How long should you wait for the truck to warm up before you drive? With winter on its way i am wondering. Also i live in an old town and we have an alley where i park. What i do in the morning is let it run for about 20 sec and then put it in first and idle my way down the alley. It usually take about 1 min or so. Is this enough time before doing regular driving?

Ryan

 

Sounds pretty close to what I do, but It doesn't get too cold where I live & I have a manual trans.

 

As long as the oil pressure is up. its OK to go...
Remember don't hammer it till its up to operating temp. 180º or more...
Winter time I sit for 2-3 min. B4 going...

 

I've never timed it. But in the cold WI winters I wait for my EGTs to get 350-400* on high idle before taking off. Usually less than 2min.

 

I kick the high idle on after the 1st break in the grid heater cycle, & wait 'till it's done. Then I drive. Mellow 'till I reach at least 140* then normal. No hot rodding 'till operating temp.

 

in winter time i usually allow it to idle until the temp gage breaks off the peg.... (about 140) then i drive it as normal....i very seldom hammer on my trucks but when i do it is usually at operating temp before i do

 

up here i let my truck idle for about 15 mins. that gets heat in the cab and frost off the windows in the dead of winter. 5 mins would be a proper warm up for this time of year

 

As for the engine, it really only takes a few minutes to get it warm enough to drive. But if it's really cold (below 0*), then you have to be very carefull with the rest of the truc: trans, wheel bearings, differentials, etc. Thery take time to warm up, too. But they only get heat when they're moving

In those temps, I drive the first 1-2 miles at very light throttle and slow speeds. Take the long way around to the freeway on ramp.