you're not 'supposed' to let your car warm up.

Oooh, look at mr smartypants...

Okay okay, so most modern fuel injected cars technically don't need to 'warm up' as in: sit at idle until they're warm. But all, I repeat, all, cars should be given enough time to build sufficient oil pressure before they're driven, which is about 30 seconds minimum on most cars. Sure, the term should be "allow your car to build sufficient oil pressure" and not "warmup" but "warmup" has become the catch-all phrase and its so much easier to say (and type)

Oh yeah, and if you live in Oklahoma in the winter, letting your car 'warm-up' has an entirely different meaning. as in: start the car, put the heater and defroster on full blast, go back inside and drink a cup of coffee to let the car 'warm-up' so the ice on the windshield melts a bit and you're not ice-frickin-cold on the drive to work...

uhm maybe on your 90s caprice. I have three cars equipped with oil pressure gauges, two of which have dual gauges to monitor pressure on the block and at the head. I assure you it doesn't take anywhere near 30 seconds to reach full pressure even in extremely cold temps. however, I still typically let it sit while I scrape windows when its freezing

Oil pressure at your gauge and oil pressure thoughout the engine are two different things, my friend...



Uh yeah, carputers are cool...

The initial crank is the only time when any consequential wear will occur. An oil wedge is formed within your engine's journal bearings and oil is coating all wear surfaces almost immediately after the engine is started. A completely empty oil filter will be filled in under a second to few seconds depending on your system's pressure. The head and cam will be saturated in an instant. gauge on the block gives a good indication of pressure around the crank & main bearings, etc. gauge in the head gives a good indication of pressure around the cam and rockers, etc, but this is not the backing for my points above. There is plenty of pressure to drive right away. By idling you are wasting gas and delaying warmup of catalytic converter thus increasing pollutants released by your car.

but yea car puters are cool I build an mp3 player/sensor display in one of my cars. oil temp & pressure, tranny temp, diff temp, water temp + mp3 info on a small LCD display. I want to add a g-meter now too using an accelerometer

okay you win...

I just wanted to say that hes right about this .i was a GM mechanic for 7 years. if you had to wait for oil pressure build up you would be ruining your engine even at ide as your cam bearings being dry for even 30 seconds is too long. also most cars take there oil pressure reading from the oil filter housing.

Hmm, okay. I worked in a machine shop for several years building heads. I watched engines being built, watched them run on the stand. watched the oil not get everywhere it needed to be in 'under a second'. But I conceed. I didn't really want to argue anyway. I only mentioned it to show that Carputers (oh yeah, remember them...) can be made to startup pretty fast...



The ubiquitous GM SBC got its oil pressure readings from right behind the distributor...

Oh the flame wars are on now machine shop boy.How dare you question the wisdom of the almighty automotive technician. Just kidding. pretty funny how that thread ran down such an off topic though

Oof. New nickname...



Isn't it? From Carputers to oil pressure... Although It's lumenlab, anything can happen...

In the US when I was growing up in the 50's American car manuals talked about letting the car sit for a few minutes at idle before driving.
In Europe where they had electric windscreen wipers (America used vaccum for the most part so when you accelatered they stopped) you were advised to let the car sit for a few seconds then drive it slowly for a few minutes. They were right as an engine under load will warm up faster then one at idle.

A fresh engine never ran (fresh out of the machine shop). Could take up to 7 seconds to be fully oiled. And you will hear that when first starting it (very loud knocking noise, then it will get quiet when it is fully oiled). An engine that is started daily will have oil pressure in under 1 second, usually a half a second. And it is OK do drive your car SLOWLY under light loads while it is still cold (just started). The damage takes place when you are putting your engine under high loads and high RPM when the oil is cold and the parts are cold. Because the parts have not expanded to tolerance (piston to bore, etc...) and can wear faster than normal. Also the oil can get places it needs to be better when it is fully warmed up.