We're experiencing a warmer week but that's not to say that this Richmond winter is over. It really does pay to take a minute warming the engine on cold mornings.

Liz in Richmond runs outside in the morning and starts the car then runs back into the house to let the car warm up. Donna has a remote start; she doesn’t even have to run out to the car.

Both of them enjoy climbing into a nice warm car on a crisp Richmond morning. Who doesn’t? But if they think they’re doing that for the car, they’re taking it a bit too far.

By the time its warm inside the cabin of the car, the benefits to the engine have long been reached. In other words, it’s not a bad idea to warm the car up before you drive, but it doesn’t require an extended warm-up period to achieve this goal. 

That’s not to say it isn’t a good idea; it is. Warming up the car for about a minute, particularly in the winter, is a great idea.

Winter, summer, spring or fall: when the vehicle sits for a while, the oil drains down into the oil pan. That oil is essential to lubricating moving parts within the engine. It also carries away any dirt or metal particles that find their way into the engine.

This lubricating process drastically reduces the damage you can expect when two metal objects rub against each other.

Think about it this way – you take two metal blocks, one in each hand, and rub them against each other. What will happen?

At first, not much. But if you continue to rub those metal blocks together, you’ll start to notice two things.

1. You’ll begin to see scratches on the two surfaces that are rubbing together.
2. You’ll start to notice that the surfaces of the metal blocks is getting warm.

If you rubbed the metal blocks together, forward and back each second, you would rub them that way 60 times per minute. In an hour, you would rub them that way 360 times. Now, consider how that works inside an engine.

Cars are set to idle at between 600 and 1,000 rpms. That’s 600 to 1,000 revolutions per minute, while idling (with no pressure applied to the accelerator). When you get out on the road, it’s not uncommon to rev the engine up to 3,000 rpms. In more extreme cases, the engine may rev up to 5,000 or even 6,000 rpms.

During that first minute, if you do take the time to warm up the engine before you drive, with the engine idling, the oil is pumped up into engine returning to the areas from which it drained while the car just sat there. In that minute, it gets in around parts in the cylinders and around the crankshaft and camshaft. 

Warming the car for a minute, brings the oil back to all the areas where it is designed to provide lubrication. But, if you hop in the car and go … if you start revving up the engine before the oil is ready for the job, you’ll cause additional damage between metal parts in the engine. You’ll create wear on the engine that is unnecessary and which you’d much rather avoid.

It's nice to get into a warm car on a cold Richmond morning. But it’s vital to your engine that you give it a minute to pump up its oil before you go.

By the way, this further explains the importance of changing an engine’s oil on schedule.