Please elaborate how idling can affect the exhaust.
Warming up the car idle won't help tranny and other components other than bringing the oil temp to the level, but it shouldn't hurt.
There is a problem with letting a car idle for too long. It can damage the catalytic converter.
The problem comes with the throttle plate. This is effectively a valve that opens and shuts in the intake manifold and regulates the air flow. It is attached to the accelerator/gas pedal and when the pedal is pressed, the throttle plate opens proportionally. When you floor it, the throttle plate opens 100%. However when you don't touch the pedal i.e. let the engine idle, the throttle plate almost closes- but not quite (or the engine will stall). It is only about 3% open. Under these conditions the engine has to act as a pump, effectively forcing air through in order to run.
The lack of air means the engine will be using much more fuel to run and this richer mixture can clog up in the catalytic converter.
Apologies if this sounds a bit long winded. The chances are your car is okay.
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My engine chokes a little when cold, does that happen to others as well?
Mine too, but only on P400 mode for a minute or so.
After that is fine.
The reason BMW says to start the car and go, is because some of it's hydrolic systems need to build some presure to operate properly.
I have ask the dealer and they said that we must always drive immediately after start up.
It's in the drivers manual too and it's there for a reason.
Idling from cold was always frowned upon in the days of manual chokes because driving off meant there was less need to keep the engine running with a rich mixture, the mass of the car helped the flywheel to keep the engine turningl and the engine warmed quicker as the fuel burned in moving the car is more than would be burned standing still for the same time. The rich mixture tended to dilute lubricant.
Motoring is full of folklore and old wives tales no matter how the technology advances. In my opinion an awful lot of money is wasted on mods no more effective than was snake oil.
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There is a problem with letting a car idle for too long. It can damage the catalytic converter.
The problem comes with the throttle plate. This is effectively a valve that opens and shuts in the intake manifold and regulates the air flow. It is attached to the accelerator/gas pedal and when the pedal is pressed, the throttle plate opens proportionally. When you floor it, the throttle plate opens 100%. However when you don't touch the pedal i.e. let the engine idle, the throttle plate almost closes- but not quite (or the engine will stall). It is only about 3% open. Under these conditions the engine has to act as a pump, effectively forcing air through in order to run.
The lack of air means the engine will be using much more fuel to run and this richer mixture can clog up in the catalytic converter.
Apologies if this sounds a bit long winded. The chances are your car is okay.
Make sense. If the only reason by warming at idle was due to catalytic converter, I guess i'm safe since I have no cats left.
Any other reasons?
How about warming with a slight throttle applied? I heard revving the engine at idle while warming is not good for your engine too.
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