Ok, the title was just to get your attention. Yes, of course you should warm up your vehicle. How you do this makes a difference. Yesterday, I had a conversation with one of my Fleets lead heavy equipment mechanic.... They just bought him a 2025 F550 6.7l decked out service truck... It has about 10k miles on it. He said every morning he idles his truck for 30 min before he leaves out because it has way better power when he takes off by doing this... He's been a heavy equipment mechanic for over 30 years...

Most engine wear happens when the engine is cold. The faster you get your vehicle up to temp the better.. You can idle it up to 180 degrees in 20 min or you can drive it up to 180 degrees in 3 minutes..

No doubt, many out there still warm up their vehicles, because that’s how their Fathers and grand Fathers taught them... Again, the faster you get an internal engine combustion up to temp the better.... If it’s really cold and the windshield is iced over, start it, defrost on low or medium blower, get out, clear the windshield/side glass/mirrors, get in and go.. Drive easy for the first few miles. If you have a diesel and its going to be below freezing and you prefer not to clear the glass by hand, plug the block heater in and run the cord over the driver side mirror to help you remember to unplug it. Some gas engines have block heaters... It’s been an option on many Fords for years.

Here are a few video's discussing this topic

 

I agree.

With mine I start then give it a minute while I buckle, get a map going, situate stuff in the cab, plug charge cables in, etc. then drive easy until it is warmed up. I'll give it more idle warm-up time if I'm heavily loaded. 30 minutes is way too much in my opinion. "way better power when he takes off"? Does he floor it every time? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

At least the fleet let me change the oil at 2k miles on this 2025 service truck... I kind of geek out on this stuff, and take pride in my customers getting to 500k miles minimum on the original drivetrain.. Like a personal challenge..
This guy goes into detail as to why Break in is so important on a new vehicle and why shortening up the first few oil changes is SO important to maximise the engine lifespan.

 

I've always been told that it's best to have the engine and transmission warmup together and the only way that's happening it to get it rolling as soon as you can.

 

If you get more wear on a cold engine you will get even more on a cold engine that's has a load on it.

 

Yep. Thats why you dont beat on it when first driving. Drive it easy up to temp.. On your 1977, for sure its a a bit different, especially if its carb'd..... My Dad's 1979 F150 with a 400 modified that he bought new is completely different then a 2025 6.7l diesel... The 400 needs a little bit more TLC then the 6.7l...

 

I don't know much about Diesels but I've heard there left idling a lot because of warmup time.

 

also because they may not restart in super cold weather, 15w40 oil thickens up,untreated fuel gels , cold lowers battery cranking power, the big rigs we almost never shut down for just those issues unless we could plug them in,

 

The search for a hard and fast rule for this issue that is the answer for every use case is flawed at its root.

Is it towing a bunch of weight?

Is it empty?

Is it warming up from 30 degrees or 50 or -45 or 75 or 105?

Is it a big engine in a little car or a little engine in a big car?

Is the windshield fogging or icing instantly and the coolant isn't warm enough that the defroster will do any good?

Etc. etc.

V-10 in an F-250? Probably get in and start driving right away with no issue.

V-10 in my F-53 (8.5 tons empty), I let it warm up a bit first.

V-10 in a UHaul, sometimes it gets treated okay, other times it gets beaten from the first second. They seem to hold up okay.

Etc. etc.