Do I need to wait for idle to drop before driving?

[Bronco Naughty Pines]

If you're worried about it, and your in a hurry, just hit remote start. Normal if you drive everyday, the engine and transmission will be lubricated enough because of todays synthetic fluids.
I let the engine warm because it could be a few days between start ups.

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[UncleBrad]

If you're worried about it, and your in a hurry, just hit remote start. Normal if you drive everyday, the engine and transmission will be lubricated enough because of todays synthetic fluids.
I let the engine warm because it could be a few days between start ups.

The assumption here is that you have an automatic transmission.

 

[heavyD]

Just wait for oil temps to get close to normal before spirited driving as that’s the most important information to monitor from cold start.

 

[Bronco Naughty Pines]

Most Automatic Transmissions will be operational within 10 to 30 seconds, depending on climate temperatures (colder is longer). A complete fluid service could be as long as 15 to 30 minutes to complete pressurization.

 

[CarmeloS]

If I got time in the morning, I'll wait

Considering I leave last minute, I just drive gently and wait if the traffic on the road is going due to the green light.

 

[UncleBrad]

If I got time in the morning, I'll wait

Considering I leave last minute, I just drive gently and wait if the traffic on the road is going due to the green light.

Showing my age here, but back when the 55MPH limit was enacted I had a bumper sticker on my GTO:

186,000 Miles Per Second - It's not just a law, it's THE law.

 

[CarmeloS]

 

[SHANUT]

My understanding is that modern cars don’t need to wait for the idle to drop before driving. If that’s true, does anyone really know why the idle revs higher on the Broncos for the first two or three minutes or so and then drops? Maybe I’m old school; I just feel it’s safer to wait for it to drop.

I suppose you could wait a few minutes for it to idle down but to me it’s much more important that you never run an engine too aggressively until it’s up to full operating temperature because most engine damage is done to a cold engine when driven too hard.

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