911s Take a Long Time for their Engines to Warm Up

[Ridleyguy]

I generally have to drive my '08 C4S for 10-15 minutes before the engine oil gauge registers the temperate recommended in the manual. I would hazard a guess though, that few owners, other than those on forums like 6speedonline, ever consider or are aware of this and as a result rev. their engines before they are fully warmed up. Would this behaviour, (assuming people agree with my premise here) have a lot to do with premature engine failures in 911s?

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[GT3 Chuck]

it is good that you are waiting for oil temps to rise before working the motor...however, I see you are in Cananda but even in very cold conditions it shouldn't take that long to reach normal op temps...might want to check your thermostat and make sure it isn't stuck open

[Weasel]

My boxer-6 takes longer to warm up than my other car's v-10. Not sure if it's closer to 10 or 15 mins but it's somewhere in between for sure. I don't rev either until several minutes after the gauge reads warm as I don't trust them 100%.

[Gundo]

Very wise to keep RPMs low until oil is up to operating temperature. And yes, it does take some time.

[P Diddy]

with how much oil these engines hold, I find it impressive that it only takes 10 minutes. In 45 degree weather, it takes my car just under 10 minutes to reach 175 degrees without reving past 2.5K. I usually don't let the tach go past 4K until the oil reaches 200 degrees.

Compared to my BMW 335, the 3.8 reaches operating temps much faster, and also runs cooler (approx 215 degrees in the carrera vs. 250 degrees in the Bimmer).

[Ridleyguy]

The point I was trying to make in my initial post, possibly somewhat unsuccessfully, is that I would be surprised if the 'average' Porsche owner (however we define that person's knowledge of these cars) would generally wait even 5-10 minutes before exceeding, say, 4,000-5,000 rpm. I am assuming here too, that redlining the car when the engine is cold is not the issue here, but just revving it in the mid-range, which could create engine problems down the road. I am not an expert on this, and am only raising the issue to see how others who are knowledgeable about engines, view its importance. It is something I pay attention to every time I drive my car, i.e. I try to keep the rpms below 3,500 until the oil is fully warmed up, but may I am being far too paranoid about this because of the instructions in the manual.

[Rodsky]

Do you have a 997.1 or .2. I just got a .2 and noticed that it warms up much faster than my 996. I keep the RPM below 4 while it was warming up to 175 I believe. Now it seems to get there faster, so I am pleased.

[swajames]

Originally Posted by Ridleyguy

The point I was trying to make in my initial post, possibly somewhat unsuccessfully, is that I would be surprised if the 'average' Porsche owner (however we define that person's knowledge of these cars) would generally wait even 5-10 minutes before exceeding, say, 4,000-5,000 rpm. I am assuming here too, that redlining the car when the engine is cold is not the issue here, but just revving it in the mid-range, which could create engine problems down the road. I am not an expert on this, and am only raising the issue to see how others who are knowledgeable about engines, view its importance. It is something I pay attention to every time I drive my car, i.e. I try to keep the rpms below 3,500 until the oil is fully warmed up, but may I am being far too paranoid about this because of the instructions in the manual.

As a point of reference, my car took about 8 minutes for the oil temperature to get up to 200 degrees on my way home from work tonight. It was about 62 degrees here in San Jose at the time, but the car had been in my office parking garage since around 7 am this morning so it was basically cold.

For what it's worth, I suspect that most of us do exactly what you do and do take it reasonably easy until the car is warm. I also think that the oil temperature gauge is set to show a lower temp than the "real" temperature as the car is warming up. I base that assumption on observations when running short trips from cold - when I've got out of the car to run a quick errand the car is showing say 175 degrees (still warming up) when I get out, but closer to 200 degrees when I get back in the car a few minutes later. All things being equal, that shouldn't happen so I'm assuming that Porsche dumbs things down a bit to build in a little cushion.

[997.1]

Hmm...i must be the only one who runs it hard warmed or not. lol, oh well, I love the sounds it makes at a cold start.

[nelsonmx]

I always let the oil temp rise to normal before I push it, and yes it does take a good ten to fifteen minutes....A bit longer when the outside air temp is colder......Yes I'm in Canada as well so I know what cold is!!!

By doing this you are protecting your engine....I suspect there are non enthusiast types who don't let them warm up, and I suspect that flogging the engine before it's fully warmed up does cause premature wear.....How much is had to say. Weather it causes any particular failures is also hard to say.....I just know that I feel better letting my engine warm up, and I've done this with all my engines.

SWAJAMES, the rise in temp you see when you shut the car down is called heat soak....That is when you turn off the engine the flow of oil through the engine stops, and cooling stops as well so you will see a bump in temp....Completely normal....

NelsonMX

[Fahrer]

When warming up you should go by the oil temp, not the coolant temp. The coolant will get up to operating temp in 5 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes to get the oil up operating temp.

[tejoe]

Originally Posted by Ridleyguy

The point I was trying to make in my initial post, possibly somewhat unsuccessfully, is that I would be surprised if the 'average' Porsche owner (however we define that person's knowledge of these cars) would generally wait even 5-10 minutes before exceeding......................

A couple of years ago the experienced SM at a fairly large dealer told me just what you suspect, particularly with leased cars; said most had not been serviced properly either and he would not buy one coming off lease unless it was a CPO. I'd expect if you really want to get hosed buy a 500 mile demo that's been redlined by half the dickheads who took it on a test drive.

[19000rpm]

Remember your car is not a f1 car, thus Porsche designed and clearanced the engine so that even and idiot who knows nothing about cars will not hurt the engine. I would be willing to bet the wear on an engine not warmed, and warmed and driven with that 4000-5000rpm range would be insignificant when driving on the street. This fall in line with the train of thought of people that change their oil ever 2,000 miles thinking it will make their car magically last forever. Unless you store your car outside, and it gets down below freezing you are worrying too much. Now if you’re going to push an engine into the 6000-7000rpm region, or are tracking your car then yes warm up is critical. Also why are people so centered on just engines? Transmissions and gears respond/wear differently with temperature.

The engine failure bad rap of 911s imo is due to the early 996’s, and cars that are beaten or improperly modified. Not driving a car enough does more damage then anything. Seals go bad faster, oils don’t lubricate parts. This is why Jay Leno requires a full time mechanic. When you have that many cars driving and maintaining them all becomes work!

[NorthVan]

Originally Posted by 997.1

Hmm...i must be the only one who runs it hard warmed or not. lol, oh well, I love the sounds it makes at a cold start.

Not the only one, the first honest one. I drive my car at low revs until I am far enough from home that my young kids don't hear it, it wakes them up and the wife isn't impressed when she is up at 5:15! Otherwise, I drove it like I stole
it. I am pretty sure that as 19000RPM says there are tollerences built in to
allow idiots like me to drive them the way I do!

[ryem3]

A good warm up, yes. Driving below 3k RPM before the oil is at 200, that's over cautious. I never shift below 4k. I've heard more damage to the car from lugging the engine around. I keep it below 5k til the engine warms up. By an M3 - it has nice little idiot lights that tell you the "implied" redline until the car warms up! I agree with 19k too.
I also love that cold start burble! Must be fun with the PSE - I know those things really rattle when they're cold!