Cold weather veicle question

[Davy Crockett]

How long do you usually let your cold vehicle warm up ? My wife has our garage so full of old treasures that I won't be getting my pickup in this winter. Having been a Chevy man all my life it was second nature to slip my ford into neutral to get fluid moving but it doesn't seem to make a difference with the ford.

Do ford pickup automatic transmissions circulate fluid when idling in neutral ?

I looked online and all I read is that it does more harm than good to idle and warm up these newer gas vehicles. WTH did I unlearn ?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19086/warming-up-your-car-in-the-cold-just-harms-engine/

 

[lunkerslayer]

Good question Davey, I thought I was the only one to put my truck in neutral. How do you know that your ford is not circulating fluid?

 

[LBrandt]

Manuel 6 speed, my has to be in neutral or chase it down the driveway.

 

[Davy Crockett]

On a Chevy I notice a pull down on the engine RPM when I put it in neutral when it's real cold, I don't notice it on my ford.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Thats strange I always thought when you put it in neutral it would bring the RPM up less resistance on the fly wheel, when you tow a car is the reason you put it in neutral is to be able to steer or does it allow the transmission to disengage the drive shaft.

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Manuel 6 speed, my has to be in neutral or chase it down the driveway.

Don't forget to set the parking brake just in case rolling eyes

 

[LBrandt]

Thats strange I always thought when you put it in neutral it would bring the RPM up less resistance on the fly wheel, when you tow a car is the reason you put it in neutral is to be able to steer or does it allow the transmission to disengage the drive shaft.

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Don't forget to set the parking brake just in case rolling eyes

Driveway is uphill.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Driveway is uphill.

yeah your point is?

 

[Davy Crockett]

Thats strange I always thought when you put it in neutral it would bring the RPM up less resistance on the fly wheel, when you tow a car is the reason you put it in neutral is to be able to steer or does it allow the transmission to disengage the drive shaft.


Those old TH-400s would darn near kill the engine when you slipped them in neutral at 40 below.

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19086/warming-up-your-car-in-the-cold-just-harms-engine/

 

[camoman]

Driveway is uphill.

Depends on which end of the driveway you are starting from.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Thats strange I always thought when you put it in neutral it would bring the RPM up less resistance on the fly wheel, when you tow a car is the reason you put it in neutral is to be able to steer or does it allow the transmission to disengage the drive shaft.


Those old TH-400s would darn near kill the engine when you slipped them in neutral at 40 below.

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19086/warming-up-your-car-in-the-cold-just-harms-engine/

Wow I did not know that Davey its weird because I have been doing that for years always have but I am also the kind of guy who changes his oil every 3 months or 3000 miles regardless. New plugs and wires every other year bought a reusable filter that gets cleaned once a year.

 

[dean nelson]

Thats strange I always thought when you put it in neutral it would bring the RPM up less resistance on the fly wheel, when you tow a car is the reason you put it in neutral is to be able to steer or does it allow the transmission to disengage the drive shaft.


Those old TH-400s would darn near kill the engine when you slipped them in neutral at 40 below.

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19086/warming-up-your-car-in-the-cold-just-harms-engine/

Yeah saw a similar report the other day on TV and was like what the hell.

 

[lunkerslayer]

I do remember hearing that leaving your car running for long periods of time was bad and that it's was safe to leave a diesal running for long periods of time. Also cold air is more condensed than warm air making for more power especially when it's a turbo or something like that.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I've never seen a Hearse pulling a trailer. Tell your wife. Problem solved.

 

[Davy Crockett]

I've never seen a Hearse pulling a trailer. Tell your wife. Problem solved.

Haha I ain't gonna sit here and lie about it , 1/2 those treasures are mine.

 

[PrairieGhost]

Since 2001 when I bought my first diesel I have let them run about one minute before I hit reverse to back out of the garage. At 147K I had to put in new injectors. The mechanic said it was the cleanest diesel he had ever opened. I don't know if warming up is all that important. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[lunkerslayer]

When it comes to a diesel engines regular routine maintenance is much more important than other engines because the diesels have such simple motor that the simple things are what make diesel engines such an efficient design. A dirty fuel filter, dirty air filter, or bad fuel will damage a diesel engine much quicker than if you did the same to say a gas engine.

My best friend's ex wife got the navigator she ran that vehicle into the ground, the house she got was his family farm which was on a gravel road. All she ever did was wash it or put fuel in it, the service engine light came on she drove it around on limp mode for about 6 months until one day she started it up and a rod came out the side of the block. She had it pulled into town so the insurance company could assess why the motor blew they found out that she NEVER changed the oil or air filte of daily driving on a gravel road. The mechanic said that oil was so thick it plugged up the oil pump.

Now a diesel would of just stopped running period no check engine lights just nothing, diesal engine is a simple but efficient machine that has been around longer that its cousins gas or electric. It's very common to see 3 to 4 hundred thousand miles on a diesel engine before the injectors or pump need to be replaced.
Starting up a diesel and driving away maybe after it has been started recently would be ok but I would never start a cold diesel and then drive away. If you have ever driven a newer semi, tractor, any large equipment most diesels have a safety switch that will not allow you to move until the engine has had time to warm up. During winter months heavy equipment may stay running for days at a time which is common for diesel engines.

 

[Norske]

Industrial/commercial diesels have a low oil pressure shutoff that may need to have a reset pushed when first starting them. One can be added to a consumer diesel if it's gong to be idled without adult supervision. That's probably a good addition for consumers who idle theirs often or for long periods. When/where I worked, we had a few diesel pickup owners that let theirs idle for a whole 12-hour shift in the parking lot during extremely cold winter nights. The plant maintenance idled heavy equipment during extreme cold.
Idling after startup is okay if synthetic oil is in the crankcase. Fossil oil doesn't stick to steel very well, so the engine is kind of dry until oil circulates. Synthetic is always there, so the engine is lubricated even if it's been setting for days. It's like that old Slick50 ad that ran on TV for years.

 

[lunkerslayer]

That is correct once more companies realize the potential of diesel engines especially with the help with computer assistance controlling fuel consumption as well as real time diagnostics. Volvo, Mercedes, even VW are light years ahead of north american companies when it comes to diesel technology.
The real problem is that none wants a vehicle to last for more that a couple of hundred thousand, I met the grave diggers brother who worked at Lithia ford, he told me that the reason american companies only offer a extended warranty when other companies off those already is people don't keep vehicles much more than 3 to 5 years on avg. American companies have built vehicles that have parts designed by engineers to last only a certain amount of time.
The next thing will be is that it will be impossible to work on you own american made vehicle without the proper tools to reset the computer, its already like that now for foreign made cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, they all make it that if you change the battery you need to get the computer reset or the cars will stay in limp mode until you do.
That why I bought a accessport for my 09 BMW that way when I need to change spark plugs, even brakes , anything which is monitored by the computer will be to be reset.

 

[deleted member]

Warm em up. Driving them cold when they are running rich will do more damage then idling IMHO.