My neighborhood has alternate side street parking meaning that you can't park on certain sides of certain streets at certain times (i.e. Tuesday 11:30-1:30). Because I don't drive my Dart every day there are times I need to move it from one side of the street to the other. My question is, should I let it completely warm up before moving it? I don't know if warming it up, moving it 20 feet and turning it off is worse for it than not warming it up at all. Any thoughts?

I'd just
start it
move it
shut it off
and not worry about warming it up....

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Get a friend to push while you put it in neautral and steer.

As long as you give the oil a chance to move(circulate) into the engine first. You have to wonder about those who start their car on a cold morning and barrel out the driveway 5 seconds later. Unless someones chasing you with a meat cleaver or a shotgun, or the banks handing out free money, youre just rushing an early demise of your engine. If its cold outside give it at least a minute or two otherwise 20-30 seconds.

According to Robert Sikorsky, "Drive It Forever", "short trip" driving is the severest of all operating conditions...

He suggests not starting the vehicle at all unless you're going to drive it long and far enough to get the engine up to operating temperature and keep it there for 20 minutes, so that it is able to "boil" contaminants out of the oil.

As to "how much warm-up before getting under way", he also suggests that 20-30 seconds should be plenty - enough to get oil to all points of the oiling system. He recommends driving "gently" until the water temp is up to "normal".

Idling for more than a minute is probably worse than just moving the car across the street then shutting it down.

Sikorsky's theory is based on the idea that a cold engine is going to be running "rich" and "loose", and that there will be lots of blow-by and gasoline getting past the rings and into the crankcase... so if the owner has the choice of this "damage" happening while the vehicle is just sitting still, not doing anything useful, or going down the road and actually serving a purpose, he advocates that the vehicle do something useful, to "justify" the wear-and tear we've subjected it to just by starting it up in the first place.

It would be beneficial to your car to give it a good run at least once a week, for at least a 1/2 hour or so, to get it good and hot and "boil" the contaminants out of the oil and also "dry-out" the exhaust system.
Oil change every 2 to 3 thousand miles would also be good.

"Drive It Forever" is an interesting read, if you can find a copy...


Sikorsky is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, so presumably he's a little more scientific than the average hanger-on at the local garage...

For what that's worth...

Frank McMullen

This is a great. Thanks for the advice guys.

Follow-up....

Since I mentioned "Drive It Forever", I decided to actually dig-out my copy and refresh my memory...

One pertinent theory is addressed early in the book:

"90% of all engine wear occurs within the first 10 seconds of operation"

This is due to the leak-down of oil during long periods of shut-down (like several hours to overnight), and metal-to-metal contact of moving parts during the first 10 seconds of operation, while oil pressure is coming-up and oil getting re-circulated.

Sikorsky quantifies it another way: "that first ten seconds of wear is equivalent to about 500 miles of driving; so make sure that start-up worth the wear you're imposing on the engine."

I'm enjoying the re-read on this book...


Frank McMullen