Warming Up

FF1078

Member
Messages
1,123
Bet you lot thought I was talking about Spring?
Well I sort of am. I'm planning on cleaning the car soon as the weather is getting better and seen as we cant drive I thought I'd enjoy the car in another way.
Question is about warming the car up. It's on SORN but I have trade plates. Do you think if the plod caught me driving it to warm it up I could risk a fine?
The owners manual states " don't let the car stand and warm up". Well I've got a 3 mile round trip near my house which usually does the trick but I don't want to upset neighbours or plod.
What would you do? Not sure if plod caught me and I explained what I'm doing would be understanding, especially in a Fezza.
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,069
Yes you risk a fine and shouldn’t be doing that.

3 miles isn’t long enough. You’re causing more problems than you’d solve. Just leave it in the garage.
 

Hawk13

Member
Messages
1,471
(In the nicest possible way) I think you are taking the p!ss an I think plod would think the same.

Head to the supermarket / pharmacy ;)

Also, you need to go further than 3 miles to get everything hot.
 
Messages
1,117
Last year I warmed both mine up leaving them running for a good 30 minutes and moving up and down the drive to move the tyres and get suspension moving. The real harm comes if you start it and stop inside a few minutes when a lot of condensation is still trapped. I ran mine till the fans cut in - which is what they are supposed to do. It is a balance or trade off I guess. To leave it asleep for 6 months or to wake it up after 3-4 months for half an hour, get it fully warmed up and move the car on the driveway.
 

P R

Member
Messages
1,382
I brought mine to work today.. though it hasn't been left through winter!
 

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,115
Last year I warmed both mine up leaving them running for a good 30 minutes and moving up and down the drive to move the tyres and get suspension moving. The real harm comes if you start it and stop inside a few minutes when a lot of condensation is still trapped. I ran mine till the fans cut in - which is what they are supposed to do. It is a balance or trade off I guess. To leave it asleep for 6 months or to wake it up after 3-4 months for half an hour, get it fully warmed up and move the car on the driveway.
Just this!!............I have had no problems doing this. The car is on a C-tek constantly and about every 2-3 weeks take it off. start it up, let it to temp and run it up and down the drive going through as many gears as possible. Also, when resting in the garage, don't put the handbrake on and choc the wheels with bricks etc. I made a big mistake a while ago power washing/washing the car then putting it straight back into the garage with the handbrake on!!:as001 (2):
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
The ecu reset procedure on my Fcar is to start it and leave running, without touching anything, until the fans cut in. I don't think leaving it sitting while running will do much harm, wont warm gearbox or anything so I can see why they would say drive it.
 

FF1078

Member
Messages
1,123
Yes you risk a fine and shouldn’t be doing that.

3 miles isn’t long enough. You’re causing more problems than you’d solve. Just leave it in the garage.
It needs cleaning and it's a job to keep me from going mad. You shouldn't warm a car up as the hand book states without properly driving it. I'll pop it into neutral and push it out the garage. I hadn't thought of doing this but it will allow me to clean it with having to start it.
 

Gp79

Member
Messages
1,393
A Ferrari owner still has to visit a supermarket the same as a someone who drives a Nissan Micra.
I’d use it with your trade plates and get it upto full temp
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,010
A Ferrari owner still has to visit a supermarket the same as a someone who drives a Nissan Micra.
I’d use it with your trade plates and get it upto full temp

Agree re the supermarket, but trade plates on a non-trade mission could be a different kind of pi55-take and fine. In fact, I'd suspect that trade plates would be even more of a red-flag to the plod as going for a gentle drive.
 

Doohickey

Velociraptor
Messages
2,496
I left mine running for a while last year without moving it to check the oil whilst warm - result was flat battery! Not sure if it was just mine but obviously meant that the alternator wasn't feeding back to the battery if the car wasn't moving. It also meant that I had to go to Le Mans in a 1968 MGB!
 

P R

Member
Messages
1,382
It needs cleaning and it's a job to keep me from going mad. You shouldn't warm a car up as the hand book states without properly driving it. I'll pop it into neutral and push it out the garage. I hadn't thought of doing this but it will allow me to clean it with having to start it.
It'll be a 2 man job because I think as soon as you open the door it automatically goes back into Park.. You need your better half to sit in it probably!
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,538
Don't think I've ever seen a car that does that. Not least that if the door open sensor failed at speed, the gearbox would be lunch, surely?

C
 

P R

Member
Messages
1,382
Don't think I've ever seen a car that does that. Not least that if the door open sensor failed at speed, the gearbox would be lunch, surely?

C
The maser certainly does it. Following a recall after the death of that star trek actor and his Jeep. When my garage did the tracking on the Ghibli they had to leave a mech in the car on the ramp as they needed it to not be in park

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,538
Oh yes. I remember that now. Must be something they can do with new gearboxes.

Cheers

C
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
I understood you are able to use trade plates after a repair on a test drive to test roadworthiness. I suggest you might want to do a little job on your car first
 

FF1078

Member
Messages
1,123
Don't think I've ever seen a car that does that. Not least that if the door open sensor failed at speed, the gearbox would be lunch, surely?

C
When they collected my old Strad the AA guy just knocked it into nuetral and winched it on the truck. There was a certain process but certainly can be done.