I first published this article in January of 2008. I believe with the cold upon us again, it was fitting to re-post!
The majority of engine wear occurs during the start up phase while the oil has not had a chance to come up to pressure. This is one of the main reasons that cold engines are harder to start than warm ones (Everything is colder and “slower”) however there seems to be a myth propagating about leaving one’s car to “Warm Up” idling away in their driveway. Even worse are the horrors of remote car starters. You know how “convenient” they are, you simply press a button from within your warm home and your car magically comes to life. It will idle away and slowly begin to warm up in your driveway. It sounds like nirvana on the brochure but in reality I firmly believe remote starters to be one of the worst possible accessories any car can have installed. Think about this for a moment.
- An idling car gets 0 MPG (or for us Canadians that would be “Infinity”L/100KM)
- A modern car needs only 30 seconds or so of “warm up” time even in the coldest of temperatures if driven carefully for the first few kms.
- A car started remotely is often not monitored, could be damaging itself and even could be running down the road!
I have dabbled in 12 Volt technologies since grade school and I have had my share of remote start equipped vehicles but it was my 1994 Ford Probe GT that made me change my stance on remote start. You see I had purchased and installed myself an Auotstart unit that was modified to work with my car’s manual transmission. I had to work thru some circuitry and utilized some strategically placed relays to ensure that the car would never start if it was in gear. This circuit worked flawlessly every time but I started to pay attention to the car when I used the auto start. What I noticed was that sometimes the unit would not start the engine correctly. It would engage the starter, turn that cold engine over a couple of turns then stop. After waiting for about 30 seconds it would try again and the engine would start. I imagined all of the metal scrapings coming off inside my engine just from those extra “starts”. I also noticed that the car would never be warm when I got in. I could let it idle for an hour if I liked and it would still be more of less cold. I realized that modern engines are cooled so well that they will never come up to temp unless they are put under load.
If I got in the car and drove away, the car would be warm within 3-5 kms easily. I could save tons of money by simply not using the remote start and engaging the engine the old fashioned way. With a key. Benefits of this method included:
- Ability to hear the engine on start-up for wear or odd noises. Ability to shut down if any present.
- I would already be in the car and ready to go by the time I turned the key, speeding up my departure.
- I would not have to worry if my car somehow slipped into gear and started a ghost rider down the street.
Are you one of the types that starts their car then jumps in and puts the heater blower on high and drives away, freezing and wondering why it takes so long to get warm? This is a simple issue. The heater in your car is simply a small radiator which transfers heat from your engine to the cabin of the car. If the engine is cold, there is no heat to offer. By putting the heater on high too soon you are actually making the engine take LONGER to get warm. The best way to quick heat is the following. Turn heater control to “OFF”, drive the car gently and watch the temp gauge. As soon as the gauge lifts off it’s “cold” peg, you engage the blower and you’ll feel nice warm heat. If you do not have a temp gauge you can use a landmark near your home. Once you establish this habit you’ll find yourself freezing less each day!
So please do consider your engine, the next time it’s -40C out and you fire up your car pay close attention to the awful sounds it makes as it turns over. Now imagine if it were making these sounds but no one was there to hear them. Remote starters are no good!
Not to mention that it is illegal in some cities to run a car unattended.
There are a couple of other, more environmentally-friendly options:
1. The the cold engine is a big concern, use a block engine heater like in the old days, when many car engines wouldn’t start cold. They don’t draw all that much electricity, and you can always put them on a timer if you don’t want to leave the car plugged in all night.
2. If you absolutely cannot stand getting into a cold car, try running some kind of electric heater in your car for a while before you get in. It has a lot lower environmental impact than running the engine to warm up the car, and will do a better job as well. You could also use a very low amperage heater and leave it plugged in all night (even an incandescent 100 watt light bulb would probably do).