Warm Up Time / Oil Temp - When is it ok to cut loose?

**Ryan_R** · 28-09-2010, 08:38 AM

That's generally the reason why I switch to manual mode when going up and down hills with say a 60km/h speed limit or have a driver ahead who is obviously terrified of mountains roads. The DSG constantly changes up/down when it's not necessary otherwise and can even be a bit uncomfortable sometimes.

**Brian916** · 03-05-2011, 08:12 AM

It was mentioned in a thread some time ago about the constant 90c on the coolant temperature guage.

On my trip to Sydney on the weekend, I switched the MFD over to the oil temp display. The coolant temp hit 90 very quickly, then the oil temp started its rise.

Funny thing is the coolant temp did not change from 90 at all. The oil temp was all over the shop in comparison.

On steep downhill (a couple), it would drop to 93c. Going up the other side, it topped out at 109c, a 15c difference.

On the flat, oil temp was 101 - 103c, which is more than acceptable as the car has only done 3200km. I expect it to be more stable when it's done 5000 -10,000 km

Interesting though that the coolant is only at 90 all the time.

**Corey_R** · 03-05-2011, 09:11 AM

It's been this way for many many years on most cars now. Most cars don't have an oil guage any more, and the water guage is set to reach 90 and stay there. The water does fluctuate too, but the guage just doesn't show it unless there's an actual problem.

I think it's so that car companies don't get 1000's of calls to their dealerships/support lines daily asking if it mattered that their water was at 95 or fluctuates constantly. It wouldn't help if they explained the guage in the manual, cause no one reads it. Thus, best to just "keep it simple" to suit the general population

**noone** · 03-05-2011, 10:35 AM

After a quick read I expected more comments about the climate of where these cars are made / driven.
Surely if there are VAG's scattered over some of the coolest climates and they are not suffering severe premature wear then we as people who live in areas where negative temps are rare or only go a few below Shouldn't have the same concerns.

I wonder how long it would take to warm up a 1.4 TSI with DSG in -10c temps on a long 50mph cruize.... Probably a damn long time as the DSG will pick a high gear and require almost no throttle.

I drive it softly for a few min, but i don't really push my car into high revs many days.

**Ideo** · 03-05-2011, 01:30 PM

If people are spending this much time watching something as pointless for day to day driving as oil temp, when do they watch the road?

Me, I do what I have done in cars before I had an oil temp gauge. I drive it gently-ish for the first 10 minutes (as in no red line, but if I need to get into fast flowing traffic I will), then when things are nicely warmed up I drive it.

Too much information is not always a good thing.

**Corey_R** · 03-05-2011, 01:46 PM

Well... it takes 1 second to look at your oil gauge... 5 seconds if you need to navigate from the furthest position in the MFI.
I disagree that the oil temp is pointless? Actually, I'd say it's about the most important indication of your cars "readiness" to be [i]driven[/b]. As for "wait for 10 minutes", it's a pretty simplistic view. Depending on traffic and weather, it's taken as little as 5 mins for my R to get to operating temperature, and longer than 20 mins... I'd rather take the 1 second to check the oil gauge when I think it's about time (a flick down and up from the current speed display which I usually have active).

**Ideo** · 03-05-2011, 05:36 PM

I've managed to make cars last well over 300,000kms (both turbo and non-turbo) without one before.

**Brendan_A** · 03-05-2011, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by Corey_R

It's been this way for many many years on most cars now. Most cars don't have an oil gauge any more, and the water gauge is set to reach 90 and stay there. The water does fluctuate too, but the gauge just doesn't show it unless there's an actual problem.

I had my water gauge fluctuate on me the other day going down the Toowoomba range. Temp was at 90 when i started to go down, half way down my temp gauge moved down 2 notches. I pulled into the servo at Withcott and popped the bonnet to check it didn't drop all its fluid, all good.

The time I got back in the car it was back to normal. I put it down to a cool 12 degree morning and no load on the engine.

**Brian916** · 03-05-2011, 08:01 PM

'Twas just an observation on the temps displayed. My Land Rover temp gets to the 1/2 way mark, and stays there no matter what's going on. Even climing a steep hill in low range, the temp does not vary - I'll bet the oil temp does though.

Also a 'damn damn damn' too. I did a search before posting and didn't come up with what I thought was a suitable thread, yet Corey has done it AGAIN - found the thread my post should have been in. One day I'll get it right.. one day...

**furiousgibbon** · 03-05-2011, 11:02 PM

some of these responses confirm why I will never buy a used performance car. To drive an engine hard on cold oil should be criminal.

Before I deliberately drive either of my cars hard, I wait for oil temperature to peak. I answered above 95C on the poll, which may be excessive but that's what I wait for. If I need to rev the car hard to get out of a traffic situation prior to it reaching that temp I do, but I never intentionally 'thrash' it unless I believe everything is at peak operating temps. Probably explains why my other car has over 100,000km of hard driving on it with extensive mods and has no issues and burns no oil. Look after you car and it will reward you with a long life of performance.