With the cold weather, I started paying attention to the oil temperature. The thought of letting the temperature go up to certain level before starting driving came to my mind and I wanted to see if anyone is doing it with their truck in cold climate. If so, what temps are you shooting for, 60, 70, 80F?

Basically, after starting a cold engine, I would let the oil temperature reach a certain level before driving away, rather than let it idle for a few minutes before driving. Is this a good idea or am I wasting my time and fuel? Mine is a diesel.

 

You are wasting your time and fuel. Make sure you have good oil pressure, and maybe let it idle a minute or two.

 

One word solves all problems with temps:
Synthetic.

 

Agreed...and don't hammer it!

 

I saw a video talk given by a Ford truck engine engineer. He said that, even at 20 below zero, an engine is ready to go after 20 seconds. There you go.

 

I have to let it defog the windows anyways. I let the truck idle as I load whatever I have to load into it. Grab an extra bottle of water, top off the window washer fluid.

Now, I jump into my 6.2l work truck and just go. Not mine, so I don't care if it blows up. I do drive gently until it blows warm air. I've never hurt a work truck by doing that. And my GM 6.0's would make some terrible seized cam bearing type sounds when driving cold (-15). They never failed. (we trade in at 200,000 miles and we do no maintenance other than oil and brake pads)

The people that say American engines aren't tough or don't last, are usually Momo consumers that cause half of their own problems. "It's making a funny noise when cold, can you have your worst tech please tear up the engine and put it together wrong, please. Warranty also, K? Thanks."

Just drive gently until it's warm. Sitting still just prolongs the engine heating up. But if your windows are fogged, and your washer fluid and/or road spray just freezes to your windshield, what choice do you have, but to wait?

 

As soon as the oil is circulated up through the engine you should be good to go. So depending on temps -- 30 to 60 seconds then roll on -- taking it easy until fully warmed up.

 

I just drive it easy, under 2000 rpm, until the oil reaches 100*.

 

Depends on your ambient temperature when you start your truck and whether it’s gas or diesel. If it’s -25 you need to let it warm up for 5-10 minutes. Oil lubricates beat when it’s hot. Cold, thick oil has a hard time getting to all the nooks and crannies up in the top of the engine. Synthetic will alleviate this somewhat but not entirely.
I guess it depends on who owns the truck. My trucks get warmed up when it’s really cold because it’s 70k+ of my money sitting there.
And cold is a relative thing. What’s cold for middle America is night and day different than what’s cold for western Canada and Alaska.

 

^^^^ What he said.

 

100% synthetic. Let it idle for 1 minute in super cold conditions...30 seconds in moderately cold and no idle in the summer.

I drive it gingerly until the engine and transmission temps are both past 150.

 

It makes me laugh out loud how people pick and choose when to listen to the Ford engineers.

Ford engineer says "change the oil according to the IOLM".

People say, "he is full of crap".

Ford engineer says "tranny temps of 220*-230* are normal".

People say "he doesn't know what he is talking about".

Ford engineers says "Dino oil is just fine".

People say "he's an idiot".

Now, Ford engineer says "even at 20 below zero, an engine is ready to go after 20 seconds".

People say "he's a genius".

 

lmao, soooooo true.

 

No matter the vehicle or engine, I always wait for the engine to drop the idle speed below 1000 RPM before I head out.

 

So, what's your point? I'd say the engineer would be right about all of the above.