]

i never floor it from cold and all ways keep it about 3k untill it warm..

i find it take my cup around 20min if not longer befor it really warm and ready to put a small on my face...:approve:..

 

[adam1942]

my mate takes his CTR round the clock 3 years old and not had a problem yet.. I'm more relaxed and don't go over 3200 rpm and try to keep above 2,300 so the engine warms at a steady rate.

 

[hipwell]

Ha, if I did that every morning i'd be evicted

Thats why I put my cat back on

 

[DrR]

I thought you needed to warm up the car because the different metals expands at different rates. Pistons are steel and the block is aluminium? So if steel expands faster can see the obvious problem.

 

[not normal dan]

i tend to leave mine running whilst i get ready 4 work tbh then steady drive to work! i mean why would i wanna get there in a hurry

 

[jack_davey]

I thought you needed to warm up the car because the different metals expands at different rates. Pistons are steel and the block is aluminium? So if steel expands faster can see the obvious problem.

Block is cast iron iirc.
There is a considerable gap between the big ends and the crank journals, this is normally filled with a film of oil.
When it's cold the oil has a higher viscosity and essentially takes longer to fill the gap, that's what causes the wear.
Therefore the faster the engine is running while it is unprotected, the more wear it will be subjected to.

 

[sideways danny]

Half the rev range and half throttle for about 10 minutes.

 

[jack_kemp]

I have never given 2nd thought to oil temps. If you realised how hot an engine gets in a short period of time you wouldn't be too worried.

Fairly sure everyone realises that engines get hot. But they definitely don't get hot quickly.... Not in the right places at least.

 

[franx]

too low rpm is also no good, or ? When mine starts up the idle is unsteady/wild because of the cams and on the low side. Sometimes to the point of cutting out , well not that far but pretty low. So around 2000 rpm is best ?

 

[gulik]

As I'm looking at keeping my car for a few years I'm pretty religious about being gentle with it when cold. Never sees above 3k til the needle is in the middle of the guage.

I do exactly the same thing. As they say, 'safety first'.

 

[Tom84]

Block is cast iron iirc.
There is a considerable gap between the big ends and the crank journals, this is normally filled with a film of oil.
When it's cold the oil has a higher viscosity and essentially takes longer to fill the gap, that's what causes the wear.
Therefore the faster the engine is running while it is unprotected, the more wear it will be subjected to.

true to a point, there may be metal to metal contact on the very first start up but once oil pressure is there ie when you oil pressure light goes out there is none. once there is pressure in the oil galleries then thats it. the wear come from the parts, pistons, crank, rods not being warm and so they wont be as big as when up to temp creating piston slap etc. also if rev'd from cold your more than likely to knacker an oil seal due to too much oil pressure from the cold oil

 

[Tunst]

I leave mine to idle for 5mins then it gets hell. :evil:

 

[ch!ppen]

If you have any doubt's then just don't do it. Personally i just wouldn't run the risk.

 

[MarkCup]

Revs hurt an engine if the oil is cold, so keep the revs down, but give it the odd burst of relatively hard acceleration while you do it. The more fuel you burn, the quicker the oil heats up, so a squirt or two helps it along.

I've done this from new for 125,000 miles and it runs as strongly as it ever has.

 

[Dan@SJM]

My old ph1 was given he'll from cold every morning, was such a strong engine too. Saw well over 130k and usually 120+ daily. Still going strong today too.