Letting the truck warm up before driving.

AzScorpion

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you guys are thick blooded. lol I am not going out at - 40 lmfao!!
I use to love the cold weather. Skied,played hockey and snowmobiled my whole life, then around my mid 40's I started to hate it. Moved out here and love the heat but now I'm a wimp and I'm cold if it's below 70. lol
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Sandman Ranger

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There's multiple trains of thought for this. My initial thought to the "harsh shifts" when cold, is whether those shifts are actually harmful to the powertrain or not. I honestly have no idea, but is it just an annoyance to us? Or is there actual damage occurring? Imo, if there was actual damage, the powertrain engineers would have noticed and would have done something about it.

Before driving off, the most critical thing is oil pressure. Ensuring the engine has oil pressure before you put any real load on it will make sure your engine is happy. Winter time will need a little longer to ensure that engine oil has circulated the engine.

As far as long duration cold idles are concerned, I'm not a fan. The engine runs super rich for a longer time, and it'll start thinning out your engine oil too...by how much? I'm not sure, but it's there. The other thing is that it's terrible from an emissions stand point since your catalytic converter stays cold for longer. I'm personally okay with sucking it up for a few minutes in a cold car - that's what coats, gloves, and hats are for!
Would the transmission thump be helped if during idle warmup one shifted auto stick through modes P to D to P and back to D before moving. Maybe this would prepare transmission for a drive.
 

Sandman Ranger

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cold is cold

no matter how you look at it, cold idling in the driveway, or cold driving down the street, there is that set amount of time where the cold engine isn't doing anyone any favors.
to try and compare wear rates is assinine to say the least, as it's likely so negligible its hardly worth measuring.
the only milestone to make note is when you hit that sweet spot and stop wasting fuel vs using it for the intended purpose which is to move your vehicle down the road.

The F150 was designed with louvers in the front of the rad for a reason, to get you up to temp quickly and into the fuel efficient zone.
Not sure why the Ranger didn't follow suit or have an alternative.
The comment about emissions for many would be a good reason to get in, start up and leave if windshield is clear.
 

Deleted member 773

The raptor with the 10 speed also suffers from the clunky trans when cold. When you put a new cam and lifters in a small block, they give you a specific rpm range to swing back and forth in when you break it in. A big part of that is to not only maintain oil pressure but also adequate oil flow to all parts of the engine, specifically the cam in this case. Not sure on our engines how the oil pump is driven but I’d guess there’s probably less flow at idle. In addition, there’s been talk about gumming up egr stuff with extended low rpms. I am a fan of start it up and go, but I take it easy for a bit, like in an M series, the rpms are restricted on startup and gradually increase as temps go up. That being said, remote start and getting into a toasty (or cold) cab is pretty great..
 


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I let that puppy run for 20 min most mornings. Nice and warm when I get in, my drive to work is only 15 min so I try to get it to operating temp in an attempt to keep condensation from collecting in the engine. I had five star change my tune so the fans aren't roaring during a cold start.
 

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For those that live in cool or cold climates I think is is great that you can warm up your vehicles and warm up the inside so the truck is ready to go on cool/cold miserable days. This is done by remote starting the truck and letting it idle for several minutes. But, am I the only person that thinks how ironic it is that we can idle the truck for several minutes and yet we have the auto start stop to save a little gas when the truck stops for what, a minute or two on the way to work? I'm not sure I understand why we have to put up with the auto start stop while we can idle the truck to warm it up.
 
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2020FX4

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I like to start mine and let it run for 5-10 minutes before I leave in the morning. It seems to run a little smoother and lately it's been 38-42 in the morning and its niiice getting into a warm truck with the heater going!!!

I notice a big difference too. Before work i try to remember and schedule the Fordpass app to start the truck 5 minutes before I leave for work. Its my first vehicle with remote start and I'm sure the novelty of using the app will wear off eventually.
OH! I didn't know I could set the app to start it for me every morning.... that is cool!

:( I just found the option and tried to program it to auto start in the AM and got this Message..... I wonder why?

IMG_1577.jpg
 

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I like to start mine and let it run for 5-10 minutes before I leave in the morning. It seems to run a little smoother and lately it's been 38-42 in the morning and its niiice getting into a warm truck with the heater going!!!



OH! I didn't know I could set the app to start it for me every morning.... that is cool!

:( I just found the option and tried to program it to auto start in the AM and got this Message..... I wonder why?

IMG_1577.jpg
Bummer, I couldn't tell you why you're getting that message, I haven't seen that before.
 

AzScorpion

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I like to start mine and let it run for 5-10 minutes before I leave in the morning. It seems to run a little smoother and lately it's been 38-42 in the morning and its niiice getting into a warm truck with the heater going!!!



OH! I didn't know I could set the app to start it for me every morning.... that is cool!

:( I just found the option and tried to program it to auto start in the AM and got this Message..... I wonder why?

IMG_1577.jpg
It's been around that same temp here lately and it's nice getting into a warm truck. I've had remote starts in all my trucks since the 90's and have got so use to them they're a necessity now. Especially here in the summers when my trucks sitting outside all day in 100+ temps it's nice getting into a pre cooled truck.

The app has been glitchy for some here lately and works well for others. Only thing you could try is re booting your phone and making sure the app is updated. If that doesn't work just try again in a day or two and hopefully it'll work.
 

Deleted member 1634

For those that live in cool or cold climates I think is is great that you can warm up your vehicles and warm up the inside so the truck is ready to go on cool/cold miserable days. This is done by remote starting the truck and letting it idle for several minutes. But, am I the only person that thinks how ironic it is that we can idle the truck for several minutes and yet we have the auto start stop to save a little gas when the truck stops for what, a minute or two on the way to work? I'm not sure I understand why we have to put up with the auto start stop while we can idle the truck to warm it up.
Because some of us, even in the cold climates, don't let the truck run forever before driving it off. I'd imagine we're the same type of people who like and continue to use the start/stop feature. Not everyone hates the start/stop feature.
 

Snorebaby

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This is my first remote start vehicle....I love it. Especially when it is cold and I need to defrost the windshield. Let it run about 10 minutes and I am good to go. Haven't used it much this winter here in GA. Been warmer than normal.
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