Northern Alberta here, when it’s -30C my truck gets a 20-30 minute warm up. I’m a field service tech so the truck stays running/idling all day long at these temps. Keep up your regular maintenance and you’ll be fine.

People warm it up for 10 minutes because they want the inside of the car to be warm n comfortable it’s not actually good for the engine or anything

Usually wait until rpm is below 1k

Depends if the car is carbureted or fuel injected. If it’s carbureted, then yes let it warm up and get up to operating temperature and adjust the choke as needed, if it’s fuel injected, you can drive off as soon as you start it, as long as the windscreen isn’t iced over then it might be smart to let it defrost for a few mins but even then 10 mins sounds excessive

Welcome to the most divided question there is.

Does it ruin your engine? Does it not? You’ll hear both sides.

Here’s my take. My ass is cold. I prefer it to be warm in the Car. Therefore, that shit is getting remote started until it’s warm. Consequences be damned.

Exactly what you’re doing

I agree with the advice to let the car run for a minute or two until the idle settles down a bit. But I also agree that it’s ok to let it run for 10 minutes if you want the cabin to warm up.

Needing the car to warm up for 10 minutes is a holdover from carburetors I think. They just weren’t as good at metering fuel in extreme conditions, and the cars simply wouldn’t drive until the coolant got a little heat into it to warm up the carb.

You should not idle to warm up a modern vehicle. Start it. Clean your windows. Set your tunes and then drive with a light foot for a few miles. That will warm up the oil much faster than idling. See this article for the latest advice

I warm my truck up for about 10 minutes but it’s an old carbed beast and wants nothing to do with moving until there’s some heat in the motor. I let my car warm up for 5-10 minutes but that’s so I can see. If I can see I wait until my AFR stabilizes(30-60 seconds), then I take off. If you can’t guess my car is heavily modded.

I think this exact question has been asked recently here. Also from someone in Canada.

The engine is designed to operate at a specific temperature. When you first start your engine, all metal components will warm up at different rates. When they warm, the expand to their designed tolerances.

This is true with any engine, new or old. It is also true that engine wear happens more during this time than it does when at normal temperature, unless you’re driving it hard.

The question is - how much engine life is reduced by simply starting and immediately driving?

No one knows.

I personally let my engine warm up JUST ENOUGH for the temperature gauge to begin to move. Then I drive. I do not think it’s necessary to idle it for 10+ minutes before driving.

What you SHOULD NOT do is start a cold engine and immediately drag race (or whatever). Keep it low RPMs while it warms. You’ll be fine.

Damn what province do you live in?

I warm mine up for 20 minutes every morning in the winter. I’ve always live in northern New Hampshire and 20-30 below is common in January. Always have done this, mostly for personal comfort. I’ve been running a tundra for 8 years and wife a rav 4 for about as long. Nothing bad has happened, nor did it on all of my previous vehicles. I’ve never had a garage to store them in. I see this conversation all the time and still do it.

Plug in the block heater.

30 seconds to a minute warm up is all you need brother.

Sounds pretty accurate.

I’d wait until the needle on your engine temp starts moving at minimum.